Seen any HELP WANTED signs?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

"Help Wanted" signs usually appear on the businesses that employ people only at the lowest wage rungs. But how long has it been since you saw any?

I saw a Help Wanted sign at a mall store, "Things Remembered." I saw one at a non-franchise sandwhich shop. For some reason, I was surprised to see the latter.

[disneysteve]

I see them all the time - restaurants especially but other places, too. Also, any of the numerous new stores that are always popping up. There is a new Lowe's opening in the area and I know they are in hiring mode to staff the new place. Most employers I talk to always have the same complaint - they can't find enough qualified workers. Either folks fail the drug test or they start the job and then come in late or don't show up at all for no reason. I have one patient who owns a trucking company and he actually had to sell a couple of trucks and downsize his business because he couldn't get enough decent drivers who would stay on and do the work. Turnover at most places is high because of the poor work ethic so many people have today. You think folks would appreciate having a job and commit to doing it well but that sadly isn't the case.

[MonkeyMama]

No - definitely not.

Interesting thing was we were drowning in help wanted signs for MANY years. But that is something I certainly haven't seen around here in a long while. The jobs have really dried up where I live. The minimum wage jobs have hundreds of people vying for them. IT was just 10 months ago we made national news for 500 people lining up for jobs at a new fast food franchise. IT hasn't turned around that quickly here.

[kork13]

Yea, I see them around here, but no good way to categorize where... restaurants, retail, services, and so on. Plenty of jobs around here for someone wanting to do it. But then, this is a fairly small, slower-paced city in the south... It doesn't seem that people are clawing to snap up job openings around here.

[Cassandra]

At the beginning of the summer, yes. It is starting to dwindle now that summer is coming to an end. Over the summer my town has a lot of multi-week events that require a lot of temp workers (and they are BIG events- most of the town gets involved). I have a friend who last summer worked for one of the events handing out free soda. She made like $13/hour. And the casinos and restaurants usually hire a few more people for the summer to handle the increase in tourists.

[disneysteve]

One thing we do at my office is employment physicals and drug testing for various local employers. I can tell you that the volume of testing for new hires is steady, probably even growing. These companies are always hiring. This is not necessarily because business is booming but because turnover is high. As I said above, companies can't find good workers so they are forever replacing people, but still, it counts as hiring.

[MonkeyMama]

Steve - you don't have to tell me. Turnover at my business is VERY high - we have never slowed our hiring. Most of our clients are the same (different industry). These are skilled jobs.

But available minimum wage jobs and "help wanted" signs on store fronts? Something we don't see in our city. Our local economy has been hit really hard.

[Broken Arrow]

I haven't seen too many, but I am not surprised considering the stunted local market and the state's high employment rate.

More people needing jobs + less jobs to go around = Less help wanted sign

At least that's my personal observation anyway.

[dmontngrey]

I saw one just yesterday and it struck me as odd enough to point it out to DH. This was at a local discount chain store. Probably minimum wage or close to - but a job! I know my Walmart will be hiring since they are changing over to a Supercenter.

[asmom]

Even when the economy was good, I never saw a lot of help wanted signs. Many places around here hire through temp agencies and that sort of thing.

[Goldy1]

Local family video always has "hiring managers, will train sign up" Big stores like Babie r us have them up now. (I am in Michigan)

I remember those signs more as a teen.

I went into my local grocer which is mega huge. I was dismayed at all the self serve lanes no limit where you can buy 100 items, scan, bag, and pay all by yourself.

I went to the actual cashier(I bagged, she scanned)
I asked her if all the newer self serve lans made them layy off folks. She said no. She also said she used to be a manager and even today with the down economy, the turnover is huge. She told me people get the job for a month, get thier benefits, and quit. I said"Oh you mean medical insurance?" She said "No, they get their benefits(welfare etc) from social services as a stipulation of having a job, and then quit since they are not checked on in a year"


I think best way to get hired is networking.

[good2goo]

There is a sandwich shop that has one of those signs in their window offering $11.75 an hour. Im not sure if they are actually hiring or not. I work at a pizza place and we get 15 people a day asking for applications, but we have not hired anyone in 2 months.

[good2goo]

She told me people get the job for a month, get thier benefits, and quit. I said"Oh you mean medical insurance?" She said "No, they get their benefits(welfare etc) from social services as a stipulation of having a job, and then quit since they are not checked on in a year"

That is just terrible. These people create a terrible image for the people who truly need these services. I doubt there is really anything a business owner can do to prevent this, but it should be cleaned up. They are just gaming the system.

[disneysteve]

That is just terrible. These people create a terrible image for the people who truly need these services. I doubt there is really anything a business owner can do to prevent this, but it should be cleaned up. They are just gaming the system.

It costs the business a lot of money, especially if they require pre-employment physicals and drug tests (which is part of what I do). Plus, there are training costs involved.