So, if you were hiring....

The tech/cashier side is usually a pretty good 40-42 hour a week job. Nothing difficult, process based. Pay is good for this area for this type of job. I'm always surprised by the lack of applicants when I run an ad.

The management job is an awesome job, salary on 40-45 hours. Being able to do all the other jobs in the shop is a plus but I've hired folks from outside who picked up the job in a month top to bottom.

My neighboring employers who have similar issues blame the MTV generation/millenials having high expectations but I'm not buying that 100%. I would love to find why there is an antipathy towards working.

I've gotta say I feel that vacation time is far more important for your young, childless folks than it is for the older guy who has a family. That older guy who has a family wants a good wage so his wife doesn't have to work.

I know lots of guys with families who while they appreciate getting 3-4 weeks of vacation after 5 years, really never use that vacation. Grandparents and family come to them, holidays are spent at home, etc.

I'm of the opposite group. I can't get enough vacation, and I use all of it away from home. I've told employers outright that I'd trade salary for vacation time, few take that deal.

Perhaps that is a way you could attract or keep employees. Even offering unpaid vacation may attract some workers. I know I'd be perfectly fine if my company offered me 2 weeks of unpaid time on top of my 3 weeks of paid. I'm stable in my finances and I can afford that time off.

What type of work is it? Is it specialised enough to have its own online community or forum? The industry that I work in has a decent on-line community forum that has members in the industry from all corners of the English speaking world (and a few members who clearly aren't English speakers LOL). It has a help wanted section, and its also a good way to check up on the reputations of potential employers.

In reply to chandlerGTi:

Not all of us expect the world, but being an early millennial myself, I have noticed a strong push towards wanting the world without putting in the effort. It seems to get worse towards the tail end of the generation too.

I use recruiters for staffing.

chandlerGTi wrote: Ive also noticed that the amount of male respondents to postings have dramatically dropped off. Drug test and background are required and that info scares some off...

What kind of drug test, and are you noting that in the job listing?

You aren't going to find a lot of oil change techs who will pass a hair test. Or a piss test for that matter, the weed lingers in urine too long.

Mike Rowe has a whole organization geared towards getting people into dirty jobs that can pay up to six figures. Granted, you bust your ass to earn that money (like offshore welding), which is why he isn't getting much throughput from what I understand.

I'm also in the "give me more time off" camp, and I'm not exactly young. I work 45 or more hours per week on salary, and I use the vacation time one or two days at a time to recover from the 65 or more hour weeks that pop up so I can mow my lawn or see my kids.

My issue is more getting applicants than hiring... average tech tenure is 2 years, shift leader tenure is about 3 yrs, cashiers tenure currently is 4.5 years, managers are currently 9 yrs, 10 yrs, 10 yrs and 16 yrs.

My ads say that we drug test; because, we do. It's a urine drop test and you can study for the test.

chandlerGTi wrote: ... and you can study for the test.

this made me laugh

I don't know if the young people you're seeking have this question, but what are the bennies? I'm currently looking for a new job. I like my job, and the pay is good, but health care benefits keep going down, while my costs and copays keep going up.

The entire reason I'm looking for a new job is to get better health care benefits. What are you offering?

I have a shop in your town...

Insurance is decent, not government good. Three options known as gold, silver, bronze. I know it's far better than other employers in our pay range, this due to seeing an insurance packet for two other companies.

401k matching to 6%, dental vision yadayadaya paid vacations (I allow unpaid vacations at my shop). Also, we are run independently but owned by a huge company so transfers and promotions between company owned operations happen.

I wince at what we pay towards insurance ( I have wife / multiple children) compared to what I paid as a single guy in the nineties. But that appears to be everywhere.

In reply to chandlerGTi:

Right, but does it say it's a urine test? I hang out with these people sometimes, they like to know upfront.

Good point, I will address that on future advertisements.

Hm. Maybe I don't have it so bad when it comes to benefits.

Your reality check just cleared :)

We've been having a tough time finding knowledgable sales people who need it. Most of the ones that apply just want a job because daddy said so. They don't really need the money. When people are hungry for it they tend to put in that extra effort

Offer your employees a $20 bonus for any referral that can provide a resume and pass a background and drug test.

Offer them $100 bonus for anyone you hire.

Thanks Paul, we actually do offer the $100 for anyone we hire who makes it past 90 days.

Also, attainable bonus based on shop income which is nice. 50% paid monthly, 50% paid every six months. Training bonuses as well.

I would think hard about playing up women applicants.

In your case, it might be different (since you do mostly trucks), but there is no reason why women can't also do dirty jobs and be a great asset. They sometimes have an easier time developing a trust relationship with some customers, which can lead to more business.

So, I would start by making it clear that you would like to consider women for these jobs. You probably have office staff that might consider it, or can refer friends. They just haven't thought of it because they figure it's a "man's job".

Then, perhaps, consider offering a benefit that could assist with childcare.

If you don't consider women, you are overlooking 50% of the workforce.

Since no one does it, you might find some opportunities.

I know a lot of women who would love a part time dirty job that offered flex time, a childcare benefit, and a bit more pay.

In reply to chandlerGTi:

I meant bump the referral bonus to existing employees.

Since you are looking for more qualified applicants, a bonus to a new hire doesn't do much.

Offer a referral bonus of $20 PLUS another $100 (to the refferer) if hired. (The point being to encourage referrals, and therefore more applicants)

SVreX wrote: I know a lot of women who would love a part time dirty job......

Giggity!

Perhaps I typed that incorrectly. The referral bonus(paid to existing teammate) is $100 if the new hire teammate makes it 90 days. I usually have two or three females working on the floor. All of your points are good ones and female teammates also have a detailed outlook that helps us in other ways.

Got it.

Not sure I agree with the 90 day thing.

Once an employee has given you a referral, and you have gone the the hiring process and made your decision, their work is done.

The new hire's ability to survive 90 days is completely out of the control of the old employee. There is a disconnect between the bonus and the purpose (to generate applications).

But, sounds like you make a pretty good effort.

What about hiring out of area?

What do the employees of your competitors hate the most about their jobs? Hot shop? Long hours? No bonuses?

Focus on those things.

While I've stooped to the level of stealing people from my competitors in the past Ive pretty well stopped doing it. I actually prefer to hire people who have never done this before professionally. Untraining / Retraining bad habits is way harder than training to a process (I think you and I talked about that before).

Hot and cold shop, managers not understanding or helping, unsafe work atmosphere, broken equipment and tools~ all of those are the complaints I hear from my competitors employees. We provide tools and make sure they are good, our shop is also hot/cold, managers work on floor, and the whole shop is designed around safety.

We are more specialized than others who do this nationwide (exactly 0 others) so usually mechanics get bored doing the same thing over and over.

Have you considered radio or TV advertising?

I have a feeling the demographic you are looking for might not respond much to written or Internet ads. Pretty sure you won't find them on Monster.com.

An ad with the local cable company on SpeedTV, or other such coverage, is probably a lot cheaper than you think.