By BERNADETTE WILSON
To say I was frustrated as an employer is an understatement.
Since May, I have been trying to fill an open position in our Anchorage office. Now, all of a sudden, the flood gates have opened.
I advertised in the same places, using the same method I have throughout our several years in business. Yet, I could count on one hand the applications I have received those last four months.
The struggle is real for so many businesses large and small across Alaska and the country as a whole.
I had one applicant decide not to come in for an interview after they were told yes, they would be required to actually, physically, show up at an office.
More than one applicant informed me she wasn’t particularly interested in working, but she had to show they had applied for jobs as a condition to receive unemployment.
After four months, I decided to approach my hiring process much like my politics: Be blunt, and be honest. The following is an excerpt from the ad that I wrote a few weeks ago, but finally posted online this past Friday:
“Denali disposal is a commercial refuse company servicing Anchorage and the surrounding areas. We are looking for part-time help in our office.This is a 25hr/ week position (M-F 9 am-2 pm with some flexibility on Fridays).
“Things to know before you apply:
“We will not be asking you your vaccination status. If the Doctor who administers the vaccine is not willing to be held liable, neither are we.
“You will not be required to wear a mask and neither will your coworkers.
If you apply with the intention of simply ‘showing that you applied’ for purposes of collecting unemployment, don’t frustrate yourself. We will turn you in to the Department of Labor.
“Our trucks proudly fly the American flag on holidays.
“As your boss, you will hear me quite often thank God for helping me with any given project.
“If you feel the above is not adequate or it offends you in anyway please do not waste your time. No one should be miserable at work.
“If you’re still interested:
“Duties will include tasks such as: answering phone calls, maintaining and organizing office areas, managing filing systems, maintaining calendars, data entry, and setting up and maintaining client’s accounts as well as other company documents/spreadsheets, etc…“
That was Aug. 27. I quit counting resumes Tuesday, Aug. 31, when I hit 75 applicants.
To be clear, I’m offering the exact pay I’ve been advertising the past four months, with the same hours, same location, and identical online advertising platforms I’ve used in the past.
The ad, a pure reflection of what was genuinely going through my mind, received an overwhelming response. Every day since I posted the ad I have opened my inbox to what looks like an endless list of resumes. Here are a few enthusiastic responses that I have received from people who saw the ad:
“I would love to have the chance to work with you, as we seem to hold a lot of the same values, and I believe I would be a great asset for your company. Attached is my resume for you to look over, and I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration.“
“HI!! I saw your job on CL and i want to APPLAUD you!!! how refreshing!!!!! my husband and I moved here from Northern California a few months ago and believe me, this ad would trigger tons of people lol GOOD for you!! you would definitely be the type of boss I’d love to work with, but I’m not familiar with Quickbooks & my Excel skills are below average. I’ve worked in a legal office environment as either a Records C|erk/Office Assistant. GOOD LUCK with finding a great candidate 🙂“
“Greetings, I really enjoyed your job description. Unfortunately, those hours won’t work out with my schedule but I really wish more employers were like you and stood for freedom and traditional values. God bless,“
Employment agencies have contacted me, saying, “Your company is the type of place people are expressing a desire to work at.”
My company doesn’t offer the compensation or health care packages that the vaccine-mandate Southcentral Foundation offers prospective employees, yet I was stunned to see that many Southcentral Foundation employees have submitted their resumes to my company. Southcentral is firing people who don’t get the Covid-19 vaccine.
There can be no doubt that the generous unemployment checks from the government have played a significant role in the lack of desire to work. I applaud Gov. Mike Dunleavy for ending the federal unemployment bonuses when he did. Unemployment payments are out of control. Unless you have a doctors note, you should be working, especially when there are opportunities on every corner. But that is a conversation for another day.
A flood of applicants in such short order points to a theory: Not everyone wants to sit at home. The $20/hr hiring signs plastered all over the Carrs store on Huffman ought to provide a clue that this has nothing to do with minimum wages; employers are begging for workers and providing big signing bonuses.
Perhaps instead it is the idea of working under the thumb of liberal propaganda that is turning potential employees away.
Perhaps it is that workers are tired of being told they are uneducated and selfish. Liberal ideology abandoned the working class long ago.
Maybe there is a workforce that is standing back, waiting in the wings to come back to work the “old fashioned” workplace, where employers say the choice to wear a mask is yours, the choice to vaccinate is yours – and your employers don’t need to know about it.
It’s a way of thinking that says, “you’re damn right I’m proud of this flag and I’m going to fly it; I’m thankful to Almighty God and I am going to say it.”
The workforce is standing ready, they’re waiting for the rest of us to return to our American values.
Bernadette Wilson is the owner of Denali Disposal in Anchorage.
Bernadette for Governor!
Awesome! Way to go Bernadette! We all should be taking such a proactive approach. Consider, ‘Hey, you are forcing your employees to receive an experimental vaccine? Sorry, I will do business elsewhere.’ The upfront, blunt approach is what is needed and, as Bernadette’s example shows, might empower more people to take a step out with courage, perhaps in all areas of the widespread insanity.
Absolutely love this lady…….and all that she stands for.
What an amazing woman with the courage to express her opinions, her belief in liberty and her faith in Almighty God!
? I applaud you, I’ve always enjoyed listening to your blunt politics, we need more of it because common sense is best.
Bernadette Rocks !
Yay, Bernadette!! I’m 80 yrs old but would have worked for you in a heartbeat !!!
God bless you!!
Honesty! Who knew it could reap such rewards! I hope more employers speak honestly of what kind of environment they hope to create.
Thanks for sharing, Burnedette!
Amazing. This is an incredible story. In fact, I’m going to have to think about this long and hard to fully appreciate its implications. There’s a very deep lesson to this……….
Good ole American with American values, this world needs more people like her.
Bravo!!
Many people are fighting to keep their jobs as corporations roll out their private mandates insisting employees get the jab. I applaud you for recognizing the right of individual citizens to monitor what medicines they inject in their bodies.
Oh my gosh, incredible! Forwarding a copy to all our state legislators and demand that they hold the state unemployment office accountable to their stated guidelines. Money should be spent on auditing and vetting the unemployment checks issued. We’d save money in the long run, 1st by paying less in unnessessary unemployment checks and secondly, more people will get back to work helping the Alaska economy which benefits everyone!
WOW! Wow, wow, wow. What a great lady who understands the American Patriot!
Good for you Bernadette Wilson. You are terrific.
If I was looking for a job I would apply here.
This is 100% spot on! If this governor cared about our states economy and workforce then he would protect workers from being forced to be vaccinated by employers; otherwise the worker shortages will continue. The school bus routes will continue to stop running, and soon nurses and doctor shortages will become so problematic that even his lousy attempt to expedite nursing licenses won’t even touch the staffing crisis coming to this state. Maybe this governor needs to stand tall instead of cowering and sitting down to medical fascists! PROTECT OUR RIGHT TO WORK WITHOUT BEING FORCE VACCINATED!
This is 100% the truth. How did things get so bad so quickly here?
I really did think our Governor (despite claiming his hands are tied) would have done something to better protect the residents of our state from the tyrannical actions now being taken by many entities all under the guise of “protecting” the health of others.
Sounds like an easy job that the company can train anyone! What makes it sound easier is it seems repetitive once you been performing the job duties. Even someone with zero experience in the office with the only qualification they have excellent listening skills and an understanding how to follow directions. The escaping California resident sounds like they can do the job. They have more experience in the office than they given themselves credit. A lot of people these days lack self confidence. They don’t have someone who believes in them and mainly has the patience needed for patiently training and improving them.
I think people today can be a little too preferential toward a particular person to overlooking a better person than the preference.
Most excellent! We’re with you!
I can’t wait until employers that mandate the vaccine start getting sued by employees who suffer long-term side effects from getting the vaccine in order to keep their job. I guess those employers are too stupid to think that far ahead.
One of my most prized possessions is my “Bernadette & Berkowitz” coffee mug. I would laugh all the time as you, like Mo, dope slapped “Curly” Berkowitz time and time again. I remember still the time he actually left the studio, like a child, because he couldn’t keep up.
Honest & unafraid to champion the truth, setting he example to follow. That’s what a true leader does. The face of a happy warrior.
Your employer letter is a breath of fresh air, real common sense. I love your statement, “If the doctor who administers the vaccine is not willing to be liable, neither are we.” Truer words have never been spoken (or in this case, written).
Bernadette, you rock!!
Thank you Bernadette! I would work for you for free!!! Who/where with the DOL would an employer contact to report someone that “applies” but is not really interested in working?
Blessings to you!
Love it! Do you need a nurse!!
I was last a hiring manager from ’99 to mid-’06 for the State in Juneau. I could throw $60 -$80K/yr., good money back then, at my professional jobs and either promote somebody from inside the State’s personnel system or hire a young lawyer who could at least think their way out of a bag and write a legal memo. With the lawyers I knew I’d probably lose them in a year or two to the Department of Law because they could pay more; a few might even be brave enough to venture into private practice after they’d gotten their names on some appearance lines.
What I couldn’t hire or keep was front desk clerks and paraprofessionals, the kind of job Bernadette is describing. The minimum qualification for my front desk clerk was a HS Diploma or GED and a year of experience, and in those days we weren’t looking too hard at the experience. The males showed up looking and acting like they were showing up for an audition in a “Gangsta'” movie. The females showed up tatted, pierced, and ragged looking or dressed for a downtown street corner.
None of them could speak in anything like standard business, adult English, though the females were better at that; the males couldn’t seem to figure out that to speak and be understood you had to open your mouth and move your lips, so you got an unintelligible teenaged mumble from them.
So, you needed somebody at the front desk, so you took the best of the bad lot. Now understand, I was paying in the high $20s an hour and offering full benefits when the going market in what passes for a private sector in JNU in those days was maybe $10/hr. and no benefits. If you won the lottery and got one that was any good, they were good for six months, the length of their probationary period, and as soon as they were permanent, they took the first promotion they could get, and you were right back into the process.
If you lost the lottery and got a bad one, you found that they had zero work habits, no idea about actually doing what you were told, and had a non-functional alarm clock, a very unreliable car, and sickly children. You can get rid of them, though you usually didn’t have too; they just didn’t show up anymore. The ones that didn’t just drift away, you couldn’t get rid of quickly enough.
I thought it was a Juneau thing because Juneau has a youth culture right out of “A Clockwork Orange.” Then fast forward to 2014. I had moved back to Anchorage because my wife had failed retirement and taken a job here in ’10. It had become somewhat unseemly to be sitting in front of a screen at 10 AM with a glass of wine in my hand and I saw an ad for Cabela’s looking to staff a new store. I learned to walk in a retail store and was a department manager in corporate retail when I was 21; this was a job I could do in my sleep.
They hired 450 of us to set up and open that store. Two years later there were about twenty of the original crew left, almost all older retirees who were just working for the employee discount and to get off the sofa. I wasn’t one of them; I fell a week short of two years when I reached my limit of putting up with stupidity.
The young employees with a few stellar exceptions were absolutely useless. They were all right out of HS or going to college. They couldn’t talk, they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t follow instructions. If you told them “this is the way we do it,” their response was “that’s stupid.” You didn’t bother to learn their names. If you were a lead worker or a senior employee, you didn’t bother to direct or correct them because they would whine to HR and you’d be doing the carpet dance in the manager’s office for being mean to the stupid punk.
That all said, I appreciate your courage, Bernadette; good luck!
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