I own and operate a small construction company. The size of my company is limited only by the number of workers I can hire, not the number of sales I could make. Usually by early summer I have pretty much sold out the working year. (work end late Nov. as the ground is frozen). The average age of my workforce is in the mid forties, I have tried everything to hire younger people. The younger they are the less the respect the job and their fellow employees. If a job is scheduled for a four man crew and one of them doesn't show the others have to pick up the slack and they don't care! I know most of my competitors and they have the same problems, in fact one haulage company I deal with has mostly senior citizen employees. They show up on time, work till the job is done without whining . For the last two years we have advertised for 2 entry level employees, qualifications: work boots, safety glasses and a drivers licence starting pay at least $13 with a raise in 60 days. I have also advertised for experienced workers at a higher pay scale and the only response I get is from guys in their late fifties displaced from the Canadian oil patch and would be willing to take a pay cut and work for $40-50 per hour (more than I charge). I want to grow my business and your only as good staff. However, I need people to show up everyday do the work assigned in a reasonable period of time with a professional look. If you don't have the skills I need we'll teach them to you. When young people interview they explain they have good computer skills and describe the job they expect, however that's my job and I'm not ready to give it up!