Good riddance TFWs

[flamingfingers]

Or they lied about their qualifications given that they presented themselves as experienced!!!!!

And no one bothered to check their work history, education or references, eh? Sigh....

[LoneWolf_53]

Or they lied about their qualifications given that they presented themselves as experienced!!!!!

And no one bothered to check their work history, education or references, eh? Sigh....

You would appear to have spent too much time in a larger corporate environment where HR departments are the norm.

Smaller operations don't have the time to devote to checking out a person's life history, and frankly coming from a generation where a handshake was as good as a contract, it's a shame that they'd have to.

Come to think of it my training consisted of loading the truck and being told what address to go to.

My point here is that there are still many positions that require an employee to think quick on their feet and come up with solutions to problems. Many are simply unable to do that and require every detail to be spoon fed to them.

That's simply not an ideal situation in my line of work where each job could have it's own surprise.

As to mentoring I suppose it certainly has it's place, but in my situation I work strictly piece work, so why should I lose money training someone else, particularly when I figured everything out on my own, and that before the web was at our fingertips?

I can't think of much these days that a person wouldn't be able to figure out what with the internet and such.

I'm of the mind that successful workers also possess a level of initiative.

[flamingfingers]

LW - I seen to recall that both you and I experienced an agrarian upbringing where from a very early age you needed to think about the job you were assigned to do and to determine the most efficient way of carrying it out. Today's kids are not provided that kind of opportunity and it stunts their inventiveness.

What to do about it? Can't teach it in school.

[Atomoa]

Who mostly pays minimum wage to their employees?

Fast food. Chains. Corporations.

Aside from historical levels of wealth : http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/corpora ... -1.3016324

Can't find workers in Ft Mac for Tim Hortons paying low wages?

Is there a universal right to a "double double" that says we have to import people from the 3rd world due to the NECESSITY of keeping the current profit model alive?

[Ford4x4Truck]

LW - I seen to recall that both you and I experienced an agrarian upbringing where from a very early age you needed to think about the job you were assigned to do and to determine the most efficient way of carrying it out. Today's kids are not provided that kind of opportunity and it stunts their inventiveness.

What to do about it? Can't teach it in school.

I don't know if you guys have experienced this, but at a couple of jobs here my schedule has been changed at the last possible second. Like a manager has crossed a shift out or something or added hours onto a shift, or completely changed what department I'm supposed to be working in without informing me.

And this is related to the discussion because sometimes it's nearly impossible to figure out what to do when suddenly switched into a different department that has completely different rules and regulations. You can't plan for a job you didn't even know you were going to have to do.

Subsequently, people are let go because they were too "lazy" or whatever to figure things out. But luckily TFWs are always there to take the place of these ungrateful employees (even though the employees were essentially screwed over).

[Barney Google]

LW - I seen to recall that both you and I experienced an agrarian upbringing where from a very early age you needed to think about the job you were assigned to do and to determine the most efficient way of carrying it out. Today's kids are not provided that kind of opportunity and it stunts their inventiveness.

What to do about it? Can't teach it in school.

It's like good manners...starts at home. Hats off to both of you!

[LoneWolf_53]

LW - I seen to recall that both you and I experienced an agrarian upbringing where from a very early age you needed to think about the job you were assigned to do and to determine the most efficient way of carrying it out. Today's kids are not provided that kind of opportunity and it stunts their inventiveness.

What to do about it? Can't teach it in school.

I certainly see your point and agree somewhat, but just as an example of what I've had to deal with, does a worker need to be taught at home that when you open a box of product you want to install, which has instructions in the box, that it might be a good idea to read them?

[LoneWolf_53]

I don't know if you guys have experienced this, but at a couple of jobs here my schedule has been changed at the last possible second. Like a manager has crossed a shift out or something or added hours onto a shift, or completely changed what department I'm supposed to be working in without informing me.

And this is related to the discussion because sometimes it's nearly impossible to figure out what to do when suddenly switched into a different department that has completely different rules and regulations. You can't plan for a job you didn't even know you were going to have to do.

Subsequently, people are let go because they were too "lazy" or whatever to figure things out. But luckily TFWs are always there to take the place of these ungrateful employees (even though the employees were essentially screwed over).

Welcome to my world.

I am the type that at the end of the day likes to peruse what's on the agenda for the next day in order to ensure I have the correct tools on the truck, and sort of mull over how I'm going to approach the tasks in the most efficient manner, yet I'd say at least 30% of the time I go in to load product and am informed the schedule has not only completely changed but I'm being redirected to a different town, as well as completely different product than I'd mentally prepared for.

Sometimes after going all the way into work I'm even told the job was cancelled and there's nothing else ready to go, then I get to drive back home again.

I don't like it, but there really isn't much choice other than to adapt, and get the day over with. When your involved in a service industry you have to accept that customers are fickle.

[LoneWolf_53]

I do feel for the temporary foreign workers that are being forced to leave Canada, but there are not enough jobs for Canadian
citizens right now. Some companies are complaining that they will be forced to hire Canadians; possibly at the cost of raising
wages to attract workers.Bummer.In my opinion this is long overdue;way to many TFW's in Canada have kept wages artificially repressed.Your thoughts?

My thoughts are that excessive wage demands have been the catalyst that has seen many manufacturing jobs go to Mexico, Taiwan, China, and other such locales, as the company saw it as the only way to survive and remain competitive.

Just as an observation, and I've mentioned it before, I just can't see places like McDonald's, Timmie's, Wendy's and what have you paying $20hr for an employee who should for all intents and purposes be able to learn their job in a day.

There's a reason places such as that pay at or slightly above minimum wage and it's because they are viewed as "entry level" jobs and not careers.

If the wishes of some minds on these boards were to come to fruition, I'd probably have to pay $30 for a muffin at McDonald's and that's simply not going to happen. At that point I'd simply stay home, make my own muffins, and not go out in the first place.

I'm fairly confident that I wouldn't be alone in that respect so the only thing I can imagine is that such places would become fewer, and the end result being fewer jobs. It's already happened in manufacturing so why not in other areas if places can't make their owners a living, or their shareholders a profit?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that it's not the top 5% who spend a lot of time in fast food joints, it would be the shrinking middle class, so if that class is already struggling, wouldn't it be plausible to figure that the luxury of running to fast food places would be the next thing on the list to either cut completely or at the least cut back on?

I just don't think it's a matter of simply throwing money at it and all will be lollipops and rainbows. It's a bit more complicated than that.

One thing I've always wondered when I read these forums, is how many of the most vocal advocates of higher wages in entry level type jobs, have family members who have monies invested in any one of the various franchises regularly under fire, and what effect do they think their desires would have on those investments? I often feel they don't even give that a thought.

I'm of the mind that Newton's third law plays a huge role in some of these dreams.

[XT225]

I do feel for the temporary foreign workers that are being forced to leave Canada, but there are not enough jobs for Canadian
citizens right now. Some companies are complaining that they will be forced to hire Canadians; possibly at the cost of raising
wages to attract workers.Bummer.In my opinion this is long overdue;way to many TFW's in Canada have kept wages artificially repressed.Your thoughts?

I was in a fast food restaurant yesterday and I must say that it was a refreshing change. Not one TFW in site and lots of local staff. Its nice to be able to order something and not have to try to explain the English language to the clerk. Fluency in English should be a key factor in hiring any TFW. Also, 4 years (as some of them were allowed) is far too long to stay in the country. Try doing that as a Canadian in the United States (and working there). Good luck; you'd be lucky to stay there even for one year. When unemployment is high (as its getting once again here), the TFW program should be put on hold.

[Ford4x4Truck]

There's a reason places such as that pay at or slightly above minimum wage and it's because they are viewed as "entry level" jobs and not careers.

If the wishes of some minds on these boards were to come to fruition, I'd probably have to pay $30 for a muffin at McDonald's and that's simply not going to happen. At that point I'd simply stay home, make my own muffins, and not go out in the first place.

Except that when minimum wage raised from 8-10.25 the cost of a muffin at McDonald's didn't raise to $30. And when minimum wage raises to 10.45 in a few months, I highly doubt the cost of these muffins and Big Macs are going to be raised in price either. People keep using this argument like it's 100% guaranteed to happen......but it never does. Yet when minimum wage stays stagnant prices seem to somehow rise exponentially. Minimum wage in BC was $8/h for what.....like 11 years? Prices rose like crazy on pretty much everything in this time period. And clearly it wasn't due to minimum wage being one of the lowest in Canada.

People also seem to forget that quite a few people at these supposedly "entry level" jobs actually have degrees or even graduate degrees. Degrees in literature, finance / accounting, pre-law - pretty much everything. I've met people working at WalMart around BC who have teaching degrees but since there are no teaching jobs they're forced to take these "entry level" jobs.

It's weird to me that in 2015 people still think that minimum wage jobs are filled with kids and people with no education. While this is clearly true in some cases, it definitely doesn't seem to be the norm any more. Quite often you'll find highly-educated employees (or at least employees with some post-secondary) who simply can't find a job anywhere else.

But like someone said earlier, it's so much easier just to claim that Canadians are lazy and then cheer businesses on for bringing in TFWs because these foreign workers will work 16 hour days and basically kill themselves for a dollar.....

[LoneWolf_53]

If someone with a degree in teaching, finance, or pre-law, is working at McDonald's then the problem lies in their job search skills because surely they could do better than that.

Just because they have a degree also doesn't automatically mean they are worth more. I've met some people over the years with degrees that quite frankly were dumber than a stump thus explaining why they were unemployed.

Others meanwhile stubbornly refuse to go where the work in their field is, and that's their choice, but it still doesn't mean entry level jobs should be paying $20hr.

[Ford4x4Truck]

If someone with a degree in teaching, finance, or pre-law, is working at McDonald's then the problem lies in their job search skills because surely they could do better than that.

Just because they have a degree also doesn't automatically mean they are worth more. I've met some people over the years with degrees that quite frankly were dumber than a stump thus explaining why they were unemployed.

Others meanwhile stubbornly refuse to go where the work in their field is, and that's their choice, but it still doesn't mean entry level jobs should be paying $20hr.

I never said these jobs should be paying $20. I just implied they could be paying more than the bare minimum that can legally be paid.

And I completely disagree about these people lacking in job search skills. Many of these people have government workers from WorkBC helping them and are still unable to find work. Local colleges also offer co-op programs where many of the students are never placed in a job - and this has nothing to do with a supposed lack of job search skills. It has to do with a lack of work in the Okanagan and most likely BC as a whole.

As for people with graduate degrees supposedly being dumb.....I don't know what to say to that. At least one person here claimed he can do the work of 3 men in half the time length. There's no way to convince people who think like this that others actually work hard and are intelligent. Some people here just think everyone who isn't getting ahead in life and has to compete with TFWs is an idiot. It's a really narrow-minded view and one that obviously is making sweeping generalizations (insulting and demeaning generalizations at that).

[I am Canadian]

A survey popped up in the news this morning sayong 75% of BC residents think the $0.20 minimum wage increase is a joke and a slap in the face for the over 100,000 minimum wage workers in the province.

[Captain Awesome]

It's funny (as in "strange"), you read a topic like this on Castanet and get an impression that nobody can find a job in Okanagan, everybody works for a minimum wage, and there's a small army of unemployed young people who are only unemployed because of TFWs.

But then you drive by the parking lot of the mall and see it completely packed with new cars. You talk to a business owner who can't keep up with the demand and the phone is ringing non-stop. You see a Tim Hortons basically begging for full-time applicants. My wife's place of work has 4 openings for accounting positions - yet apparently people with accounting degrees work at McDonalds cause nobody is hiring anywhere in BC.

It's like two different universes.