Jobs, Truck Drivers, and Audrey Evans
And the 4th Quarter Begins…
The jobs report was good. Which was bad for the stock market.
What?! Well, a good jobs report means that the economy is still strong. Right? Strong hiring, strong economic growth.
The problem is that economic growth is leading to increased prices (inflation) which the fed wants to reduce. To do that, they raise interest rates to make it more expensive to grow your business. And pretty much everything else. That way, the economy should slow down bringing prices down with it.
263,000 new jobs added, down from 315,000 in August. Slowing down, but still robust.
Retail and Transportation and Warehousing were two industries that lost jobs. That’s kind of a leading indicator of sorts.
3.5% unemployment rate, down from the 3.7% in August.
Labor participation rate of 62.3%; down from August’s 62.4%. This must go up.
Interestingly, the participation rate for women in the workforce dropped. Two problems cited are child care (4.8 million workers) and caring for an elderly person (1.7 million).
The big number this week is the new inflation numbers; you may recall that last month it was at 8.3%. Will it go up or down?
Looking for a Truck Driver? So is Walmart. 67 of them in San Bernardino County to be exact. And probably many other counties in the United States.
So, what are you, the small business owner, competing against?
Salary up to $110,000/year. Wow – that could get you a house in Apple Valley, which is good, because that is where they are interviewing.
Need 30 months of full-time experience as a commercial driver.
No serious traffic violations in the last 4 years.
Benefits start on the first day of work with up to 21 days of paid time off.
Medical coverage and 401k plan.
Associate discounts on merchandise.
And they pay for college (including the University of Arizona).
Well, that beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Even if you contract out your drivers – which California has said you can’t… $110,000 is enough to make many contractors become employees. I know some companies that were having a tough time affording $70k/year for their drivers.
No wonder the small business owner can’t find decent drivers.
Remember, your strength as a small business owner is that the drivers work for you, not a manager who reports to a senior manager who reports to the VP. Many employees prefer a small company because of the more relaxed set of rules; if you break a rule at Walmart, you are done. A business owner may be more forgiving.
The key thing to realize is that you should be selling the job candidate on you and your business as much as they are trying to sell you. Make it clear that there is a definite advantage for working with you than working for Walmart. Or Swift. Or CR England. Or CRST.
Make every hiring interview a sales call and plan it accordingly. Even if you do get ghosted at the appointment time.
Who was Audrey Evans and what is her connection to a shamrock milkshake?
She was born in York, England in 1925 and always knew she wanted to be a doctor. She attended the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland and graduated in 1953.
Her first gig was at Boston Children's Hospital when chemotherapy was in its infancy. C. Everett Koop then recruited her as Chief of Pediatric Oncology at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia in 1969.
Kids and cancer – that’s a tough assignment.
Well, during that time, a football player for the Philadelphia Eagles was raising money for cancer treatment and research with full support from the Eagles organization.
Coincidentally, Dr. Evans was looking for lodging for families that were having their children treated for cancer, rather than having parents sleep in waiting rooms and living off vending machines.
A restaurant chain wanted the Eagles quarterback, Roman Gabriel, to endorse their Shamrock Shake, and the Eagles wanted to fund the construction of a guest house for Dr. Evans. The restaurant chain agreed to turn over all the profits from the Shamrock Shake for the build-out of the guest house on the condition that the guest homes would be named after the restaurant’s clown mascot.
Today, there are 380 Ronald McDonald House programs around the world.
To really understand the impact of that charity, volunteer to serve meals at one.
The entire staff at my banking office did that; it was very rewarding and I encourage you to do the same with your company.
Dr. Evans died this past week at the age of 97.
At her 90th birthday she said, “I’ve always had a strong belief in a God who watches over us and takes care of us and has expectations of us to do a good job in the life He gave us.”
It’s not that complicated; it never hurts to have a purpose in life.
What will you say on your 90th birthday?
On deck with the Dodgers is the CPI – consumer price index – report this Thursday. Stay tuned.
Go Blue!
