Replacement EV battery dilemas... Spark and Leaf

[redpoint5]

All anecdotes I see suggest labor shortages in most labor markets, from what used to be low wage fast food jobs, to trucking, to healthcare, to IT and engineering. The bar has been lowered for getting these jobs and wages have increased.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by JSH

I'm curious what type of engineers you are seeing struggling to find jobs. My first question is are they willing to relocate to hot job markets.

We have hired a few hundred engineers in the past few years and struggled to find candidates and we are fine with taking a new grad with zero engineering job experience. (Zero job experience of any kind is a red flag and I'm shocked at how many 23-24 year-old college grads have never worked a job for a paycheck)

Its a job.

When I was starting out it was physically impossible to relocate to a hot job market because I didn’t have the assets to obtain an apartment in said area and none of the jobs provided relocation assistance. Now that I don’t need any assistance I could get it, go figure.
The place I work found me, I didn’t find them, (never thought about working where I do if I hadn’t gotten a direct contact no idea what place I would have ended up)

From what I’ve been seeing 90% of the “engineering positions “ are contract, temp or managerial , which usually aren’t appealing or necessarily a good idea out the gate to a new grad.


The new grads I’ve encountered (IE/ME) are just complaining about having to send hundreds of resumes but not getting any feedback or communication for periods of 6 months or longer. It’s unlikely out of the hundreds of thousands of companies they are finding the places that actually do take a chance on new engineers.


If you belong to a place looking for labor consider reaching out directly to the engineering colleges in various areas. I am certain the grads would appreciate some spam from a job in their field before leaving college into the ether.

[redpoint5]

I'd be more reluctant the younger the candidate, for obvious reasons.

That said, I'd be willing to try a temp to hire on just about anyone willing to endure short term austerity for the prospect of prosperity.

As far as I can tell, book smarts aren't worth so much. Since people are programmable computers, just about anyone can learn a thing. It's the character that matters, and that isn't so programable.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'd be more reluctant the younger the candidate, for obvious reasons.

That said, I'd be willing to try a temp to hire on just about anyone willing to endure short term austerity for the prospect of prosperity..

Most companies, especially in right to work states do have an evaluation period
For new hires or bring in contractors.

Young and stupid are more likely to be loyal than the experienced workers

You can build your ideal candidate and put up with a high percentage that need to be fired or leave or you can put up with heavy competition with experienced candidates that “know what they are worth “ that will have more means to properly move job to job.

The primary issue here is the ready to use employees are becoming less common.

[redpoint5]

I'm always willing to pay a premium for a premium worker.

There are fast-food employees making minimum wage that are overpaid, and there are fast-food employees making minimum wage that should be earning triple.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'm always willing to pay a premium for a premium worker.

There are fast-food employees making minimum wage that are overpaid, and there are fast-food employees making minimum wage that should be earning triple.

True but if no one young and stupid gets a proper job to learn your job pool becomes tiny, which is exactly what has happened.

Some folks who have ZERO experience are sevants and make far better employees than most old expensive folks, pig and a poke, you won’t have future decent employees without bringing on young hires

We have had young small female hires out of fast food that build better than many of our old experienced male counterparts, especially now employers need to be willing to take risks on new employees or there won’t be an experienced pool to draw from.

[redpoint5]

I'm willing to take risks, and also willing to leave the chaff blowing in the wind.

You can't get away with bad employees when you've only got 1 or 2. Once a big organization develops, you end up with a large percentage of low productivity employees.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

When I was starting out it was physically impossible to relocate to a hot job market because I didn’t have the assets to obtain an apartment in said area and none of the jobs provided relocation assistance. Now that I don’t need any assistance I could get it, go figure.
The place I work found me, I didn’t find them, (never thought about working where I do if I hadn’t gotten a direct contact no idea what place I would have ended up)

I'll take that as a no - these people aren't willing to relocate.

Where there is a will there is a way. It isn't like a new grad has a whole house full of belongings to transport. Throw some clothes in the car, fill the tank, and go.

Originally Posted by rmay635703

From what I’ve been seeing 90% of the “engineering positions “ are contract, temp or managerial , which usually aren’t appealing or necessarily a good idea out the gate to a new grad.

Yes, many starting positions are contract. They are a great way to build a resume. Anyone not willing to take a contract job as a first engineering job isn't going to be very successful. Heck, I had to take a contract position to get into my current employer even with 15 years work experience.

Originally Posted by rmay635703

The new grads I’ve encountered (IE/ME) are just complaining about having to send hundreds of resumes but not getting any feedback or communication for periods of 6 months or longer. It’s unlikely out of the hundreds of thousands of companies they are finding the places that actually do take a chance on new engineers.

Lots of companies have automatic screening that discards anyone that has been out of work for more than 6 months. I saw this happen first hand when I took a year off when we moved to Oregon. For 6 months I got head hunter calls or emails on a regular basis and call backs from resumes I sent out. At 6 months almost to the day the calls and responses disappeared. These new grads need to get a job - any job they can find - to prove that they actually want to work. They can't just wait for their dream job. The longer they are unemployed the worse it looks to a potential employer. Unemployment is 3.6% and there are help wanted signs everywhere.

[redpoint5]

Yes, exactly. In general, the less one has, the easier it is to relocate. Straight out of prison, the world was my oyster, and I took the first job that I found. That $10/hr job was great, but I was offered a $17/hr job a month later, as a barely HS graduate that was fresh out of prison. The $10/hr job immediately offered $14 to keep me, but I knew construction was not the best fit for me.

My point is, there are any number of excuses to dig in.

As Scott Adams says, decide what you want, and then pay the cost to get it. That might involve relocation, or any number of other "costs".