Recently Ray Gaster, an owner of lumber yards on both sides of the Georgia-South Carolina border joined some friends at a retreat in Alabama to talk shop. The main topic of concern? Drugs tests, and the increasing inability of potential new hires to pass them.
"They were complaining about trying to find drivers, or finding people, who are drug-free and can do some of the jobs that they have" Gaster said, as he echoed his friends' concerns.
Of course it's not a new problem, but as of recently "we've seen it edging back up" commented Calvina L. Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation.
As the NYT reports, Quest Diagnostics, which has gathered employer-testing data since 1988, has documented the rise of failed drug tests.
In 2013, the percentage of failed drug tests was 4.3 percent (which was also the first year in a decade that showed an increase), and that number increased to 4.7 percent in 2014. To put an emphasis on the issue, John Sambdman, who employs about 100 people at Samson Trailways in Atlanta, said that many job seekers don't even show up to the drug-testing facility once they find out it's a requirement of the job.
To help those who have drug issues, Georgia state labor commissioner Mark Butler would like to test job seekers who reach out to the Department of Labor, and if people fail the drug test, then the DOL would provide help by way of counseling. "Obviously it's not an easy process, and it would be costly. But you've got to think: What is the reverse of that? It's pretty much a national issue."
In Colorado, Avalanche Roofing & Exterior owner Jesse Russow says "to find a roofer or a painter that can pass a drug test is unheard of."
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported in September that one in ten Americans ages 12 or older reported in 2014 that they had used illicit drugs within the last month - the largest share since 2001.
For Gaster, the importance of a drug free workplace helps keep workers' compensation payments lower. With a savings that he estimates to be $4,000 a year, it helps justify the $2,500 it costs for laboratory and on-site drug testing.
The human element of kicking a drug habit is important as well of course. Britt Sikes, a 38 year old father of three young girls lost his teeth to methamphetamine use, and acknowledged using marijuana since he was 8. Sikes now has a $13 an hour job as a Gaster door installer, and gets to raise his girls. "I'm a recovering drug addict myself, and to raise my girls, I had to learn to leave it alone."
While some are able to kick their habits, others choose to keep them and just work at places like McDonald's, as most restaurants don't test. "I come from a society where drugs is common - marijuana, weed, it's common" said Frederick Brown, who concluded that people who can't pass a drug test just seek to work at McDonald's.
While this is sadly indicative of where society is at this point, it's not exactly shocking. With central bank policies only making the income inequality issue more and more pronounced, clearly some are choosing to turn to drugs and lower level jobs instead of being inspired to stay clean and striving for the higher paying job that would make life better. Which we must admit, is difficult to go after if the jobs that are out there are all bartender and waiter jobs to begin with.
Finally, we can't help but find the irony in all of this - with JOLTS job openings at record highs, business leaders proclaiming an inability find "qualified candidates," and politicians demanding more money be spent on 'educating a workforce to the new normal', it may just be that being "qualified" merely means being drug-free... which as the data abovbe exposes, may be far harder than simply educating the jobs into people.