[Paz]

I need to find some new well qualified painters because it looks like i am going to have a very busy year. Does anybody know the best way to find well skilled painters, i have placed adds in papers before but that has never been very productive as i had to sift through 50 idiots to find one good guy.

 

[Paz]

No ideas guys?

 

[Grumpy]

Word of mouth is best.

Place an add in a industry publication. Have a staffing firm do the pre-qualifications for you. Worst case scenario take out an add in the local major newspaper.

 

[Grumpy]

Also ask your suppliers if you can place an add in their stores.

 

[Paz]

It really is hard to find guys who are the complete package( Skills, good attitude, transport) I think getting good staff is the hardest part of the job.

 

[ProWallGuy]

I think getting good staff is the hardest part of the job.

I agree.
What do you have in place to attract good help? Do you offer benefits, steady work, good pay scale, etc to make a worker want to work for you?

 

[rodgera]

I have found that the best are ones that have 5 years experience, but have not been in the industry more than 10 years. If they have been in the coating industry more than 10 years and the are looking for work that is a big red flag.

 

[donb1959]

Around this area top pay for a A+ painter is $9.50 per hour(no bennys). At this pay rate you get painters that work 5 hours and stand around playing quarters for 3 hours. You get unkept painters, with no transportation. You get painters who show up late, or not at all. You get painters that when they do show up, their breath will intoxicate you.

A new company started last year here, they pay A+ painters $13.50 per, with ins. and vacations, and profit sharing (after 1 year). There the talk of the contracting community as their production levels are through the roof. They offer an attractive package and expect quality/timely production, which they get. They also do random drug testing.

These contractors around here are still scratching their heads wondering how this company can get the production AND the quality painter

You get what you pay for, no?

 

[Mike Finley]

Funny thing about help is you usually get exactly what you pay for.

 

[premierpainting]

We used to use "cheap help". After hiring a couple of very well paid men we noticed our jobs were completed on time or before deadline. You get what you pay for is an understatement. Our payroll is outragous. But our income is even more outragous due to the high payroll. In the begining, I was very nervous about paying almost double the typical amount, but looking back it has made me a happy camper...to say the least

 

[Paz]

Thanks for your thoughts chaps, my guys are taking home $15 an hour and we have work year round. I would love to be able to give them medical benefits but the money just is not there. I would be glad to pay a guy $25 an hour if he was that productive and could take on a foreman role, but that type of employee is very rare. I had a guy for 3 years that i was grooming to be my foreman and he started his own business, i guess i taught him too well.