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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Manufacturing

They are talking about this topic: General Skills

 

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The quotes below are about this issue:
Employers feel professionalism is lacking in new hires, and they cite generational differences in work ethic. Many employers express concern about issues related to attendance, quality of work, and discipline. They also have difficulty finding employees who are willing to work second and third shifts.

Employer Quote Region
"I think part of it is that they just haven't been taught. You walk on a college campus like [non-MnSCU college], and the kids look like I did 30 years ago—they haven't shaved in a number of days, they have long hair, and raggedy clothes. And these are the guys that are going to be your engineers of the future. We went up to Alexandria on a trip. I took two of my supervisors there a year ago to look at the program and meet with the head of the program. And they have about 24 kids there. We show up there, and all of these kids are working in a lab and they've all got clean jeans on. They've got a shirt that's issued to them from that program. They're all clean-shaven and ready to go to work. And it's the same thing you see when you go to that other program over at [MnSCU college]. We can't believe that they get kids that automatically dress that way. I mean, these guys are being like their dads who are teaching them, 'This is what you have to do when you have a job.' So, you walk in there, and you think, 'I want to hire all these guys.'" Southwest
"Employer 1: Growing up, I remember my father telling stories about what he had to do for some of his students. He'd have to teach them how to open a bank account because they didn't know how to do that. These were kids from a farm in a little town, and they didn't know a lot of these things. But they knew how to get to work on time because dad or mom used to kick them out of bed. You'd get up, and do your work. But, later, his biggest problem was getting the students to show up on time. Back then—I graduated in 1986—I knew that my attendance was a third of my grade. You punched a time clock when you went into school or when you went into work. You had to be there. It was required that you show up on time.

Employer 2: [MnSCU college] used to do that.

Employer 1: You don't see that anymore. They don't keep time clocks. I mean, I have employees that I ask, 'What time did you go to school this morning?' And they'll say, 'Oh, I can show up between this time and this time.' So, at work, they're like, 'Do I have to be here at 3:00 every day?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, you do.' I'll say, for the flexibility of a group, 'When do you want your work day to start, and when do you want it to stop?' But then, after that, you do have to show up when you say you're going to be there. We can be flexible, but we can't say, 'Oh, you can start at 3:00, or you can start 3:15, or you can start at 4:00.' We can offer flexibility to a point, but then we need employees to be accountable. If that accountability was being stressed more when they're in school, I think it'd be an easier adaptation when they get into the workforce. It's important that you show up on time."		 Southwest
"You'd be amazed, when you go through the interview process, how many people aren't aware of the concept that 7:00 a.m. means that you actually arrive at work at 7:00 a.m. and that you get to work at that time." Southwest
"Employer 1: That whole reporting to work at 7:00 a.m. thing? I think that's going to have to be an industry adjustment and change. As we have older workers leaving and younger workers coming in, that mentality of how we do a job is going to have to change.

Employer 2: I hear what you're saying, but when you have a factory with all this equipment that you have to run 24 hours a day, I can't picture how you'd ever do that."		 Southwest
"None of us are self-contained in our own little shop. We're dealing with customers, with vendors, with all kinds of people that are in different time zones. I mean, just all kinds of things. And I think you're right, I think the issue of life skills is huge in all of these areas. Getting up for work, getting there on time. And if you're traveling today, then you have your suitcase ready." Southwest
"On the assembly line, we do expect to have to train them. But sometimes it's just the soft skills like getting there on time. 'I have to work five days a week? I have to be here all day?' You know, those types of things. But, in more sincerity, we do have trouble finding somebody that is trainable as well. Someone that wants to be there." Southwest
"There are things that we can teach on the line as far as food handling, food safety, knife handling, and knife safety. But it's the basic skills they need to have coming in, like the math and some of the soft skills. Like showing up on time. The line starts at a certain time; they need to understand the importance of that. And that's where the frustration comes in." Southwest
"What I look for is, how enthusiastic are they? Are they motivated? I can't teach motivation. I can't teach smart. And I can't teach trainability. Somebody comes in thinking, 'I have a four-year degree, so I know everything. And you can't train me because I know everything.' Well, they're useless to me. I just interviewed three engineers two days ago, and I've turned them all down. They came out of really good engineering schools, but they apparently know everything, and they were more than willing to tell me how they know everything. Which means they're not trainable." Southwest
"I need somebody to come in and say, 'You know, I've jumped through the right hoops for the right people to be able to get my little degree. And now I understand that I don't know what I don't know. So, please teach me what I don't know, and then teach me how to do it.' But they don't have that attitude—very few that have higher education have that attitude. A lot of technical school kids come in and think, 'Well, so-and-so, who has worked on the line for 26 years, doesn't have a degree, so I must be smarter than him.' No. Not so much. The person who's been on the line for 26 years knows how to fix every piece of machinery in this place. He's learned how to use computers and he's learned how to use the CNC machine on his own. So, what I'm looking for is more people in your system who understand the fact that you have to have—what my dad used to call common sense—I call it logic. You need to be able to think to yourself, 'If I stick my hand in here, it's probably not going to come back.' A lot of people don't have that anymore. They just think, 'Oh, well, the machine will stop itself before I ever get hurt.' No. Machines aren't that smart." Southwest
"I've got a lot of young people that are really creative, but it's getting them to the critical thinking skills, you know? They're smart enough, they're just not disciplined." Southwest