It’s not that local workers lack the skills for these positions, many of which do not even require a high school diploma but pay $15 to $25 an hour and offer full benefits. Rather, the problem is that too many applicants — nearly half, in some cases — fail a drug test.The fallout is not limited to the workers or their immediate families. Each quarter, Columbiana Boiler, a local company, forgoes roughly $200,000 worth of orders for its galvanized containers and kettles because of the manpower shortage, it says, with foreign rivals picking up the slack.
"We are talking to employers every day, and they tell us they are having more and more trouble finding people who can pass a drug test," says Edmond C. O'Neal at Northeast Indiana Works, an education and skills-training nonprofit. "I've heard kids say pot isn't a drug. It may not be, but pot will prevent you from getting a job." This isn't because of moral strictures among manufacturers or legal niceties, he adds. "Relaxing drug policies isn't an option for manufacturers in terms of insurance and liability."
The labor force participation rate, the number of people working or actively looking for work, has fallen since the Great Recession and has stagnated near 63 percent for the last four years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This stagnation comes despite monthly jobs reports, such as the one due Friday, showing a steady pace of job creation and a decline in unemployment.
Nearly 6,000 refugees have settled in the last five years in Louisville, Kentucky, helping companies hire workers for jobs that had gone unfilled. Methamphetamine use is so high in Louisville that the number of people testing positive for meth in workplace drug tests is 47% higher than the national average, according to Quest Diagnostics.
Unemployment is resulting in a very highly cost to the economy and more. Americans need to get their stuff together.
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Questions to Acknowledge:
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Do you think that they should still hire people with an exception of a low drug usage. on the test? Elaborate.
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How does illicit drugs affect you from getting a job?
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Do you think that this could possibly be a bigger conflict in the future?
Do you think that they should still hire people with an exception of a low drug usage. on the test? Elaborate.
How does illicit drugs affect you from getting a job?
Do you think that this could possibly be a bigger conflict in the future?
Hey Gabby. I believe that whether you get hired or not should depend on the job position. For example, if you want to become a doctor or have a medical profession and your test reads that you have a low drug usage, you should not get that job. This is because you have other human lives to worry about. Giving a person a surgery and even giving someone a prescription requires concentration and precision which someone even with a low drug usage does not fully have. Say if that same person wanted a job as a cashier instead of a doctor, a low drug usage would be okay and they should be hired as long they keep their job and drug usage apart from each other. But if the employee came to work noticeably influenced by the drug more than three times than they should be let go. Illicit drugs affect people from getting a job because they do not know how they could effect them. The drug could cause loss of efficiency, lower morale of co-workers, and fatal accidents that lead to death. I believe that this could possibly be a bigger conflict in the future for a few reasons. First, new and stronger drugs are being discovered every day. As time progresses who knows how many drugs could be out there for people to take. With all of these drugs, it will become easier for people to get them which will increase the amount consumed by the people. Secondly, the media passes doing drugs off as cool and hip. This pressure temps kids to want to try drugs and other things associated with it. If kids do decide to try drugs they will most likely become addicted and bring them into their adult lives. This is a never ending cycle which will cause huge issues in the future.
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