by Steve
Young, Argus Leader (a Gannett publication)
Sioux Falls,
SD
Trail King
Industries CEO Bruce Yakley shared a mind-boggling statistic with me the other
day about a group demographers call "The Entitlement Generation."
It seems
his Mitchell-based company hired 280 production workers last year between his
plants here in South Dakota and up in Fargo. Assemblers, painters, welders --
most of them fell into that age group that was born between 1978 and 1997.
The
generation he and I raised.
So get this
-- of the 280 new hires, only one remained on the job a year later.
"We
lost 279 of them," he said. "Mostly because of work ethic
issues."
They simply
didn't show up for work at this business that makes open deck and material handling
trailers and walked away.
Incredible.
People will
ask: Well, what was the company paying them? Someone right out of high school
with zero skills started at $13.50 an hour, Yakley said. With perfect
attendance -- using, say, vacation time when they're sick -- an employee could
earn a $500 bonus the first year, $750 the second and $1,000 the third. They
average $375 per quarter in profit sharing. They can make $1,500 by referring
an employee to Trail King that works an entire year.
Tired of
the assembly line? Trail King will pay to send them through welding school, a
job that can earn them $50,000 in base salary, overtime and bonuses, Yakley
said.
And still
279 of 280 walked away.
The
syndicated columnists have an absolute free-for-all with "The Entitlement
Generation." They're the young people who were never told "no"
because Mom and Dad wanted to be their friends and not their parents. They got
trophies for showing up to the T-ball games even though they never made
practice. They post any vulgarity they want on social media because they have
freedom of speech.
"My
generation," Yakley laments, "screwed up the kids of this current
generation."
He's not
the only who thinks that. I've talked with CEOs across Sioux Falls' business
landscape and many of them, particularly in the manufacturing sector, agree.
Here's why
it's a concern at Trail King. For training and other workforce development
purposes, the company invests roughly $8,000 per employee. That means last year
Trail King spent $8,000 times 280 new workers. "That's a little over $2
million that went down the drain," its CEO said.
Here's why
it should be a concern for all of South Dakota. Yakley figures his company is
turning away $20 million in business because it can't find enough good,
dependable laborers.
That's just
one hit on the South Dakota economy. He knows in talking to his peers in
industry that his isn't the only business losing out on opportunities.
So what to
do? The state needs to invest even more in technical education, Yakley said.
Whatever baggage they might bring with them from their upbringing, the members
of "The Entitlement Generation" who have gone through welding at
Mitchell Technical Institute and ended up at Trail King "are
excellent," he said. "They will be leaders on our shop floor."
His company
is more than willing to invest in that promise. Now it simply would like to see
the state make an even greater commitment to the training of those skilled
laborers as well.
Teach them
how to weld. Teach them skills that translate into a rewarding career. And
maybe spend a little time on work ethic, showing up when you're supposed to and
earning that paycheck.
To do
otherwise, as we have unfortunately learned, can be mind-boggling.
