Seasonal labor sources? Cancel The title field is required!

1. Douglas Davis

   

   6 posts
   
   3/24/2015 9:03 AM

   Very tricky finding staff for my facility. I offer $10.00/hr starting wage for experience and still struggle. Sorry, I don't need 100% high school/college kids who have a short window for employment. I've put ads on craigslist in both English and Spanish, put flyers at the local Spanish laundromat, gas station. Is the labor well running dry or are there new avenues I'm missing?

   
   
   
   
2. Trevor Monreal

   

   5 posts
   
   3/24/2015 1:03 PM

   Douglas Davis said: Very tricky finding staff for my facility. I offer $10.00/hr starting wage..., put flyers at the local Spanish laundromat, gas station...

   
   What's a Spanish Laudromat??
   Anywho, I think everybody's running up to Seattle for the $15/hr minimum wage

   
   
   
   
3. Jeffrey Sexton

   

   0 posts
   
   3/24/2015 6:03 PM

   Doug,
   
   Unfortunately, President Obama pays better. The work force we are use to having are at home drawing government wages and are fully insured. It sucks.
   
   Jeff Sexton
   Evansville CC

   
   
   
   
4. Corey Eastwood

   

   80 posts
   
   3/25/2015 11:03 AM

   Saw on the tube today that the average fee for babysitting is $13.50 plus tip. Something wrong with golf course wages. The wives make $20 ph here doing house work.

   
   Corey Eastwood CGCS, Stockton Golf & CC, Retired
   
   
5. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   3/25/2015 12:03 PM

   Corey Eastwood, CGCS said: .... Something wrong with golf course wages.

   
   
   Absolutely true. I was making $10.00/hour 34 years ago doing just about anything required of a gc maintenance staff employee.

   
   
   
   
6. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   3/25/2015 1:03 PM

   Wages are probably part of the problem, especially as the economy is growing.
   
   We pay our seasonal labors $8.50 - $10 max. Our full times get up to $15 and change when maxed out. Of course the full timers get benefits as well.
   
   I'm not seeing as many applications as I used to. Its either because they are finding better paying jobs or they have learned about the drug testing.
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
7. Max Lamas

   

   0 posts
   
   2/1/2016 10:02 AM

   Craigslist
   
   Also talk with your local unemployment office.

   
   
   
   
8. Steve Nelson

   

   0 posts
   
   2/1/2016 11:02 AM

   We had ok luck with the local Labor Ready this past summer. Might try them or some other temp agency.

   
   
   
   
9. Noy Sparks

   

   0 posts
   
   8/15/2016 1:08 PM

   Jeff Sexton hit the nail on the head.
   
   I think this is getting to be a critical issue in golf maintenance. We have failed to get fully staffed for 3 or 4 years now, and every year it seems to be getting worse. There are no workers aside from the high school kids--and they are generally pretty worthless as well as only available for a short time. We pay well, and still cannot find workers. We are exploring H2B but I am not optimistic that we will be successful (HR dept isn't on board really). So I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think paying a higher wage will get us better employees.

   
   
   
   
10. Andy Jorgensen

    

    1 posts
    
    8/15/2016 3:08 PM

    It's a tough market all around. Here locally we have had two large employers move into town and offer jobs much higher than our starting wage. Fortunately, both of these employers are only needing part-time help - less than 32 hours per week - to avoid having to offer benefits. We have a great benefit package that starts at 30 days of employment, and I think this has allowed us to at least keep our existing workforce even at a lower pay.
    
    As others mentioned, your local city/county/state should have an employment assistance agency that will allow you to advertise your positions free of charge. We have actually picked up quite a few from this as anyone that is currently drawing unemployment is required to be actively looking for a job. This agency pairs those employees with employers, then follows up to make sure the person did in fact apply for the job, and in-turn why we didn't hire them.

    
    
    
    
11. Sean Hoolehan

    

    0 posts
    
    8/17/2016 9:08 AM

    No great fan of the present administration but i don't see how its their fault that golf course labor is under paid.
    
    Seasonal labor is difficult to find, and has been for a long time. It is worse when you are not paying a attractive wage. You have to recruit for the position. Find people who only want and can afford to work seasonally. I have a mix of retired employees who are drawing a pension, or mature financially secure (spouse has a great job), or they have a job they like in the off season, and young people who are just building a work history and still live at home. I don't have any students. Being able to offer a golf benefit helps me recruit. I advertise in our golf facilities, and even approach golfers who might fit one of the above categories.
    
    I don't get the expectation that Hispanic workers are more likely to take seasonal jobs anymore. Those days are past. I have no problem finding full time staff because we have a competitive wage and excellent benefits, but 3/4 of my staff is seasonal. I get a few employees who come and work one season with the hope of catching on to a full time job at the resort. We have about 900 full time jobs on our resort and more often than not this works out of the employee, and it works out for our resort because we get to observe their work prior to giving them a full time job.

    
    
    
    
12. David Brandenburg

    

    3 posts
    
    8/17/2016 11:08 AM

    We are a 27 hole daily fee (muni owned) start at 9.20 up to 10.85 for seasonals. Have a good mix of students either local college or high school and retirees along with the occasional 50 year old who for whatever reason is just looking for part time work.
    
    A lot of people say kids don't work anymore but I would disagree. They do need supervision, like to be talked to but ours do a pretty good job for us.

    
    
    
    
13. Christopher Thuer

    

    101 posts
    
    8/17/2016 8:08 PM

    Similar struggle finding dependable seasonal labor. We increased our starting wage to $9.50 spring 2015. This did help generate more applicants but few who were hiring quality or of they were hired they didn't last. Many have frequent no shows or tardiness. This season has been about the worst in the 25 years I have been a super for tardiness and no shows and it has been wearing down my patience.
    
    In Indiana it has been figured that the average person on government assistance can stay at home and receive the equivalent of about $12.50 per hour. Why get up and be at work at 5:30 a.m., work hard, in heat, etc?

    
    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
    
    
14. Sean Hoolehan

    

    0 posts
    
    8/18/2016 10:08 AM

    Christopher Thuer, CGCS said:
    
    In Indiana it has been figured that the average person on government assistance can stay at home and receive the equivalent of about $12.50 per hour. Why get up and be at work at 5:30 a.m., work hard, in heat, etc?

    
    
    Chris,
    
    I get the comparison, we (I'm using we loosely) are frustrated at how easy public assistance is to get. Public assistance should never be a alternative to working, it should be for those who are unable to work. If you assume that a person who legitimately needs public assistance to survive gets the equivalent of $12.50 per hour its easy to see our problem finding seasonal workers. How does a person live on $9.50/hr?
    
    In my 38 years, seasonal workers have always drawn the marginally employable but it is now nearly impossible to hire someone illegally (not the case 30+ years ago) Training, safety, record keeping and benefits makes employee turn-over more expensive, and our pool of is still the marginally employable. It is much harder today then it used to be. I will spend $200+ on a new employee before he even puts his gloves on.

    
    
    
    
15. Christopher Thuer

    

    101 posts
    
    8/18/2016 3:08 PM

    So there is a segment of the population who want a higher mandated minimum wage. What if there were incentives for businesses to voluntarily raise their wages to a certain level and offer more benefits if there was a trade off like less government confiscation of revenues and fewer costly regulations that didn't affect safety or negatively impact the environment? What if the government confiscated less from workers pay checks so that they would have more discretionary income to spend on things like golf? This could put more people to work and become less dependent on government handouts.

    
    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
    
    
16. Andy Jorgensen

    

    1 posts
    
    8/19/2016 1:08 PM

    Christopher Thuer, CGCS said: So there is a segment of the population who want a higher mandated minimum wage. What if there were incentives for businesses to voluntarily raise their wages to a certain level and offer more benefits if there was a trade off like less government confiscation of revenues and fewer costly regulations that didn't affect safety or negatively impact the environment? What if the government confiscated less from workers pay checks so that they would have more discretionary income to spend on things like golf? This could put more people to work and become less dependent on government handouts.

    
    
    
    That sounds like a tax break. lol.