We have been
so busy making every child college ready that we neglected to provide those
budding managers with one important thing.
We forgot to make sure that there were enough working employees who
could be managed.
I have had a
help-wanted ad on Craigslist for the past couple of weeks. I have hired three people, interviewed ten
and left dozens of messages. Of the
three people that were hired, one worked three weeks, missed four days and sent
a text on the fourth of his missed days saying that he got this incredible job
offer and wouldn’t be returning.
The second
came in for one day, cost us over $200 in incorrectly addressed shipments, left
for lunch the following day and sent a text saying that “The job does not meet
with my expectations.” Yes, that is an
exact word for word quote.
The third
accepted an offer on a Thursday and told us that he would be in the following Monday
morning. And on Monday he was a no show,
no phone call, no message, I couldn’t even get an answer from his
references.
I learned
that ‘ghost’ has become a verb. It
means, “I am gone, disappeared and not available. I won’t answer your texts, calls or emails
and I’m going to pretend that you can’t even see me.” Look for it next year in Webster’s.
One of the
interviewees was asked back for a second interview. She sent an email on the Sunday before her
Monday second interview saying that her car was broken and she needed to take
it in on Monday so would not be able to make her appointment. I sent an email back and tried phoning on
that Monday. Another ghost.
Who does
this shit? Really. Who does this?
I have a
theory of course. It starts with
us. That is ‘us’ the older
generation. The blame rests on us. You see, we’re getting older and soon enough
will be dependent on the kids.
Our
government has done a fabulous job of scaring the hell out of the youngsters. Baby boomers are retiring and the shrinking
population of laboring children has to support them. Social security is a big tax and may not be
around forever (according to our government) and yet all those poor children
still have to pay into the system. It is
a huge burden. So yes, we older folks
caused the problem.
I have a
couple of comments about how the younger generation is handling this issue.
At least
half of you have never learned the value of showing up. I’m not kidding about the half, either. I recently discussed the situation with a
temp personnel agency. The operations
manager said that his agency had reduced the number of interviewee no-shows
from fifty percent to thirty percent. He
was proud of his agency for having done so well!
Showing up
is a lot of the job, by the way. If you
did that, you might discover the value of working. At least you might discover that the income
you generate pays for your stuff. Otherwise,
where the hell do you get your stuff? After
all, your parents eventually stop paying for everything although a lot of them
seem to be involved in paying off your student loans. I suppose that’s okay, though.
After all, they are the ones who worked so
hard to make you college ready and then prepared you for that cushy job you
didn’t get.
Oh, another
thing. More than a few of us old people
realize that the burden you carry is tough.
You have no guarantees about retirement or pensions and the companies
you work for don’t offer them these days.
We have been watching the news and we realize that you might benefit
from our experience. More than a few of
us want to help and we find it disconcerting that you ignore us. I’m talking about your grandparents. Your parents, who taught you that it’s okay
not to show up, need to be put into a corner for a time out.
While you
are busy not showing up, the government is busy taking over your life. Do you realize that each time you step away
from the process, someone steps in and limits your reentry? The door gets narrower each time. Pretty soon, you’ll be wondering how in the
hell you found your way into the jail that your life has become.
Look, I
realize that all the good jobs are taken.
There are no more CEO positions out there and the chairs with footstools
are all gone. You don’t get a bonus for showing up at an
interview and you also don’t get applauded for coming to work. In fact, someone may tell you that your work
needs improvement or, heaven forfend, you are not getting the job done. Those are all good things, by the way. They mean that someone is paying attention to
you.
Okay, I’ve
said my piece. Time to move on and write
something for next time. See you at
work.
