AuDN4T

Speaking with the young lady at the legislature today – it made me think… what would I do differently as someone who was graduating.

Reflecting on how messed up the workforce was and still is…

• Need some different method of hiring kids out of school; seems like people get job offers based on knowing someone.
• I think it would be good for employers to have a system in place – or even government had an accommodating system in place for hiring people. The current system sucks.
• Fighting for affordable liveable wages – making $40k for 5-6 years sucked and got me nowhere to even save money for a house or condo.
• If we have neurodivergent kids – knowing what accommodations they need and partnering them up with an employer that would work wonders with them.
• I know many who never ended up getting into the field that they studied – especially Gen X-ers, I know many of my friends struggled to get that job.
• With neurodivergent people – many can have misunderstandings or be bullied for having a different thought.
• The issue is also many employers want 5+ years of experience but they’re not willing to give that experience.
• Schools shouldn’t have a GPA cut off for co-op. Co-op should be available and employers work to get students to work on projects related to their field of study.
• Government jobs – there needs to be some sort of hands on experience in the real world – otherwise the disconnect is real and burdensome. Feedback is taken from all citizens impacted. Otherwise you create a system that doesn’t work.
• Am I glad I didn’t do a Masters? Yes. I feel like I got a lot of experience in the field during those 10 years. Specialized in Occ. Hygiene; saw a lot of different workplaces; met many people… many who were really cool. And some that were shit people… and really need to reflect on how they treat other people.
• The work travel was important – getting to know different people and how different towns work, what they struggle with. Even observing things during vacation days and understanding how different countries operate and wonder why we can’t have THAT – thinking back to NYC – the subway and the bike lanes, or Atlanta’s HOV lane on the left hand side. GEMBA walks are so important. And it’s so important to go and see, speak with people to understand what works and what doesn’t work and why. Taking in that feedback is so critical… rather than just plowing through with an idea and hoping it works or saying it works – like Ford and Trump.
• Management of Change is so critical otherwise you’re struggling with repairs down the road or more costly repairs. This is something that wasn’t taught in school but was pretty critical to know from a HSE standpoint or any workplace or public project.
• Leaders hiring people need to understand a person’s capabilities and potential. Pigeon-holing someone into a role that has stated that they want to get out of so that they can further their experience in something different shouldn’t be decided by the leader but rather the candidate. You’re already putting someone in a box that they’ve said they don’t want to be in. People learn a lot on the job. You shouldn’t be in the driver’s seat of their career – they should be in the driver’s seat… I think about this even from a broader aspect – how our government is telling low income kids they can’t go to college or university because they don’t have the money and are restricting them from getting better jobs.
• Those days where I worked my ass off – where I crashed from long days and weeks – I wished better hours were available – better time off – better pay. I wish I was able to find more comfortable shoes. I wish you weren’t force to wear dress shoes because they’re not always comfortable… especially when you’re walking for many hours. I wish sick leave was more than 3 days. I wish people were given more time off – people work hard. They deal with a lot of stuff at home, with their health, with the environment, with lack of care for our mental health. On their birthdays, on their family member’s birthdays… and employers don’t really give a crap. I wish we had better pensions… I wish we didn’t have to be ground down to people who are burnt out.