Recruiter’s View

He’s the owner of Mobsteel (“Rides To Die For.”)  And he put a righteous hit on all of American society in less than an hour.  Probably, he made it back home alive.  I, for one, am grateful.

The morning of September 16, Adam Genei gave the Keynote speech at FABTECH 2021. In the nicest possible way, he told 1,000 exhibitors that most of them had screwed up.  By going to China, U.S. industry has lost its manufacturing capacity, and it has betrayed its workforce.  

He explained that four days of discussion panels and speakers had missed the point.  Yes, skills gaps and labor shortages are crippling the country.  But he hires people based on character, not talent.  

It works.  The supply chain is breaking down.  Suppliers can’t produce, because of labor shortages. 

“We’re experiencing none of those problems.”  

Still, the education system is deficient. And industry and the federal government have been sending the wrong “don’t work” message for decades.

It’s way past time to bring back values like hard work and personal responsibility.

Not once was this man complaining or critical. Throughout his entire presentation, he was smiling, enthusiastic, and focused.

He had no choice, really. The core of his message requires that he live and represent the values that he expects from his employees. Complaining is not part of that culture.

Adam’s Answers

Bring me character and motivation, he says, and we’ll provide the rest. He has built an entire company of leaders and leaders-to-be. These people cannot be intimidated by difficulties. They thrive on generating solutions.

Sending your technology, skills, blueprints, and money to China is not a solution.

Trashing enthusiastic American workers, and sending jobs overseas, or illegally through undocumented aliens is not a solution.

Mr. Genei knows that.

Attending to the interests of his customer and his employee is a solution. And it’s a powerful one.

In times like these, he says, a handful of his employees can outproduce large corporations. For one thing, they are actually working. For another, they are conditioned to excel.

Real-Life Comparisons

I want to make it clear, I have seen recruiting sessions that brought in hundreds of “employees” to prove to large corporations that action was at hand. Candidates would explain that their skills didn’t match the job description. No matter, training continued and big bucks changed hands.

I have known several Tool and Die Makers who were asked to go to China to teach their trade to under-paid replacements. The choice was simple: Take the highest pay you have ever seen, or become unemployed. To their credit, these professionals opted out. They stayed home, went independent, and got paid very well to fix bad dies coming back from China.

The Recruiters View

To me, Adam Genei’s Keynote speech was a breath of fresh air.
On my business card and on my website, I make my offer,
“Attracting Excellent Talent to Excellent Employers”

People sometimes miss the last part… Excellent Employers.

I have learned the hard way that lots of really bad employers have trouble keeping a team together. That’s not who I want to work for.

I may never meet Adam Genei. In a world of massive labor shortages, Mutual Respect is all he needs to attract and hold Candidates. He doesn’t need me.

But it took him decades to build and demonstrate the values that have made him strong.

When I find employers of any size who hold to character and value, that’s where I want to spend my time.