Do People Just Not Want To Work Anymore?

[susana1954]

Jan 11, 2022 20:31:26 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Iowa is going to put people back to work by changing the qualifications for CNAs and teachers.  We are going to put them on a track so that you can be student teaching as a senior in high school.  

To keep people in Iowa, the gov wants to pay a bonus of $1000 to prison workers and teachers.  Nothing for health care workers.  

Huh?  Teaching isn't just about content.  It requires a lot of judgment calls as well. 

I cannot even imagine, and I did my student teaching at 19 and started my teaching career at 20.  I cringe when I think of some of my rookie mistakes!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

If I could I wouldn't work anymore.  I am tired of dealing with people who haven't evolved past high school.  I am tired of the truly breathtaking level of incompetence and stupidity that only a company can achieve.

I will not one of the people that takes a job in retirement to have something to do.  Same with I won the lottery I would be out of here so fast you'd see those lines from cartoons to indicate how fast I ran out the door.

I don't blame people at all for reevaluating what is important be it switching to a better job, downshifting or quitting all together.  Life is too short to keep drinking the corporate America kool aid and live our lives as if our jobs are the only things that create value in us as human beings.

[stillmovingforward]

Agreeing with drama, even though I love my job and like my coworkers. My job doesn't define me.

[nidena]

I started the new part-time on Sunday.  The manager that I originally spoke with had given his notice before I applied so I never actually worked with him.  The ASM, I found out tonight, gave her notice last week and will be with us for just one more week.  I guess the leadership above her was taking their time getting back to her regarding her application to fill the Store Manager role so she gave them a "peace out" for a company that got back to her within just a day or so.

Companies are doing this shit to themselves.

[raeoflyte]

Jan 14, 2022 13:17:30 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

Jan 11, 2022 20:31:26 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Iowa is going to put people back to work by changing the qualifications for CNAs and teachers.  We are going to put them on a track so that you can be student teaching as a senior in high school.  

To keep people in Iowa, the gov wants to pay a bonus of $1000 to prison workers and teachers.  Nothing for health care workers.  

Huh?  Teaching isn't just about content.  It requires a lot of judgment calls as well. 

I cannot even imagine, and I did my student teaching at 19 and started my teaching career at 20.  I cringe when I think of some of my rookie mistakes!

My parents have a neighbor whose 19 year old daughter is a long term sub at the high-school she graduated from last May. I'm sure she's smart and motivated, but she just graduated! It's insane.

[nidena]

Between Dec. 29 and Jan. 10, approximately 8.8 million workers reported not working because they were sick with the coronavirus or caring for someone who was, according to data from the Census Bureau.

My cousin's whole immediate family is out with it.  A good friend was positive for a couple weeks but her work let her work from the time she felt sick until her test came back positive which was two or three days.

You have to wonder how many companies are making things worse by not immediately quarantining sick employees.  How many more people were exposed?  

[nidena]

This is one way to get applicants in the door:

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Cover Tuition for Employees Who Want to Further Their Education

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2022 15:43:54 GMT -5 nidena said:

This is one way to get applicants in the door:

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Cover Tuition for Employees Who Want to Further Their Education

I know she’s not the sole owner of Dollywood, but I gained a lot of respect for Dolly Parton once I learned more about her. Her program to send a free age appropriate book every month to any child in Tennessee, newborn up to age 5 (I think) got my attention. I knew who she was before then, of course, but I’ve never been a fan of her music. I am now a fan of the woman though.

Anyway, this is a great example of an employer investing in their people. IIRC from reading the link, it can be tuition and books, which is even better.

[Deleted]

I think what some employers today don’t get is that if your employees feel like you treat them well, it’s good for your business. An employee that doesn’t feel like they are treated well will still show up for work, but an employee that feels valued and fairly compensated is probably more likely to be willing to put in extra effort so that everybody wins.

Loyalty works both ways. People didn’t start job hopping the way they do now, until employers started reducing benefits and all the other things that used to inspire loyalty among employees. 

Just my opinions.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Feb 9, 2022 15:43:54 GMT -5 nidena said:

This is one way to get applicants in the door:

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Cover Tuition for Employees Who Want to Further Their Education

I wonder why she limited the full tuition to just a few programs?  Still a good deal especially for PT and she offers 5K/year for 150 other degrees.   My employer offers 5K/year and it's amazing how few people take advantage of it in a small town with three colleges within 10 minutes of work.  Then again, I'm always shocked how many don't use the 401K too.  I had them pay for most of my degree...which is good since I apparently get no use out of it.

[Opti]

Jan 19, 2022 20:19:25 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Jan 14, 2022 13:17:30 GMT -5 susana1954 said:

Huh?  Teaching isn't just about content.  It requires a lot of judgment calls as well. 

I cannot even imagine, and I did my student teaching at 19 and started my teaching career at 20.  I cringe when I think of some of my rookie mistakes!

My parents have a neighbor whose 19 year old daughter is a long term sub at the high-school she graduated from last May. I'm sure she's smart and motivated, but she just graduated! It's insane.

And I bet she doesn't need any certifications to teach. It's possible that state has allowed exceptions like that. I should probably call around in my area. Sub pay was not very good last time I checked it out, but anything could be true at this point.

[teen persuasion]

Feb 9, 2022 19:32:59 GMT -5 Opti said:

Jan 19, 2022 20:19:25 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

My parents have a neighbor whose 19 year old daughter is a long term sub at the high-school she graduated from last May. I'm sure she's smart and motivated, but she just graduated! It's insane.

And I bet she doesn't need any certifications to teach. It's possible that state has allowed exceptions like that. I should probably call around in my area. Sub pay was not very good last time I checked it out, but anything could be true at this point.

[BN] had an article last week about sub pay, how local districts were pushing it up to lure new subs as they need more, more, more.  I was curious how high it was now.  Not very!  They mentioned $105/day uncertified, top $143/day experienced certified with long term every day agreement.  It wasn't universal - those seemed to be the exceptional numbers.  

[giramomma]

Feb 9, 2022 22:46:37 GMT -5 teen persuasion said:

Feb 9, 2022 19:32:59 GMT -5 Opti said:

And I bet she doesn't need any certifications to teach. It's possible that state has allowed exceptions like that. I should probably call around in my area. Sub pay was not very good last time I checked it out, but anything could be true at this point.

[BN] had an article last week about sub pay, how local districts were pushing it up to lure new subs as they need more, more, more.  I was curious how high it was now.  Not very!  They mentioned $105/day uncertified, top $143/day experienced certified with long term every day agreement.  It wasn't universal - those seemed to be the exceptional numbers.  

I live in a district that won't even take certified subs. You have to be certified to teach. Now, you can be a classroom aide. Subs last heard were getting 120 or so a day in my district. Aides in a nearby district get 13-14 an hour.

My district is starting to create alternative pathways to get certified to teach. It's my serious plan B now. I can't afford to completely stop working in 8-ish years. But, I can afford to slow down and control how much I want to work. I'm also betting that I'd be in pretty high demand as a music sub. One of my kids now, essentially went without orchestra from Thanksgiving to after MLK day because there were no qualified subs. They person they have in now has a music background, at least, but little to  no experience working with kids.  That poor person is going to get eaten alive.

[TheOtherMe]

The Iowa legislature has discussed using volunteer subs since some districts have had to close when too many teachers are sick and they can't find enough subs.

In good news, for this year, there will be no cameras placed in all classrooms so anyone can watch what is being taught.

[Deleted]

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

[giramomma]

Feb 10, 2022 9:54:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

I've seen articles now say, it's not really the great resignation, but folks are moving up.

It's going to get worse, as the pool of lower wage workers is going to get smaller as there are less workers, period.

2004 had a low birthrate. It was low enough that teachers were commenting on it in our neck of the woods.

2008 had a low birth rate. This one is big enough that colleges that are on the ball are preparing for a double digit decrease in student applications. My college is not preparing for a decline in enrollment, and it is truly maddening. Apparently, banks aren't the only entities that were supposedly too big to fail.

We're seeing another birthrate decline during the pandemic.

www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/24/will-births-in-the-us-rebound-probably-not/

 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Feb 10, 2022 10:46:28 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Feb 10, 2022 9:54:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

I've seen articles now say, it's not really the great resignation, but folks are moving up.

It's going to get worse, as the pool of lower wage workers is going to get smaller as there are less workers, period.

2004 had a low birthrate. It was low enough that teachers were commenting on it in our neck of the woods.

2008 had a low birth rate. This one is big enough that colleges that are on the ball are preparing for a double digit decrease in student applications. My college is not preparing for a decline in enrollment, and it is truly maddening. Apparently, banks aren't the only entities that were supposedly too big to fail.

We're seeing another birthrate decline during the pandemic.

www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/24/will-births-in-the-us-rebound-probably-not/

 

That's what I've been reading too people are moving on for better pastures.  Maybe all those people weren't the dumb unskilled labor people like to make them out to be.  Maybe they just needed the right opportunity to be able to move on.  The mass retirement of boomers going on right now certainly helps with that.

I am looking to move on. I've outgrown this job and it's going to end up being a revolving door because of that, nobody who is the type of talent they want is going to stay here long term.  They are "talking" about "increasing" our pay but it isn't going to be at a level that people with the skills they want can get elsewhere.   They haven't figured that out yet they are convinced nobody wants to work.

[nidena]

Feb 10, 2022 10:46:28 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Feb 10, 2022 9:54:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

I've seen articles now say, it's not really the great resignation, but folks are moving up.

It's going to get worse, as the pool of lower wage workers is going to get smaller as there are less workers, period.

2004 had a low birthrate. It was low enough that teachers were commenting on it in our neck of the woods.

2008 had a low birth rate. This one is big enough that colleges that are on the ball are preparing for a double digit decrease in student applications. My college is not preparing for a decline in enrollment, and it is truly maddening. Apparently, banks aren't the only entities that were supposedly too big to fail.

We're seeing another birthrate decline during the pandemic.

www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/24/will-births-in-the-us-rebound-probably-not/

 

It makes total sense that these years had low birth rates.  I imagine a large number of people said "I'm not bringing a child into this world." in late 2001 and the years immediately following.
The data shows that the birth rate dips after every major calamity in this century, especially 9/11 and the Great Recession.
I think those who could have afforded to have children during the pandemic might have been the ones who didn't during those earlier times, in terms of age.   

[teen persuasion]

Feb 10, 2022 9:00:58 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Feb 9, 2022 22:46:37 GMT -5 teen persuasion said:

[BN] had an article last week about sub pay, how local districts were pushing it up to lure new subs as they need more, more, more.  I was curious how high it was now.  Not very!  They mentioned $105/day uncertified, top $143/day experienced certified with long term every day agreement.  It wasn't universal - those seemed to be the exceptional numbers.  

I live in a district that won't even take certified subs. You have to be certified to teach. Now, you can be a classroom aide. Subs last heard were getting 120 or so a day in my district. Aides in a nearby district get 13-14 an hour.

My district is starting to create alternative pathways to get certified to teach. It's my serious plan B now. I can't afford to completely stop working in 8-ish years. But, I can afford to slow down and control how much I want to work. I'm also betting that I'd be in pretty high demand as a music sub. One of my kids now, essentially went without orchestra from Thanksgiving to after MLK day because there were no qualified subs. They person they have in now has a music background, at least, but little to  no experience working with kids.  That poor person is going to get eaten alive.

DS5's ELA class is on their third or fourth long term sub this year.  Official teacher was on maternity leave, expected back in x weeks, with a long-term sub until that date.  But teacher didn't return, and sub was , IDK, done/elsewhere/who knows.  So eventually the HS librarian took over and they hired a librarian sub to cover for her.  There's finally another long-term sub in place, librarian went back to HS library, librarian sub then got hired to replace the MS librarian who quit for a job in a more desirable district nearer to her home.  It's musical chairs.  But yippee for the new MS librarian - we've been cheering him on in his job search - right place, right time.

Before Covid, DS2 did a year with Americorps, working in city schools wherever they needed him.  Some math tutoring, but mostly helped the music teacher.  Her background was woodwind, so she was weak on the others.  DS2 did both orchestra and band, and played viola, bass, tuba and trombone.  So he could really help the string and brass players, and wasn't afraid to pick up a different instrument to demonstrate.  He was using a spare school sax for a while, then borrowed one of DS4's trumpets to have his "own" instrument for demonstrating.

[jerseygirl]

Fell asleep before Nathan Cohen’s erformance maybe it’s on YouTube
Really looking forward to Kamilla ‘s events she’s a wonder. But she’s been charged with illegal drug use - a cardiac drug that also helps stamina. Unlikely it’s for a medical reason , she’s 16? And a tremendous skater athlete. The Russian team gold might also be taken away. DUMB, Russia officially isn’t allowed to compete due to drug scandal but under Russian Olympic Committee. Too bad the Russian skaters are fantastic

[nidena]

Feb 10, 2022 14:35:09 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Fell asleep before Nathan Cohen’s erformance maybe it’s on YouTube
Really looking forward to Kamilla ‘s events she’s a wonder. But she’s been charged with illegal drug use - a cardiac drug that also helps stamina. Unlikely it’s for a medical reason , she’s 16? And a tremendous skater athlete. The Russian team gold might also be taken away. DUMB, Russia officially isn’t allowed to compete due to drug scandal but under Russian Olympic Committee. Too bad the Russian skaters are fantastic

Was this meant for the What Are You Doing thread?

[jerseygirl]

Feb 10, 2022 14:47:26 GMT -5 nidena said:

Feb 10, 2022 14:35:09 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Fell asleep before Nathan Cohen’s erformance maybe it’s on YouTube
Really looking forward to Kamilla ‘s events she’s a wonder. But she’s been charged with illegal drug use - a cardiac drug that also helps stamina. Unlikely it’s for a medical reason , she’s 16? And a tremendous skater athlete. The Russian team gold might also be taken away. DUMB, Russia officially isn’t allowed to compete due to drug scandal but under Russian Olympic Committee. Too bad the Russian skaters are fantastic

Was this meant for the What Are You Doing thread?

Oops! But might be appropriate. Will she skate again ?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Feb 9, 2022 18:30:00 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 9, 2022 15:43:54 GMT -5 nidena said:

This is one way to get applicants in the door:

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Cover Tuition for Employees Who Want to Further Their Education

I wonder why she limited the full tuition to just a few programs?  Still a good deal especially for PT and she offers 5K/year for 150 other degrees.   My employer offers 5K/year and it's amazing how few people take advantage of it in a small town with three colleges within 10 minutes of work.  Then again, I'm always shocked how many don't use the 401K too.  I had them pay for most of my degree...which is good since I apparently get no use out of it.

I have worked at only one place that did not offer tuition, the rest of the time I took advantage of what was available to me.  

Like you, I was also surprised that so few take advantage of what’s available.  In fact, I had a discussion with one of my coworkers that where he was at was not going to get better without remaking himself.  I told him this a few years before I went out sick in 2011, I could see the writing on the wall and was doing what I could for myself.  He did get laid off about 5 years afterwards.   

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I was looking through mine and it says that it has to directly relate to the position I hold or is designated to be something that my position will eventually do.

Yeah no.  I didn't have an interest in getting a master's/PhD to stay in place at the university I don't have any interest in it here. 

And no I am not reading it wrong I actually just went back to check in case I made a mistake.  I suppose depending on what department you are in the company there may be many options related to your job.
 
Mine not so much.

Then I was never in a lab long enough to fully take advantage of the tuition benefits at the university.  I did get them to pay for immunology when I was thinking of going into health care so that's something I guess.

[giramomma]

Feb 9, 2022 18:30:00 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 9, 2022 15:43:54 GMT -5 nidena said:

This is one way to get applicants in the door:

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood to Cover Tuition for Employees Who Want to Further Their Education

I wonder why she limited the full tuition to just a few programs?  Still a good deal especially for PT and she offers 5K/year for 150 other degrees.   My employer offers 5K/year and it's amazing how few people take advantage of it in a small town with three colleges within 10 minutes of work.  Then again, I'm always shocked how many don't use the 401K too.  I had them pay for most of my degree...which is good since I apparently get no use out of it.

I chatted with someone from ASU once. They said only like 10% of Starbucks employees take advantage of the tuition benefit.

[Tiny]

Feb 10, 2022 9:54:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

I've been hearing "rumors" that required drug tests and background checks (no DUIs for example) 
can effect who gets hired. 

I  suspect some of the non work related requirements may effect if someone applies or not.  If you know you aren't going to pass the drug test or have a questionable driving record why bother applying. 
 
I'm guessing Amazon, USPS, casinos, and school districts have some sort of background check/drug test requirement. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Amazon got rid of pot on the drug testing.  They said if you do something dumb/dangerous then just like with alcohol yeah they will test you but they are no longer going to be testing for pot as part of the hiring process if your job doesn't require it by law.

"In the past, like many employers, we've disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use," said Amazon retail executive Dave Clark. "However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we've changed course. We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug-screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use."



Clark said the online retail giant will continue to monitor for on-the-job impairment and conduct post-incident drug and alcohol tests.


www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/amazon-drops-marijuana-screening.aspx


Which I think is incredibly smart on their part.  I know my company bitches about not being able to find people in states where it is legal.  So stop testing for it?  How is someone having a joint on Friday night any different from someone drinking on Friday night?   Why is your coworker stumbling into work hungover on Monday okay but your other coworker gets fired because there were 15 ng/mL of pot in his system come Monday?

[minnesotapaintlady]

Feb 10, 2022 9:54:39 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Someone posted on my town's FB page asking about places hiring for $14-$16/hour. So far there are 51 responses, with few duplicates, most listing actual places hiring at that rate or higher in a variety of types of work- Amazon, Aldi's, temp agencies, casinos, the USPS, the school district... it does make you wonder where all the workers are.

They just bumped up starting to $18/hour here.  That's the second $3/hour bump in 9 months.  Pretty soon I'm going to have to quit and re-apply to get a raise.

[Lizard Queen]

Feb 10, 2022 15:30:06 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I was looking through mine and it says that it has to directly relate to the position I hold or is designated to be something that my position will eventually do.

Yeah no.  I didn't have an interest in getting a master's/PhD to stay in place at the university I don't have any interest in it here. 

And no I am not reading it wrong I actually just went back to check in case I made a mistake.  I suppose depending on what department you are in the company there may be many options related to your job.
 
Mine not so much.

Then I was never in a lab long enough to fully take advantage of the tuition benefits at the university.  I did get them to pay for immunology when I was thinking of going into health care so that's something I guess.

That's how it was at the old place I worked at, so I mostly didn't take advantage of it, though I took plenty of classes. Plus, if you left before 5 years, you had to pay it back. Current place, it has to be related to current job, or career path, so somewhat the same thing. Pay back if you leave before 3 years is up, so it's better. Only $5k per fiscal year though, which isn't much with the price of tuition.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Feb 10, 2022 16:27:40 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Feb 10, 2022 15:30:06 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I was looking through mine and it says that it has to directly relate to the position I hold or is designated to be something that my position will eventually do.

Yeah no.  I didn't have an interest in getting a master's/PhD to stay in place at the university I don't have any interest in it here. 

And no I am not reading it wrong I actually just went back to check in case I made a mistake.  I suppose depending on what department you are in the company there may be many options related to your job.
 
Mine not so much.

Then I was never in a lab long enough to fully take advantage of the tuition benefits at the university.  I did get them to pay for immunology when I was thinking of going into health care so that's something I guess.

That's how it was at the old place I worked at, so I mostly didn't take advantage of it, though I took plenty of classes. Plus, if you left before 5 years, you had to pay it back. Current place, it has to be related to current job, or career path, so somewhat the same thing. Pay back if you leave before 3 years is up, so it's better. Only $5k per fiscal year though, which isn't much with the price of tuition.

Even UNMC had a catch they paid the tuition but wouldn't pay fees.  I ended up having to pay $300 for the immunology course out of my pocket.  Was it better than full cost yeah but it was only $300 in fees because it was online.

It actually came out cheaper math wise for me to pay to take statistics at IWCC 100% out of my own pocket than use the tuition benefits to go through UNO after I added up all the fees. 

Definitely pays to read the fine print.  

Given the university already low balls salary I can imagine that for some people those fees were an obstacle to taking advantage of "free" schooling.