To begin, let’s start with some points of reference and a little background. I’m a white heterosexual male, educated, single, over 40 with no children or pets. I have various degrees, licenses, and certifications, plus lots of practical experience in a wide assortment of trades, as well as untapped skills in other areas. My health is good, I have all my teeth, I’m considered attractive and am over 6 feet tall with an appropriate weight ratio. This all sounds good and should be a plus in whatever situation or endeavor I find myself in. Yeah….right!

Now for the setting. The city I reside in has a population of over 1.5 million, with a diversified culture, major educational institutions, some of the worlds top rated medical facilities and research hospitals, is a major distribution center and the headquarters of many global Fortune 500 corporations. It also has the countries largest inland sea-port and a major military installation. Sounds like a land of opportunity and technical savvy doesn’t it? Once again….yeah, right!

Just one more thing before I get into the meat-and-potatoes of the matter. I am not, repeat, am NOT a bigot, racist, hate-monger, bible-thumper, right-winger or any of that type of crap. I am a simple, peaceful individual trying to survive in the new millennium like the rest of you. So if you read something into this other than the plain facts I am putting forth, then YOU have a problem, not me. Besides, this is merely one person’s opinion based upon casual observation and first-hand experience. So there!

Just so you’ll know, I’m pissed! I mean really pissed. Not to mention frustrated and irritated. I have been trying to work through this for almost a year now and have come to the following conclusions. This is not to say I have overlooked something, or may be looking at the whole thing from a slightly distorted point of view, but it’s still my perception of what appears to be a universal quandary. Reality is a matter of personal experience and individual perception.

Conclusion #1; A Human Resource person at almost any type company has a very narrow concept of what a qualified candidate is. It doesn’t matter that an individual has all the necessary experience, knowledge, and/or skills to more than adequately fill any given position. What matters is ‘Are they a minority?’, “How old are they?’, ‘What do they look like?’, ‘Do I like them?’, and more garbage along the same lines. Forget qualifications! They had rather leave a position vacant, or hire someone without the necessary skills, just to be able to say that they fit the corporate profile.

Solution to Conclusion # 1: Either get rid of or re-train HR people. Let someone who knows the position find someone to fill it properly. If that’s not feasible, stop hiring outside the company and train someone internally to fill the position. Too many people are wasting valuable time wading through the hiring process on both sides of the fence.

Conclusion #2; Trying to get the best for the least should apply to goods, not people. People are what drive any economy and make a company what it is. The company doesn’t have an iota of validity without the right people. If people needed a job worse than the company needed people, then why is the company paying you? You can always tell when a company doesn’t hire the right people. Complaints go up, service goes down and product quality goes out the window. No wonder “Made in the USA” doesn’t mean squat anymore.

Solution to Conclusion #2; Pay people what they are worth! If you do, you’ll have a happy work force, production will increase, quality will be there and you’ll have a minimum of customer complaints, employee unrest, lost time due to illness, etc. I mean, like how hard is this to figure out? Remember the old saying “You get what you pay for and pay for what you get.” Way true people.

Conclusion #3; Increasing the net profits and shareholders margins do not make for good business. This sounds great on paper and makes a lot of people money. Or should I say, it makes a specific segment of the population money at the expense of others. The process of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer seems to have become the rule instead of the exception. A thought to remember is that once you do away with the middle class, the entire economy collapses and open revolt is inevitable. Learn from history or you’ll repeat its’ mistakes. It happened in Rome, England, France, Germany, Russia and is on its’ way here if this type of “Cookie-cutter & self-serving mentality” crap doesn’t stop.

Solution to Conclusion #3; Stop down-sizing, right-sizing, etc. Quit firing, laying off, buying out people, then putting their tasks on another without any incentives, additional salary/benefits, or whatever. Quit doubling employees’ workloads without compensation that is equal to the job description for this additional “Stuff." Stop imposing impossible tasks in ridiculous time-frames on the masses. All these methodologies may help increase the profit margin of a business but they are also slowly eroding the very infrastructure of the economy that they so cherish.

There are more Conclusions & Solutions, but for the moment, I’M PISSED and need a beer! Nuff’ said!