As the unemployment rates soars into double digits, why are employers still complaining about the lack of good help?  And where are all the people out of work who constitute good help?

Despite lengthy and loyal service to employers, the belts that have tightened Corporate America’s waist have left workers with a rude kiss-off to regular paychecks and once-guaranteed pensions.  Watching impotently as greedy bastards received TARP funds from a blithe government, many downsized employees have developed fatalistic attitudes.  The outlook of those eligible for Unemployment benefits must surely be one of entitlement, and not just to make ends meet.   Canned workers want their teeny little piece of the pie as well as a bit of freedom from having to slave for wages while the unrepentant rich get richer.  Although the well of Unemployment is beginning to run dry with so many drinking from it, some beneficiaries must view this scenario as their one opportunity to stick it to those who screwed them out of their jobs.

From an employer’s point of view, it must be difficult to maintain minimal workforces that include staff performing on sub-par levels: those who call out sick on Monday mornings, arrive late for work, and do their jobs half-heartedly.  Why, then, don’t bosses seek better workers?  Could it be that they can’t be bothered running (and paying for) want ads, and taking the time to weed through the myriad hopefuls knocking on their doors?  If so, is it fair for management to complain about the less-than-efficient help?   And why is it less than efficient?

 

Nepotism and favoritism run rampant in every business.  Lazy and inexperienced workers are always hired because they are related to or buddy-buddies with someone at the top of the hiring food chain.   Since we all came into this world with nothing, it would behoove us to promote the concept that there is no shame in starting at the bottom rung of the ladder.  Every job plays an important part of our society.

Consider the sanitation worker.  It would be hard to imagine what our lives would be like if everyone thought they were “too good” to perform this type of work. Without sanitation workers, we would revert to Victorian London, where the streets ran with all manner of filth, and not only in the poorer parts of town.  If no one carted the garbage, imagine the pervasive stench of rotting rubbish, not to mention the vermin.  There would probably be a lot fewer people on the planet because of illness from the ensuring disease.

 

Perspective is a matter of choice.  We can choose to see ourselves as drones stuck doing repetitious tasks day after day, or as providers of valuable services.  We can see ourselves as haulers of other people’s trash or protectors of our fellow citizens; as flippers of burgers or those entrusted to feed the hungry masses.  The level of the work that we perform does not diminish our value as human beings.  It is up to us to execute our duties with integrity; it’s up to us to promote our own self-esteem.

Good work habits in adulthood begin with good study habits in our formative years.  The coddled children who seem to be the norm today would do well to learn that anything worth having, including a job in this declining economy, is worth working for.  Perhaps the spoiled brats should be made to wear the proud orange and navy colors of Alabama’s Auburn University, particularly the T-shirts that boast the school’s motto.  In part, that motto reads:

I believe that this is a practical world, and I can count only on what I earn.

Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.

 

I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely,

And trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.

 

I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which

I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow man.

Amen to that!