I have hired the occasional engineer to cover for me when I have to miss a weekend at the church - one time - someone who seemed to be decent, was a complete moron, and... called at 815am on a sunday saying he was "sick"... more like still wasted and afraid of a dwi.
 
When you DO finally find people that are congruent - treat them very well!  Its a blessing!

thedukewestern
I have hired the occasional engineer to cover for me when I have to miss a weekend at the church - one time - someone who seemed to be decent, was a complete moron, and... called at 815am on a sunday saying he was "sick"... more like still wasted and afraid of a dwi.
 
When you DO finally find people that are congruent - treat them very well!  Its a blessing!

True! I always tell prospective employees, if you make a good first impression with me I will hire you like a shot! But we have descended into a society of slack jawed, slack brained time wasters for whom unreliability is a byword. I hate to say it but the current young generation is a disgrace when compared to older generations.

People bandy about all sorts of ideas and reasons as to why the economy is in such a dire state but nobody talks about bad employees and a crappy work ethic and the cost to the economy.

That sounds like an ideal job for an older (maybe retired) person who wants to keep fit or maybe a parent with kids in school. Did you get any mature applicants?
 

jamesg1213
That sounds like an ideal job for an older (maybe retired) person who wants to keep fit or maybe a parent with kids in school. Did you get any mature applicants?
 

Not a lot unfortunately. And oftentimes those who do apply turn out to have a lot of commitments (family, health etc) through the day which means they'll be asking for time off quite frequently. I'm always willing to take a shot at a mature applicant though.

As I put in the thread about the Muppets firing the music, science and fix-it guys, the government has been working on making the populace into unthinking sheep.  Between the schools and poor parentage (along with this sense of entitlement), this is probably one of the few projects where they (the government) are doing a great job.
 
I talked with a lady who's also been looking for work for over a year and she even applied to work in the deli at Fred Meyer's (a large store chain that has both groceries and non-food items).  She didn't get the job because her resume didn't show any past experience at making sandwiches (that's what they told her when she asked).  She went on to say, "I'm a grandmother with three kids and seven grandkids, I've made a LOT of sandwiches!"
 
Things are just getting stupid out there where, ironically, those that want to really work can't find a job but, those that are looking for quality employees, can't seem to find them either!

I've also noticed a trend where most jobs are all sinking to around minimum wage.  I remember when a checker at a supermarket was one of the highest paid employees there (and decently paid compared to other jobs too).  I just talked with one who's trying to find better employment and I asked him why since I thought being a checker was still a really good position. His reply is "Oh, I love my job here, but you just can't live on $9 / hour...".
 
Wow.
 

I think one thing that's happening job wise is that as the world becomes more and more technologically sophisticated, the value of manual labor goes down. And that's quite predictable when you think about it. As technology advances and the world becomes more complicated, the importance of education increases. Labor is shifting overall from physical work to "thinking" work. Gone are the days when you can hope to raise a family and get through life comfortably on blue collar work. I spoke to a guy recently who was complaining that work as a bartender was not enough to buy an apartment, even out of the city. He honestly thought that because he felt bar tending was his "calling," he should be guaranteed a good living out of it. But really that's not how the world works. The value of labor is changing all the time and skills lose their value, sometimes becoming obsolete. I'm sure if I'd spent a year learning to repair Betamax VCR's in 1983, I'd have felt pretty hard done by a year or so later. 
 
But there's still a place for the kind of job I offer. It generally suits people who are going to evening classes, or young people who are new to the workforce. If anything, working a job like this for a year or two shows your next employers that you are trustworthy and responsible enough to hold down a job. I think part of the problem with kids these days is that they are so immersed in this shallow celebrity BS culture on social media that they can't accept the fact success is something that you work up to from the bottom (unless you're lucky enough to be one of the tiny fraction of people who are born with it in their laps). 

Hmm...  Ironically, your first paragraph makes me want to invent an automated bartender! 

You mean like this? 
 

Damn.  Always a few steps behind!  (Though I think it could be done better.)