[SML] Training people WAS come work with me

[David Fox]

[uncloaking]

{BIASED OPINION/RANT FOLLOWS}

The difficulty in finding people is not limited to just theatres, I have been seeing and hearing it everywhere in the industry. 
I agree that wages and salary are indeed an issue. Was talking to a friend in LA where I last worked freelance 24 years ago. Hourly non-union wages for a technician have increased by $3 an hour since I last worked there. When you can literally take a job bagging groceries for more than you can earn loading in or running a show it absolutely presents a problem. 

I mentioned to several people at the start of the Pandemic that there hadn't been a better time in almost a century for our unions to step up and start actively recruiting members. If everyone in town can join the local, there is no one left for producers and facilities to underpay. 

I predicted a significant drop in the experienced workforce as the industry shut down and people had to find other ways to earn income. I figured that once they discovered that they could get benefits, vacation, sick days, and better steady pay people would be hard-pressed to give that up. Unions would have the power and pockets to sustain those people and negotiate a better gig for anyone. 

Additionally, as people left the industry while there would be people to fill their shoes, there was going to be a massive brain drain and loss of historical knowledge. 90% of what we do is passed-down knowledge and shared experience not formal education. Thus the craft part of stagecraft. We would recover from this but it was going to take time. 

Because while yes you can hire new folks and train them, that doesn't mean you can pay them less AND you have to have people who can train them. Perhaps the best thing about the kids these days is they have a much better sense of self-worth and work-life balance than this grizzled gen X-er ever has.

Sometimes it sucks to be right. Especially when you are not in a position to do anything about it.

{THUS ENDETH RANT, Now questions}

While I can't do anything about the wage issues (still have not figured out how to win the lottery without playing), I have been talking with several people about ideas to fill the knowledge gaps and teach new to industry people the stuff school/the streets didn't. We are still very much in the cocktail napkin stage but as this group has been my brain trust for well over 3 decades, I ask you gentle reader....

1. What do you wish the people you were hiring knew more about?
2. What skills and knowledge did your team lose over the last 3 years?
3. What do you personally want to learn more about?

Collectively we still have the knowledge, lets work together to share it. 
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It is important to note that the opinions of the individual and those of their employer are not always aligned. 

What you have read should be construed as my opinion and not the opinion of my employer. 

If you don't like or agree with my thoughts and musings, I am the one you should take to task and not the nice people who pay me.
 
Be Seeing You
David
He/him/his
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