The urgent need around the country for Maintenance Technicians-What works for you ?

James Mcquade said:

this is my opinion as I see it.

Most of today's kids are lazy and do not want to work.
they want the $30/hr. job and play on their cell phones and do little work.
...

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To me someone has to be in the mindset to want to get things fixed, and build new.

When I got into industrial maintenance back in the [OMG that was a decade?] I liked fixing things, especially when someone else tried and couldn't. I still like seeing a machine run that I fixed or built and got running.

In this field I like figuring out how to program something that I have been told by another programmer can't be done (then they usually want to know how I did it as they have a coupe of customers they would like to sell my upgrade to)

If a person doesn't care if they accomplish something, take pride in their work or just goes through the motions, hoping a 'team member' will come behind them and fix their screw-up, then that person won't be in the Maintenance Department for very long. They want to be in the engineering office.

James Mcquade said:

this is my opinion as I see it.

Most of today's kids are lazy and do not want to work.


we start people out at $16/hr. to sweep floors

We hire those with no experience at times and give them training, only to have them quit after 3-9 months for a higher paying job doing the same thing.

this is a great place to work

james

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It doesn't read that way.

I've been in industrial maintenance/service for over 30 years now. I see younger people coming in and expect to handed everything on a platter. Sorry, I don't have time do my own job and train someone who can't do the job.

We don't loose many maintenance people to competitors because our compensation is very competitive, but I see people expecting to be at the top pay rate without having to demonstrate they can do the work, that's not how it works, and it seems to be getting worse. I have been pushing for management to adopt an actual training program with some industrial electrical classes at local trade schools. Some of our plants do this already.

cardosocea,

We start out those who are fresh out of school at a very good rate (best guess is $15/hr.) and we also show them what their pay rate will be in timed increments. we also have a training pay increase for those who complete our training classes. these pay increases and training increases are not 25 or 50 cents per hour, but 1 or 2 dollars / hr. and they still quit.

james

James Mcquade said:

We start out those who are fresh out of school at a very good rate (best guess is $15/hr.) and we also show them what their pay rate will be in timed increments. we also have a training pay increase for those who complete our training classes. these pay increases and training increases are not 25 or 50 cents per hour, but 1 or 2 dollars / hr. and they still quit.

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I can't say much about the pay per hour as I'm not in the US, but if as you say they leave to get more money elsewhere then perhaps the current setup needs to be adjusted.

This is me from my armchair and not knowing the reality... it could very well be a different standard that is accepted between your company and where they move to.



However, I think we can all agree that loyalty is a thing of the past either way and nowadays the way to get a pay rise is really to move on and come back.

Isn't $15 an hour basically min. wage?

Also, all you people saying the young ones want it given without the work. I was working for a company traveling to multiple sites and doing the work my co-workers should have been doing. Only to get stiffed a raise at the end of the year. When I quit the company was all "we messed up" and "you were suppose to get a raise". Us youngins don't have time for your oldins ********.

edit - we pay really good wages, dollar a day and a day is 12 hour shift with no breaks and no lunch and no bathrooms or water! Really good wages! We even match your 401k at 80%!!! The best in the nation! No healthcare though... or dental... or vision... Really good job and wages!!! Can't find anyone to work for us. Oh, and I forgot to mention!!! YOU GET A WEEK OFF (un paid) and after 10 years with us you can get 2 weeks off with one week unpaid!!! SO GOOD! (no weekends and expected to be oncall 7/24/265 with no benefits)

I wonder why you are having such an issue getting the worthless younger generation to work for you.

James Mcquade said:

cardosocea,

We start out those who are fresh out of school at a very good rate (best guess is $15/hr.) and we also show them what their pay rate will be in timed increments. we also have a training pay increase for those who complete our training classes. these pay increases and training increases are not 25 or 50 cents per hour, but 1 or 2 dollars / hr. and they still quit.

james

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I'm can't comment on the fairness of that pay structure, but it seems like the proof is in the pudding. Why stay if I can make more somewhere else?

Out of curiosity, what is the general consensus on the "younger generation" age range. Are we talking currently under 30? Under 35? Under 25?

I don't know what the starting pay is for electricians, I was using that as an example.
seems like the people we hire want the big bucks now, they don't want to go through the climb the ladder process, learn as they do their work, and do the training programs we offer. from those I talked with who left, most wished they had stayed for the training.

james

JZerb said:

Out of curiosity, what is the general consensus on the "younger generation" age range. Are we talking currently under 30? Under 35? Under 25?

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I'm just using Millennial because they're usually the hated on the most (Z gen is next) and I think that is like 38 to 23.

Source on age range - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille...is definition, the,Board, and Ernst and Young.

As far as the "climb the ladder" stuff... I've watched companies pay an electrician 2 cents more to be the PLC guy... then they were going to move him to salary to be the controls guy (no electrical work).

The joke about that, if I worked hourly I'd have made more than I made salary at an electrician pay rate. This also included travel, I worked multiple sites across North America. You traveled for free because "travel isn't really working" per my ex-boss.

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VAN said:

I'm just using Millennial because they're usually the hated on the most (Z gen is next) and I think that is like 38 to 23.

Its funny because i fit into that category but i almost feel as if millennial's can be split into two different groups, 38-30 and 30-20 current age. The people i see in this industry that are about my age, 32 or older seem to still have the mindset that you need to work to get rewarded. Anyone younger then 30, from my experience, is pretty entitled as others here have said.

Source on age range - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille...is definition, the,Board, and Ernst and Young.

As far as the "climb the ladder" stuff... I've watched companies pay an electrician 2 cents more to be the PLC guy... then they were going to move him to salary to be the controls guy (no electrical work).

The joke about that, if I worked hourly I'd have made more than I made salary at an electrician pay rate. This also included travel, I worked multiple sites across North America. You traveled for free because "travel isn't really working" per my ex-boss.

Travel is absolutely work and if that was how you were treated Im happy to hear you describe that person as your EX boss.

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JZerb said:

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I'm older millennial so above 30 group and haven't interacted too much with the under 30 crowd. I just know how I've been treated and shafted by pretty much anyone I've ever worked for as an adult or getting salary/benefits.

So, whenever I hear anyone talking about how ****ty some worker is, I see red and just think about how much I've been shafted and treated poorly. I've changed jobs a bit and have made some really good money but at the end of the day I have ZERO sympathy for employers. They all will take money off the backs of workers to get ahead and fire workers without a moments notice.

Can't find workers, start paying and stop messing around!

I see a lot of issues. One is blaming 'those darned millennials'. Let's face it, my parents generation said the same about us.

Say what you will, but lets spread the blame around to the rest of society too. One is the huge push to go to school to get a 'good' job. Sit in the office and nice AC and make big bucks. No one wants their offspring to aspire to a 'mere' blue collar job.

This leads also to upper management and HR ('college kids') looking down on the blue collar workers and thinking that giving them $16/hour is a huge gift. With the push for fair wages across the country of $15/hour, an extra $1/hour isn't gonna attract anyone. You're basically competing with minimum wage workers. So, who do you expect to show up? I see it as management has their hand out wanting a trained worker to work for free.

Companies (and current techs), say we ain't got the money or time to train them. Because we have developed this 'now' mentality. No one wants to make an investment in their people.

We don't really seem to have a problem getting good, hard-working employees. How do we do it? We pay well. Twice the above rates (albeit we are in expensive part of the country.) We expect to train them to do what we need them to do. I don't expect full productivity out of a new hire for at least a year, but if you don't measure up you're gone before those twelve months are up. And yes I do work extra hours to make time for training and still do my job, but as I joke quite often, I'm training these guys to take my job.

JZerb said:

Out of curiosity, what is the general consensus on the "younger generation" age range. Are we talking currently under 30? Under 35? Under 25?

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I say under 30 and maybe under 25... it takes longer for people to mature these days

I dont think it really makes a difference (within reason) where you start them, they just dont want to start at the 'bottom' they are to good for it.

My old boss, would only hire guys that just bought a house and had several young kids... he knew they would show up and work over time, he would also only hire ugly women because the guys would not bug them all day long

The biggest part of the problem is yet to come. In the next 10 years there will be less than half of kids graduating high school than there will be people retiring in our county.
Most of those kids are still being taught to see out a 4 year college degree as opposed to the technical trades, and the trend has been that 80 percent of graduates move out of the area.