Susan, a friend and client of mine who owns a large plumbing/HVAC company called this morning feeling exasperated.
“We’re not getting any responses to the job ads we’ve been running for techs,” she said. “Those guys know that they can make more money sitting on their couch playing X-Box than they can if they return to work.”
She told me that furloughed techs were receiving over $600 per week in unemployment checks from the state, and another $600+ check each week courtesy of the US Government’s CARE stimulus program. “And with the congress seeking to extend the program indefinitely, this is an even worse labor market for the skilled trades than it was before the pandemic!”
Although my new book on becoming Fully Staffed was just released last week, quite frankly, I had no quick 1-2-3 silver bullet solution to offer Susan. All I could offer was a sympathetic ear to a friend with a widespread problem for which I cannot personally relate.
I was raised in the 60’s and 70’s by a stern workaholic father who was hit hard by the Great Depression. He was a young boy in 1929 when the stock market crashed, the banks and factories closed, and there was no such thing as a government check for the unemployed. This was a time in America when the only stimulus was
“If you no work, you no eat.”
Compare that with today’s mentality where stimulus can now mean, “if you no work, you might be able to eat even better!”
There is no question that there are many victims of the mandatory lockdowns and shelter-at-home restrictions who have either been furloughed or are now permanently out of work. My heart goes out to them and I firmly believe those individuals need and should be given financial assistance to make it through this difficult time.
However, there is also no question that a frightening number of workers have found new motivation to game the ever-expanding government entitlement programs that are funded by hard-working Americans who would only take from the system if there was absolutely no other way to earn their daily bread.
Money can buy things that induce happiness, but it cannot buy pride.
Being truly proud of one’s self is a feeling that can only be earned through hard work, self-sacrifice, and/or the knowledge that you have contributed something of value to the greater good.
My father was part of what’s commonly referred to as the greatest generation, driven by pride and an overwhelming desire to contribute, this vanishing breed didn’t spend their idle hours on a couch trying to find ways to get something for nothing. Had they, you and I wouldn’t have it as easy as we do. (And if you’re reading this on an electronic device, you’ve got to admit, we do have it pretty darn easy.)
Yes, the coronavirus pandemic has hit us hard and forever changed life as we know it. But if the government continues to print money and pass it out like candy thrown from a parade float, it will not only destroy our economy, it will completely obliterate something much more sacred; the incentive to work and the pride of a hard job well done.
Susan called seeking a solution to a challenging recruiting problem. Hey, I’m a workforce researcher and the author of five books on finding and keeping great employees, so I should have an answer for her.
Nope. I got nothing.
However, Susan will read the comments on this post, so if you’ve got some advice for her, by all means, please share.
To put Eric’s expert insights and strategies to work in your organization, contact 303.239.9999.
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