Hiring Blues

Ok, where I work one of my jobs is the hiring (and sometimes firing, it seems whenever a manager wants to fire one of their associates I somehow get asked to sit in, but that's a story for another time) of employees. With Christmas coming up, and Black Friday even sooner, I am trying to hire as many people as possible.

I still can't believe how hard it is to hire people since the hurricane. That was over a year ago. The parish (the rest of you call it a county) I live in has had a dramatic increase in its population since the hurricane. A lot of people that used to live in New Orleans is now living out here. So with so many extra people you would think I would be having the opposite problem, having to turn people away. That's what you would think. But it's been a problem since Katrina, and it still is a problem. No one wants to work.

Than there are the people like this one woman I hired. I hired her one day and she was supposed to come to orientation the next day. Doesn't show up. Doesn't call. No word from her. Ok, I figured she found a new job or just decided that this job wasn't for her. It would have been nice if she called to let me know. But lately that has been a big problem. No shows after I hire them. What gets me even more is the no shows after they sit throught an orientation. Why go through all the time and trouble of getting hired and sitting through a four hour orientation to not show up for work?

Anyways getting back to this one particular woman. No show so I file her application away. About two weeks pass. She comes in with a friend that fills out an application. She sees another manager and tells this manager that she wants to set up a new time for her orientation. This manager comes to me and tells me what's going on and asks if I want to set up a new time for her orientation. I tell her I'll go talk to the woman. When I get up there and ask if there is anything I can help her with she tells me no, she's just here with her friend. About an hour later she corners one of our admin people and tells her that I told her to let my person know she is supposed to set up a new orientation with her. Again I am called. If you can guess she didn't get the orientation.

So today, about half a week later I bring her friend in for an interview. She comes with her friend again. I hire her friend. As soon as I finish talking to her friend she steps into the room. She starts to ask if I think it would be possible....I don't even let her finish. I tell her no. She didn't show up, she didn't call. She tells me that she is living with friends and they don't have a phone. Only a cell phone. ??? I ask her why she couldn't call me on a cell phone. I tell her that she couldn't get in touch with me for two weeks to let me know what was going on there is no way I am going to hire her now.

Is it just me or am I crazy for thinking like this?