A good worker is hard to find.

Plagued by high costs for training and retraining underqualified and unmotivated job applicants many small and mid-size companies are looking for help--or another big corporate layoff--to fill open jobs. A national survey of 838 business owners, conducted in July 1996, by management consultant George S. May International Co., reveals that more than 56% believe it is harder to find qualified employees today than it was five years ago, while 37% think it is easier.

"Applicants have high expectations for salary and benefits, yet the qualifications of the applicants and their willingness to work keeps getting lower," maintains Donald J. Fletcher, president of George S. May International. "The high cost of training new employees--and a parade of replacements--means employers must make adjustments."

While industry studies vary, he suggests that problems caused by turnover add at least 50% to the cost of each new worker--meaning that it would take more than $45,000 to fill a vacated $30,000 job. Factors that run up the bill are recruitment expenses, training, errors made by the new employee, and productivity that is lost when...