Serious drought of Arb workers?

[Old Mill Tree Care]

Is there a serious lack of people who need a job?

I’ve been advertising for ages and had only two applicants. One was too far away and the other was too lazy.

I’m wondering if this is a general trend at the moment.

I’m looking for a groundie and a climber, could be groundie/climber. Could also be full time or free-lance.

[Stefan Palokangas]

I struggle to expand due to can’t find skilled workers.

I found one sleeping in the van, supposed to stop traffic while I was up in cherry picker.

Or iPhone syndrome.

Only I can find is subbies.

Costly .

[wicklamulla]

I'm lucky to have a few decent subbies who can fill the days required,  however I do go short sometimes and today is one of those days! I needed a third man today and the chap that was booked in got the dates mixed up so I postponed todays work,  not a big deal really.  

 

I find there are people that are keen and interested and want to do arb work (be they ticketed or not) and those that are ticketed up and not really interested as they simply see it as a way to get some days here and there,  but they have no real drive or interest and I constantly have to ask them to do stuff.

 

  One chap I use from time to time is a sound lad but isn't really cut out for proper outdoor work and would rather be sat at the controls of a 360 swing shovel with the heater on.  He's ok but a bit flakey.

 

I reckon there are people out  there that have never done this type of work that would actually be quite good if they gave it a try.

[wicklamulla]

7 minutes ago, Stefan Palokangas said:

I struggle to expand due to can’t find skilled workers.

I found one sleeping in the van, supposed to stop traffic while I was up in cherry picker.

Or iPhone syndrome.

Only I can find is subbies.

Costly .

thas not one bit funny and i'd lose my sense of humour pretty quickly with that sleeping person...

[Stefan Palokangas]

thas not one bit funny and i'd lose my sense of humour pretty quickly with that sleeping person...

I was not pleased, he is not out again ever with me.

It’s just tragic.

I was in disbelief, said he was tired, moaning to get his girl friend to pick him up. I had spent 800 on that day and this useless guy decided to sleep, even worse traveling home in my van.

Just a time waster.

[tree-fancier123]

21 minutes ago, Old Mill Tree Care said:

’ve been advertising for ages and had only two applicants

the answer of no use to you would be to pay over the odds and accept less profit. Where do people look for staff? - here and earborist both have arb job sections. I expect experienced arborists its word of mouth, cant see many looking in the local rag for their next job advert.

When I was in the shipyards blokes would always move around if another firm was offering a better hourly rate

[woody woodpecker]

Hi GUYS slightly off topic but what is the best way off getting into arb  industry already doing firewood (approx. 200 tone per year ) but would really like to pack in the full time job and go all self employed .

thanks in advance chris

[javelin10]

You probably need to poach them off the big boys. When I started my boss had about 16 guys. About 5 of them were excellent climbers and really well motivated but he ripped the guts out of them on massive Planes all day every day and they all left to do other things.

 

I bet there are tons of good ex-climbers out there who got to 30, started getting married/having kids etc and, not having the resources to start up for themselves, decided to do something easier that payed better and actually gave them a future.

 

Most youngsters nowadays would rather die then do what we do for a living. Do yourselves a favour and get some Romanians while you still can

[Khriss]

Romanians worth their weight in gold but yea , definately a dearth of motivated qualified staff out there ! K

 

( Ocado and Tescoes deliveries must be sucking them up ! )

[stihlmadasever]

Its the opposite up here in central scotland.Hardly any part time/weekend work about and any that is are offering 10 quid an hour for sectional fells.

I wouldnt groundie for a tenner an hour...