Monday, January 29, 2007

Where Have All The Hard Workers Gone?

A guy was supposed to come to work for us today as a Staff Accountant. He never showed up and never called us-even after I left him a voice mail. And this was AFTER calling us last Monday to confirm that he would be here today!!

And all of this comes on the heels of us firing another guy who would never show up for work. He would call in sick constantly. At least 1-2 times per week(usually more) from July-Dec '06 he would not make it in to work. And the last two work weeks he was our employee he missed 6 out of the 10 possible work days.

I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man here but what is the DEAL with these people??!! Get up out of bed, and get here!! And it's not like this is physically demanding work. I can't imagine what these dudes would be doing if they actually had to exert some energy lifting something or some such work.

I certainly admire the older generations of Americans. They knew what hard work was. They gave a honest days work for an honest days pay. And they worked at the same place for 30+ years. It just seems like things have changed for the worse. No one wants to work hard anymore.

So, if you know anyone with tax experience who is WILLING to work, let me know. I sure haven't had any luck finding them.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Keith, I know what it is like from when we had our temp service. The main difference between our time and the GI matures is that they experienced the Great Depression and then beat the Japs and the Huns. So when they came home and got a job, it was valued as a once deprived commodity. Flip to the now, enter the baby-boomers and the Gen. X’ers. We are the me generation, who thrive on the experience and look for our inner consciousness. We look for our work to be a definition of who we are and not a means to an end. Our distinction can not be built on a network of good will and honorable deeds. Look at the man who pays his bills and meets all his responsibilities only to meet with one unfortunate pit in the road, gashing his credit. In our fathers day we could talk to our banker and he would levy his knowledge of of our good name with our intent. Today in our numbers world of black and white balance sheets we are bounced against the walls of credit scores and deregulated banking procedures. Our good word and intent are unvalued on the scale of financial judgment. For this time it has moved to the realm of “every man for himself”. Then again money is money and loyalty to our words do not mean the same to us as they did to the GI’s. But we can’t beat on our generation too hard. The system has taught us to lack loyalty by example. Before we dip our sword into the average worker for his lack of commitment, we must beg the question: are American companies loyal to the economies of our states, or are they first loyal to their own bottom lines and share holders? So tit for tat, where there is irresponsibility in the child’s part, so too we must glance at his home to see what example was not rendered to him by the selfish parent. So I see your side, but the answer is found in panning out from your example and refocusing on the trends of our State and the union it binds.

Keith Hollar said...

Wow, Joseph! Great thoughts! Thanks for your input and for visting The Bicycle Rack.

Neponset River Bridge Dig said...

Hey I hear ya!! you know, as a supervisor among my many other responsabilties in Health care It's difficult to find reliablle people. I think some people who call in sick 6 out of 10 days probably have some kind of substance abuse issue going on.

mdlea_eng said...

I have experience... ...in writing the IRS checks for my taxes. But, that's probably not what you mean. :)

Seriously though, I know what you're talking about. I started feeling like an old grump when I was in my mid-20's. I'd go into a fast food restaurant to order something and get loads of attitude and very poor service. Everybody was waiting for somebody else to take care of the customer.

Flash forward to a few years ago. I had a few young engineers put under me. One in particular had a terrible attitude. He had been involved with a project for a while that required a lot of time and effort. When I got him, his attitude was, "Hey, I already put in my hard time and I'm gonna let the company pay me back." Never mind that he received a paycheck and a few raises during all that hard work. He'd show up late, leave early, and I can't count the number of times I caught him goofing around on the internet. Heaven forbid someone ask him to put some extra time into a project to get it done on time.

I see some of the blame going to the purveyors of the idea that there is no absolute right or wrong. "Whatever you feel you need to do is right for you." The constant belittling of Christians, Christ, God, and even religion in general has taken its toll. If the standards for morals and values are meaningless, then so are the morals and values themselves.

This is one reason I am terrified about expanding my business beyond sole proprietorship. Some of it is that I am a control freak. But, I am also afraid of hiring someone with a poor (or worse, negligent) work ethic. My name goes on everything that goes out the door. If I inadvertantly miss something in the review process, several things could happen. The worst is that someone could die in a building I've designed. The best that could happen is that I get egg on my face and lose a client.

Anyway Keith, I hope you are able to find someone before the tax crunch gets well and truly underway. It would stink for you to have to put in more hours than you usually do during tax time.