Help Wanted?!

[the-real-steve]

I'm still seeing a lot of job openings. Does not appear that things slowed down since the pandemic. Warehouse entry level jobs are everywhere. Driving/delivery jobs are still abundant.

I am of the persuasion that if there is a worker shortage, there are two options for an employer: pay more or lower standards. I'm sure there is more to that, but I'll let the employers here discuss that.

What say you? In your opinion, why are we still seeing a worker shortage?

Discuss.

[mike]

I'm still seeing a lot of job openings. Does not appear that things slowed down since the pandemic. Warehouse entry level jobs are everywhere. Driving/delivery jobs are still abundant.

I am of the persuasion that if there is a worker shortage, there are two options for an employer: pay more or lower standards. I'm sure there is more to that, but I'll let the employers here discuss that.

What say you? In your opinion, why are we still seeing a worker shortage?

Discuss.

I don't know if there is a shortage or not, but we put out a help wanted post on Facebook the other day and we got an extraordinary number of good applications. Typically when we advertise, as opposed to hiring walk-ins or word-of-mouth, we get a large number of low quality applications. I don't know that this says anything about the job market broadly, but it was interesting.

[the-real-steve]

I don't know if there is a shortage or not, but we put out a help wanted post on Facebook the other day and we got an extraordinary number of good applications. Typically when we advertise, as opposed to hiring walk-ins or word-of-mouth, we get a large number of low quality applications. I don't know that this says anything about the job market broadly, but it was interesting.

Really? That's a good thing.

[mike]

I don't know if there is a shortage or not, but we put out a help wanted post on Facebook the other day and we got an extraordinary number of good applications. Typically when we advertise, as opposed to hiring walk-ins or word-of-mouth, we get a large number of low quality applications. I don't know that this says anything about the job market broadly, but it was interesting.

Really? That's a good thing.

Which reminds me of something. We've had a change in who manages the department that does the order for your company, and our purchases from you are up 17% even though overall business is up only by 7%. We have never seen increases like that in the bulk food department (other than during Covid), which is a stable category but not nearly as dynamic as perishables.

To me, this shows the impact when people are excited about their work. It's not like the previous person did a bad job, on the contrary. But they probably wore a lot of hats and just did the order on a deadline to get by, where the newer folks are really trying to make the department interesting. I've had this happen many times when I have finally handed off a task to an employee that I was barely able to get done myself - the new person almost always does a better job because they take an interest and are able to focus on it better.

[JohnH]

I don't know if there is a shortage or not, but we put out a help wanted post on Facebook the other day and we got an extraordinary number of good applications. Typically when we advertise, as opposed to hiring walk-ins or word-of-mouth, we get a large number of low quality applications. I don't know that this says anything about the job market broadly, but it was interesting.

Really? That's a good thing.

Or it's a bad thing from a workers' perspective - means there aren't as many jobs out there, which means we'll see employers start offering lower pay, worse hours, etc.

[the-real-steve]

Many times a manager doesn't realize what an employee does until they're not there to do it anymore. Not to brag but that is what happened when I left the warehouse: three people now share my old responsibilities. Not fulltime, mind you, but still.

[mike]

Many times a manager doesn't realize what an employee does until they're not there to do it anymore. Not to brag but that is what happened when I left the warehouse: three people now share my old responsibilities. Not fulltime, mind you, but still.

That seems typical for high responsibility positions. You just can't train someone in 300 kinds of tasks all at once, tasks that took a person years to learn and accumulate.

[Heirbyadoption]

Which reminds me of something. We've had a change in who manages the department that does the order for your company, and our purchases from you are up 17% even though overall business is up only by 7%. We have never seen increases like that in the bulk food department (other than during Covid), which is a stable category but not nearly as dynamic as perishables.

Does this mean your egg purchase from US are going to jump %17? With this week's commercial egg prices, I would expect nothing less from a reputable Mennonite market committed to providing high quality products to the community whilst making a respectable profit.

[mike]

Which reminds me of something. We've had a change in who manages the department that does the order for your company, and our purchases from you are up 17% even though overall business is up only by 7%. We have never seen increases like that in the bulk food department (other than during Covid), which is a stable category but not nearly as dynamic as perishables.

Does this mean your egg purchase from US are going to jump %17? With this week's commercial egg prices, I would expect nothing less from a reputable Mennonite market committed to providing high quality products to the community whilst making a respectable profit.

Almost as respectable as you guys in Q1 2025! I haven't gotten your price list for next week yet. Tell Stephanie I'm waiting. With other quotes I'm seeing for next week, our egg purchases will probably jump far more than 17%. How does it feel knowing that you are helping consumers offset higher gas prices by offering them cheap eggs?

[Silentreader]

Which reminds me of something. We've had a change in who manages the department that does the order for your company, and our purchases from you are up 17% even though overall business is up only by 7%. We have never seen increases like that in the bulk food department (other than during Covid), which is a stable category but not nearly as dynamic as perishables.

Does this mean your egg purchase from US are going to jump %17? With this week's commercial egg prices, I would expect nothing less from a reputable Mennonite market committed to providing high quality products to the community whilst making a respectable profit.

Almost as respectable as you guys in Q1 2025! I haven't gotten your price list for next week yet. Tell Stephanie I'm waiting. With other quotes I'm seeing for next week, our egg purchases will probably jump far more than 17%. How does it feel knowing that you are helping consumers offset higher gas prices by offering them cheap eggs?

Lots of eggs.....gas.....could be a connection I guess.