Good hires are rare, despite the low jobless rate

Many employers are happy to read of mass layoffs. They're not gloating over competitors' misfortunes. They're hoping some of the laid-off workers -- the good ones -- will come to them.

One unpleasant reality of full employment was that job openings often went unfilled, and some hires that were made came from the bottom of the work force barrel, with generally unhappy results.

Now headlines have turned from "record low unemployment" to "mass layoffs announced." There are more people out of work at this time this year than last, but plenty of employers continue to say they can't find good help.

Karen, who is protecting her company's identity, is frustrated. She has three employees who should be on their best behavior during their 90-day probationary periods. Yet all three have called in sick repeatedly during their first weeks on the job.

Karen understands that people get sick and that family emergencies arise. She wants to be understanding, but it's hard to run a business when workers don't show up. And she laments that she's grown skeptical about some of the repeated absences.

She wonders what's happened to the work ethic.

Like many employers, Karen was stunned when she hired someone who failed to show up for his first day on the job. He didn't come in or call the second day, either. Karen never heard from him again, and she's far from alone in this experience.

In a related vein, company officials at Whole Foods Market were surprised by an underwhelming turnout Saturday at a job fair for their soon-to-be-opened Overland Park store. The natural and organic foods retailer has a national reputation as a good employer.

Only about 40 applicants visited. Some of them were qualified and promising candidates, but others were less so, said Coby Reinhardt, the store's associate team leader. The stores' reputation rests partly on a strong team environment and good customer service.

"But we've learned the hard way that it's better to be short- staffed than hire the wrong ones," Reinhardt said. "It's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a good one."

It's important to note here that advertised jobs -- not just at Whole Foods or at Karen's business but at many other places -- aren't offering the same salaries or responsibility levels as the jobs from which people were laid off.

Until severance pay or unemployment benefits run out, we're unlikely to see, for example, a Sprint engineer at a Whole Foods job fair, no matter the market's excellent reputation.

It will be several months before the job market shows the true effect of the big layoffs that have been announced in recent months. Some of the well-paid, well-educated and long-term employees aren't even looking for work yet. Others are launching their own enterprises. Some already have accepted or are considering other job offers.

Employers offering jobs for the lesser-skilled are dreaming if they expect hundreds of great workers to show up at their doors. A few may. But it's too early to tell whether holding a job -- just any job -- has become more precious these days.

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