Can not hire fast enough

[lightspeed]

If they are having trouble hiring and complaining then they need to look at their work model. Perhaps paying more, better benefits, education incentives, etc?

As an engineer I looked in Kelowna and was told over and over again about the "sunshine tax". How the hell are people going to afford million dollar homes in 20 years if the sunshine tax makes sure you earn less than those in other major area's...

Because those homes elsewhere will be $2m in 20 years....

[WalterWhite]

*removed*

[AlienSoldier]

If they are having trouble hiring and complaining then they need to look at their work model. Perhaps paying more, better benefits, education incentives, etc?

As an engineer I looked in Kelowna and was told over and over again about the "sunshine tax". How the hell are people going to afford million dollar homes in 20 years if the sunshine tax makes sure you earn less than those in other major area's...

Because those homes elsewhere will be $2m in 20 years....

That makes no sense. It means people won't be able to afford or work here in Kelowna but if they can make money far away then they can't afford to live and work there. Basically people will move out of Kelowna looking to barely live in the rest of Canada.

[gman313]

your out to lunch on wages. Skilled labor apprentices start at 17 and in two years are at 24 assuming they get licensed in the two years, which is on the individual

The schooling is simple, a structures program is one year with minimal pre-requisites. Yes there are layoffs but they staff lean to try and avoid and fill in the short term gaps with contractors.

They will lay off based on skill and whining, not seniority. So shut up and do your job you won't have a problem

[JayByrd]

I did look into a want ad KF Aerospace posted a while back. I believe it was for someone to work their parts counter. The list of duties was long, everything from inventory to sweeping the floors. I didn't balk at the workload, but the starting wage? $13/hr.

Now I'm not an avionics tech or an engineer. I have no skills related to a company like that to leverage for a higher wage. But I also can't pay a mortgage or raise a child on $13/hr. I couldn't take that job even if I wanted to. If I was 20 yrs old and had someone to split the rent with me, maybe.

[Jflem1983]

I did look into a want ad KF Aerospace posted a while back. I believe it was for someone to work their parts counter. The list of duties was long, everything from inventory to sweeping the floors. I didn't balk at the workload, but the starting wage? $13/hr.

Now I'm not an avionics tech or an engineer. I have no skills related to a company like that to leverage for a higher wage. But I also can't pay a mortgage or raise a child on $13/hr. I couldn't take that job even if I wanted to. If I was 20 yrs old and had someone to split the rent with me, maybe.

Yep ive seen many adds for them . Always intrigued me . Id love to work for that company . However its not gonna happen at those wages

[gman313]

I did look into a want ad KF Aerospace posted a while back. I believe it was for someone to work their parts counter. The list of duties was long, everything from inventory to sweeping the floors. I didn't balk at the workload, but the starting wage? $13/hr.

Now I'm not an avionics tech or an engineer. I have no skills related to a company like that to leverage for a higher wage. But I also can't pay a mortgage or raise a child on $13/hr. I couldn't take that job even if I wanted to. If I was 20 yrs old and had someone to split the rent with me, maybe.

your handing out parts and tools. Responsibility to make sure the correct part is installed is on the AME, not the partsperson. This pay is similar to what you would get at say Lordco.

That is just the starting wage. They have a level system so the 13 goes up to 17 over a couple years if you just stay in that position. But you can get into receiving which pays up to 20, or purchasing which goes higher. Just because their is a long list of duties does not mean they are complicated. It is the impact of error and responsibility level that earns the money, not a variety of duties that quite frankly a robot or a vending machine can do.

[Jflem1983]

Gman. Im assuming you work there ? How is company morale ? How many locals do you work with ? Is it a fun place to work ? Im genuinely asking. Not to ridicule . To understand how they keep staff .

No one is sticking around a job for 3 years to make 17 bucks

[common_sense_guy]

Ya i guess thats why no locals care to work there. Cuz they pay so well

Sorry - but you're completely out to lunch. If you expect to walk in the door unskilled and untrained, then yes - and pretty much what you should expect no matter who, where or what area of employment you look at. There is however this thing called education, and if you're willing to put the effort in to educate yourself there are very respectable wages to be made working for KF. I happen to know several "local" employees that have made the effort to obtain training through a number of courses offered locally through KF and have very good paying jobs accordingly.

Like anything in life - you get out of it what you put in. If you expect to walk in the door of any employer and have them kiss your *bleep*, then you're in for a disappointing work career. Make yourself have worth. Be of value and become an asset to your employer - not a dead weight liability.

Layoffs are a result of the economy in general. and happen across all walks of life based on the cause and effect of a simple concept based on supply and demand. The economy is doing well right now, and with a little effort, good jobs are available. Just don't expect to sit there and have it handed to you on a silver platter - get up and earn it.

this is the only post here with some common sense and knowledge it appears. the rest are of waste of letters. So many people in these forums have no understanding of business or anything else . And it's incredibly rare when somebody can actually see both sides of the coin instead of just their point of view

[gman313]

Gman. Im assuming you work there ? How is company morale ? How many locals do you work with ? Is it a fun place to work ? Im genuinely asking. Not to ridicule . To understand how they keep staff .

No one is sticking around a job for 3 years to make 17 bucks

I worked there for 11 years ish ending 2013. Morale took a huge hit when they lost PCL as that was the cash cow. However they restructured and are fighting back. The Military training contract (known as Allied Wings) is the big cash cow now. Returns on maintenance are very low but positive.

I'm not sure of the question on how many locals do you work with? I can tell you most AME's come out of the program at OC, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver for Kelowna and the Ontario colleges for Hamilton. Most of the Materials Management positions are hired for locally.

It is a rewarding place to work, pretty cool to be a part of maintaining and modifying these big machines. 17 bucks is not a terrible wage for absolutely no education and 1 year retail experience but that is just my opinion.

HR is pretty good if you are genuinely interested with giving a tour and more info so you can see for yourself. If you are a student set up a job shadow for a day.

The maintenance side of the business is very competitive. Cascade is a 30 min flight away and can do everything KF can for the most part. Plenty of facilities in the US and oversees to compete with as well. Aviation is of course global.

[Dizzy1]

I did look into a want ad KF Aerospace posted a while back. I believe it was for someone to work their parts counter. The list of duties was long, everything from inventory to sweeping the floors. I didn't balk at the workload, but the starting wage? $13/hr.

Now I'm not an avionics tech or an engineer. I have no skills related to a company like that to leverage for a higher wage. But I also can't pay a mortgage or raise a child on $13/hr. I couldn't take that job even if I wanted to. If I was 20 yrs old and had someone to split the rent with me, maybe.

$13 is pretty good for handing out parts and sweeping floors - better then you’d get for sweeping the floors at a store or restaurant.

You want a job that’ll pay the mortgage? Invest in yourself to give you the skills and demand to pay you accordingly.

[JayByrd]

$13 is pretty good for handing out parts and sweeping floors - better then you’d get for sweeping the floors at a store or restaurant.

You want a job that’ll pay the mortgage? Invest in yourself to give you the skills and demand to pay you accordingly.

Yup, and I have such a job. But this thread isn't about me and my employment prospects, it's about KF Aerospace's struggle to hire people. There's a huge segment of the population here who could simply never take a job for that wage. I'm suggesting that's part of the reason they can't find people.

[JayByrd]

your handing out parts and tools. Responsibility to make sure the correct part is installed is on the AME, not the partsperson. This pay is similar to what you would get at say Lordco.

That is just the starting wage. They have a level system so the 13 goes up to 17 over a couple years if you just stay in that position. But you can get into receiving which pays up to 20, or purchasing which goes higher. Just because their is a long list of duties does not mean they are complicated. It is the impact of error and responsibility level that earns the money, not a variety of duties that quite frankly a robot or a vending machine can do.

Thank you for that. For what it's worth, I didn't think the wage was out of whack for the work or qualifications involved. But as someone who is somewhat established in life, I simply couldn't afford to take a job for that wage. As I said, if I was just starting out, it would probably be a good opportunity.

[gman313]

your handing out parts and tools. Responsibility to make sure the correct part is installed is on the AME, not the partsperson. This pay is similar to what you would get at say Lordco.

That is just the starting wage. They have a level system so the 13 goes up to 17 over a couple years if you just stay in that position. But you can get into receiving which pays up to 20, or purchasing which goes higher. Just because their is a long list of duties does not mean they are complicated. It is the impact of error and responsibility level that earns the money, not a variety of duties that quite frankly a robot or a vending machine can do.

Thank you for that. For what it's worth, I didn't think the wage was out of whack for the work or qualifications involved. But as someone who is somewhat established in life, I simply couldn't afford to take a job for that wage. As I said, if I was just starting out, it would probably be a good opportunity.

totally agree and i'm in the same boat. However I have seen many young folk or second earners take the job and work their way up reasonably quickly to 45-70k jobs only with high school and on the job training. The benefits are good too. It is a good opportunity for the right person in the right stage of life.

[Jonrox]

Here's the issue most people don't understand... markets control pricing and customers don't care what a company's costs are. They only care that they're getting good enough value for their money to make a purchase.

If a company's costs rise, the customer doesn't actually care because they're actually only concerned with the selling price. If a company is able to raise their prices and still get the order, it simply means they were previously charging too little.

So when people say they should just pay employees a higher wage, it's not nearly that simple because they likely can't raise their prices and still get the orders (again, if they can it only means they were previously not charging enough). So if increased wages make the orders unprofitable or squeeze margins too thin, then it doesn't make sense to take the order.

It's not KF's responsibility to ensure housing and related expenses are affordable in Kelowna. They pay wages that allow them to to take orders and be profitable. They're not a charity.