7/2/25 Putting People First: Legacy Staffing’s Community-Driven Approach

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Wednesday, July 2nd BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Guys" podcast call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management LinkedIn: Moneywise_Wealth_Management Guests: Marianne & Ashley - Legacy Staffing Solutions website: www.legacystaffingsol.com/ phone: 661-447-4112

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From the Garo Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway, here is Money Wise. Call or text into the show 24/7 at 396-1000.

• 0:39Speaker 00

  Here is Money Wise.

• 0:40Speaker 01

  Money, money, money, money.

• 0:44Speaker 01

  Welcome to the Money Wise Show. We are live from the Garo Ellis padded radio room of Stockdale Highway on ESPN Bakersfield, 1230 a.m., 101.1 FM, and always streaming at MoneyWiseGuys.com. You can call or text into the show 24 hours a day at 661-396-1000. That was 661-396-1000. Today, we are your hosts, Sammy Abiyawi and

• 1:06Speaker 00

  And I'm Stephen Nicholas.

• 1:08Speaker 01

  Stephen.

• 1:08Speaker 00

  Oh, we got a show.

• 1:09Speaker 01

  Phew.

• 1:10Speaker 00

  Oh, we got a show.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  I'm excited, scared of the outcome.

• 1:13Speaker 00

  Don't be scared.

• 1:13Speaker 01

  I don't know what to say.

• 1:15Speaker 00

  Because you know it is.

• 1:21Speaker 01

  Man, we've got a great show ahead for you guys. It's a special one for me. I've got the better health on the other side of this desk. My 21-year roommate is here today after you convinced her to come over to talk about her business and highlight staffing and stuff. So we've got a bunch of stuff to talk about today. But before we do that, let's dive in into the market update.

• 1:47Speaker 01

  Fairly stable today. Dow up about 0.3% driven by energy and industrial. S&P's flat market is cautious ahead of Friday's job report. I'm so happy that we have a staffing agency on the show today to talk about job, job creation, staffing. So this is perfect timing. Nasdaq down about 0.2% after the tech pullback following the Microsoft layoff. That's another good subject for today. Microsoft laying off 9,000 people. I want to dive into that and how AI is driving some of these layoffs.

• 2:24Speaker 00

  Takeover.

• 2:25Speaker 01

  Yes, man. Arnold Schwarzenegger is here. We need to be careful. Um, ten year treasury yield uh at four one one uh five percent. Uh, that's uh, that's the rate we typically use for commercial banking when we finance real estate, SBA loans, long-term real estate and large real estate products. But for the most part, the market is is is cautious. It's a wait and see type of attitude. That's what Jerome Powell is is is doing ahead of the meeting at the end of July. A lot of people are saying he's not gonna budge on moving interest rates. And we will see Friday how that job uh report uh looks.

• 3:12Speaker 00

  Will they, will they wait till Friday?

• 3:14Speaker 01

  No, well, Friday is just the the report comes out.

• 3:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:17Speaker 01

  And then at the end of the month, we will, we will see what Jerome Powell would do.

• 3:22Speaker 00

  I, I know Justin had mentioned yesterday on the show that uh, that he had said that he would already have done it if it wasn't for the tariffs and other things. So we'll, we'll, we'll keep you posted like we always do.

• 3:33Speaker 01

  That's right. That's right. In the meantime, we have a listener question, Stephen, I think.

• 3:37Speaker 00

  Yes, we do. It says, uh, great episode with the uh, the pass of the beautiful bill. Do you know how long it usually takes for fiscal policy changes to affect everyday consumers like us?

• 3:51Speaker 01

  Very good question. For the most part, think about the bill like a carrier, a US carrier. It takes a long time to turn that big of a boat. So some, some, some things are gonna take effect right away, like the power purchase agreement for solar on the roofs. They don't have the tax credit anymore. As soon as the bill is signed into law, those go away. That's immediate. Some of the other tax things will take a little bit of time between six to sometimes eighteen months to take effect because they need to write the laws, they need to do consolidation, they need to just make sure that the things that they have in the bill still makes sense.

• 4:33Speaker 01

  And eventually, some things might even change, go back to, to, to the approval process. So some things are immediate and some things are gonna take up to eighteen months, depending on the complexity of the.

• 4:45Speaker 00

  We talked to the solar expert the other day, Mr. Castro, and he immediately texted me during the show yesterday and said, "Man, everything I talked about the show before, uh, we can probably talk about that again, because a lot of this is gonna be changing."

• 4:56Speaker 01

  He was, he was a very, very good, uh, guest. I would like for us to bring him back eventually when this bill is actually, goes into effect and the impact it's gonna have on homeowners and solar and what have you. It's gonna be huge. It's gonna be huge. Huge. Huge. Huge. In the meantime, who do we have today, Stephen?

• 5:17Speaker 00

  We have your roommate?

• 5:18Speaker 01

  My roommate, the owner of Legacy Staffing Solutions.

• 5:22Speaker 00

  You know, you can slap him if you'd like.

• 5:24Speaker 01

  Right. She can't reach. She can't reach. So I'm just gonna sleep with one eye open, just in case. Um, so Legacy Staffing Solutions is here today. Mary Ann, uh, is, is the owner, also my, my wife of 21 years. She's here today with Ashley Tennant, her, uh, Business Development Director. Is that the title?

• 5:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:45Speaker 01

  And who else do we have today?

• 5:47Speaker 02

  Araceli.

• 5:48Speaker 01

  Araceli is here today. Araceli, uh, does the social media for Legacy Staffing Solutions, and she's in the process of taking videos and making me uncomfortable and sweaty. So quit it, Araceli. So, welcome. Welcome, Mary Ann and Ashley. Hello. And, and, and finally, after two years of me working at MoneyWise, you actually show up to do a show.

• 6:11Speaker 02

  This is very scary for me, so I'm not used to this.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Well, let's not be scary. Let's just dive into your, your, your business, and it's a very important part of, of what the, the economy needs, jobs, and you help in job, job creation, job fulfilling. But before, before we do anything, you started this company, what, three, four years ago now?

• 6:35Speaker 02

  Uh, close to about four years ago.

• 6:37Speaker 01

  And, and, and I know you've had a passion for helping people. Is that the reason why you started this company? What's, what's the main reason?

• 6:44Speaker 02

  You know that that's the reason.

• 6:45Speaker 01

  Well, yeah, I lost my job, and you had to have something to feed us.

• 6:49Speaker 02

  That's very true.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  Behind, be, be, be, before that or after that, why are you doing this?

• 6:55Speaker 02

  Honestly, uh, since I was a little girl, you know, I've seen my parents bring in nurses from overseas to Bakersfield because at that time it was very hard to actually get nurses to work. Um, there wasn't that many pool talent here, so they had to go and recruit from overseas. And as a child, I would see them, train them, talk to them in the house, and that gave me the idea of, you know, having my own staffing agency someday. So that's how it started. But I've always, you know, tried to apply at staffing agencies. I moved around a lot and sometimes the best way to find a job was through a staffing agency.

• 7:39Speaker 02

  And I've always been attracted to it and I've always wanted to help, you know, find jobs for people. That's it.

• 7:46Speaker 01

  That's it?

• 7:47Speaker 02

  Well, you know, at twenty-three years old, I started my own business in the Philippines as well as in Dubai. Uh, at that time, um, I didn't really know, I just knew that I was passionate about helping people find jobs. And in the Philippines, there was hardly any work available for people. But I opened up a staffing agency there, uh, brand new, and I had all these, you know, applicants. So I decided to open one in Dubai to send people over there to work.

• 8:18Speaker 01

  A fun fact for the listeners, Philippines has the largest diaspora of, of, of foreign workers all throughout the world.

• 8:24Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  So they produce everything from engineers to nurses to doctors and they ship them all across. So, so, so that's, that's Philippine number one, um, production item is employees.

• 8:38Speaker 02

  Yes. That's how they make a lot of their money.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  That's why we have a lot of Filipino nurses.

• 8:42Speaker 02

  Correct. Not just nurses, but engineers even. Um, so that's how it all started. We were connected with about seven different countries, a pool of talent, which is Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Ethiopia even, and even Morocco. Um, and we would ship them in Dubai, in Qatar, in Saudi Arabia, even London, in Canada. So that's how it all began until I met you.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:09Speaker 02

  And I had to get married.

• 9:10Speaker 01

  Don't, don't, don't sound like that. My people on the show, they like me. Now they're gonna start, my ratings are gonna go down. Steven, this sounds, this is a bad idea, man. I told you it's a bad idea. No, no, I, I know the passion that, that you have for helping people. I've seen that. I've seen that not just numerous times. So, so staffing, staffing, first thing, like, why would a business go to you to hire people versus just hiring direct? Why use a staffing agency?

• 9:45Speaker 02

  You know, that's, um, that's an interesting question. Um, and to me, the number one reason is sometimes time management, right? Sometimes you have a lot of people that you need and you don't have all the right resource in your own company to hire all of those individuals. We are like your outside source, human resource. We will take care of hiring, um, and onboarding all of that. And as well as you re- you reduce the risk of liabilities. So why do all that if you can hire somebody to take care of it for yourself? Try it out. Try that employee for a certain period of time, right? Usually with staffing agencies, about 720 hours. So you

• 10:30Speaker 01

  It's like a long-term interview.

• 10:32Speaker 02

  Correct. And see, because you will not know an individual on the first day that you met them through an interview, or even the second time that you meet them in an interview. With a staffing agency, you get to actually try out an employee and see how they are for a duration of close to about three to four months. And see if this is a person that fits your organization culturally and everything else.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  In the, in that, in those 720 hours, 720 hours that the employee is with the company, is you, that employee is your employee, legacy's employee.

• 11:07Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 11:08Speaker 01

  You manage the payroll, you manage the

• 11:10Speaker 02

  100%.

• 11:10Speaker 01

  benefits. And if, if I hire from you, for instance. And then the person shows up, works for a week, and I'm like eh, doesn't fit the culture. Do I need to do any firing or sort of just call you and says, hey, this person does not fit. I need somebody different.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  No, you call me directly and say, hey, this, this is just not working out. And my job is to help you as well as the employee. Cause maybe that person belongs and is, you know, works better at another organization.

• 11:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. And. Different industry maybe.

• 11:41Speaker 02

  Correct, a different industry. Maybe it's just not working out culturally for your organization, but she'll be great somewhere else.

• 11:47Speaker 01

  Or he.

• 11:47Speaker 02

  Or he, exactly. So yeah, I mean, call us and then we'll find somebody uh right away for you to replace that individual. And try it again. Our number one thing is, hey, we're here to help you. And we wanna find the right fit for you. And if it doesn't work out, it's my job to find another person to replace that individual.

• 12:08Speaker 01

  And, and, and sometimes, I mean, in my experience, it doesn't work.

• 12:12Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 12:12Speaker 01

  Not because we're malicious, either the employer or the employee. It's just doesn't work. Maybe the person does not have the passion for that work.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 12:21Speaker 01

  That industry and yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's great. Now.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  There are individuals too that are very good at interview process. Then you find out later on down the line, even though they've worked at an industry specific place. That they don't have all the skill set that you're looking for. Not necessarily, you know, that's a bad thing. Maybe they're fit for somewhere else.

• 12:44Speaker 01

  And that's the risk you talked about earlier.

• 12:45Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 12:46Speaker 01

  That we, you can avoid by hiring through a staffing agency. You, you, you can get the person, try them. See if they have the skill set that they have on the resume, see if they are a good fit. See if they actually match, the skill set matches, and then make a long-term hire after the three, four months.

• 13:04Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  In the meantime, you can buy that person out of the contract if you decide, hey, within one week, this person actually is great.

• 13:11Speaker 02

  Correct. If you wanted to, you just let us know and say, hey, you know what? I don't want to wait seven hundred and twenty hours. I want to hire this individual.

• 13:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't want to lose this individual, yeah.

• 13:20Speaker 02

  Then there's a cost, you know, associated to it, but it's just something that we as your partner will discuss. And the other thing that people don't understand is if you hire somebody right away and that person quits on you, they apply for unemployment, you have to go process all of that, take care of that. You have the liability if they decide to go and, you know, have a lawsuit against you. You have that liability. If it's through a staffing agency, we handle all of that. We take care of everything from workers' comp issues to unemployment claims to other things. So why not hire through that, you know, through that avenue first?

• 13:59Speaker 00

  So is it more of a, what I'm getting out of it is where, you know, you guys do the interview, kind of see what, how they matched on their resume and you kind of sign on with them, with that, with that person or even the employee and, you know, and kind of vouch for them for those seven hundred and twenty hours or so. And if it, if it works out, it's good for both sides. And if it's not, you can kind of pull out and, and find a different type of work for them?

• 14:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think too, what's important to share is we really try to be customizable too. We have, we have clients that, that model that we just kind of shared is, is the process. We actually do all of the interviewing and we actually select the person that we truly believe is the best fit and, and that's what they're looking for. Where other businesses are looking for maybe our top three to five and they want to interview in-house and kind of compare. Um, and then we have other clients that maybe just want to see our entire pool um, that fit within the range and all, and we did the front-hand work of, of collecting all of those, but they really just want to see more of what, what there is to offer because they, again, didn't have the HR bandwidth

• 15:10Speaker 03

  or um, they just wanted to see additional outside of what they've been doing on their end, what we have done.

• 15:17Speaker 01

  And sometimes it's true, just a temporary work too.

• 15:20Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 15:21Speaker 01

  We have, we have cyclical industries in the valley that don't need employees all year long.

• 15:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:26Speaker 01

  So why hire somebody and then let them go? Let's use temp service for that. And that's something we do as well.

• 15:33Speaker 02

  Correct. Yeah. Seasonal work as well. Yes.

• 15:36Speaker 01

  Let's, uh, let's take a break and then when we come back, let's dive into the seasonal work and some of the type of industries you guys service. We'll be right back.

• 15:43Speaker 00

  Money Wise Wealth Management is the only locally owned independent firm that uses a comprehensive wealth tax and estate approach. Working closely with a highly trusted CPA and attorney. For information on how Money Wise can help you invest and plan for your future. Call 661-847-1000.

• 16:12Speaker 01

  That's a song from Mary Ann.

• 16:15Speaker 01

  Warren G.

• 16:19Speaker 01

  We're the Money Wise Show. We're back. Sammy Abia with Stephen Nicholas.

• 16:24Speaker 01

  We have Legacy Staffing Solutions on the show today and we're talking about all things staffing. My next question was going to be, uh, what industries or roles do you specialize in staffing for? Both long-term, short-term? Are there any things or any industries that you guys really, really like?

• 16:44Speaker 02

  Well, when we started, our majority, um, company or industries that we service was oil, gas and solar. That was in general labor as well. But with all of the California permitting issues or, you know, that they have placed upon these industries, that has kind of died down a little bit. And so now we're actually merging into healthcare, which is the number one, uh, emerging industry here in Bakersfield or even in Kern County. So.

• 17:19Speaker 01

  So anything healthcare, nurses, doctors?

• 17:22Speaker 02

  Healthcare, nurses, doctors, I'm being asked for.

• 17:25Speaker 01

  Nurse practitioners.

• 17:25Speaker 02

  Yes, um, X-ray techs. Yes, ultrasound techs, um, occupational therapist, behavioral therapist, you know, physical therapist even, but we still service as well banking industries, administrative, general labor, um, and we do have some oil, uh, but not as the volume that we used to have.

• 17:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would, I would say the oil industry would probably say the same thing. They're, they're, um, we're hoping for a change now that the, the, the federal government stepped in allowing for, uh, land leases for oil drilling, especially here in the, uh, in the central, uh, valley.

• 18:04Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 18:05Speaker 01

  Especially Kern County. So we're hoping for a change. We had Congressman Vince Fong on the show a couple of weeks ago and we talked about that. That's a huge win for this county and hopefully it takes hold because I think it's beneficial, not just for you as a staffing agency, but for all of us in the county to have high-paying jobs like the oil industry.

• 18:25Speaker 02

  Well, I, uh, it was last week, I believe, that Ashley and I attended the, uh, Kern Economic Development, uh, meeting and they were talking about in the city, uh, individuals are coming up trying to, you know, make our city open permitting to drill wells again because honestly, um, I received this, the report from Richard Chapman and California's top five, uh, foreign sources are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Guyana. But we are, we have so much oil here and so much potential still, why are we getting that from there? Because of all this environmental impact issues that we're, you know, dealing with?

• 19:10Speaker 01

  So we import, for statistically, I think Richard said this on the show, we import seventy percent of our oil from the countries you just mentioned.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 19:16Speaker 01

  Raising or increasing the, the carbon footprint, a lot more than our own drilling here in the state of California. Yeah, we all agree that oil is good for us, um, oil drilling, that is. Um, we can all agree that eventually we need to move into some type of renewable energy over time, but not on immediate, like I'm just cutting the cord. That's just a kiss of death, death for a lot of industries and, and high paying. Jobs, um, tax creation, things that pay for our infrastructure buildup. So, no, I agree with you. There's some policies need to change at the state level and I'm hoping that they, they, they do.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  And I'm hoping that for companies like yours, they do because it helps a lot of people get high paying jobs.

• 20:04Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 20:05Speaker 01

  Find homes and send their kids to school, buy cars. So the economy all benefits from it.

• 20:12Speaker 02

  And it's, it's kind of sad because we'll see applicants come in and say, so what kind of job can I get? You know, and these individuals are used to working overtime, double time. So they're not just making the twenty-four dollars, twenty-three dollars that they're starting with.

• 20:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're six-figure earners.

• 20:30Speaker 02

  Yes. So now that they're working at a lesser, it's about twenty to twenty-four percent reduction in how much they're making. That could be going to our economy.

• 20:41Speaker 01

  I hundred percent agree. Uh, and, and what are you doing to help these individuals? Such as these people coming from the oil. Are you looking for like some other industries? Are you, do you see them moving out of state and you lose that? What, what's, what do you guys?

• 20:56Speaker 02

  We do. I do see a lot of individuals tell me, you know what, I'm gonna try somewhere else in Texas. Because a lot of the oil refineries here, they actually did relocate to Texas because of how stringent our state, you know, permitting process. So they tell me, I'm sorry, if you can't find me a job, I have to move. I have to feed my family.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:17Speaker 02

  They're leaving California.

• 21:19Speaker 01

  And I know that's hard for, you're almost gonna cry because people are leaving California. See, that, that's one of the reasons, my wife is very emotional and that's one of the reasons why I think she does the work she does. And that's why I fear for her being in this industry personally, because I'm the husband, I'm the protector. But, you know.

• 21:37Speaker 00

  That's called passion.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  It's, it is, it is, it is passion and that's, and that's because I'm biased, but it's something that Legacy, I've seen Legacy do. I remember the first month or two months, we started Legacy, we had this individual that did not have a car.

• 21:54Speaker 01

  Did not have anything, but she found him a job. And she said, hey, this guy needs to go do a drug test and this and that. So she sent me over to his house in East Bakersfield. I picked up the individual, I took him to his drug test. He passed it. Then I took him to buy his safety gear. And he's still in that company today.

• 22:13Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 22:13Speaker 01

  After four years.

• 22:14Speaker 03

  We saw him today.

• 22:15Speaker 02

  We saw him today. And he actually came and gave me a big watermelon that's in my car today. And he's so thankful and his brother is also working there.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  Oh, that's amazing.

• 22:26Speaker 02

  They're so grateful. And honestly, that's, that's the reason why I do what I do.

• 22:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:31Speaker 03

  And they're full time at the company. They're not with us anymore.

• 22:34Speaker 01

  That's right. Yeah, they got bought out of Ford, hired permanently.

• 22:37Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 22:37Speaker 01

  Which is, which is, which is great. Um, let, let's, let's ask this question. What are the biggest challenges you, I mean, staffing agencies face today? I mean, it looks like the job market is there. There's a bunch of job openings, but we're, it's difficult for us to fill them. Why? Especially here in, in Bakersfield.

• 22:58Speaker 02

  Talent. Lack of talent. Honestly, there are, when it comes to healthcare, I'm talking about the doctors, the nurses. We don't have a schooling here for the doctors. Um, where we can just say, hey, new graduates, come work for us in the hospital. They're looking for all these doctors. Like I know Jason Wells from Adventist Health stated that they needed about 52 doctors in town that they can't get. And one of the issues is because a lot of these individuals believe that Kern County has such a bad rap in regards to our air quality, um, our, you know, it's hot here.

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Just, just lifestyle.

• 23:43Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 23:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, so, and, and I think it's not just the, the, uh, the, the health industry. I think it's he- health industry, accountant say the same thing, lack of talent. I want to dive more into that because I think that's a very good subject for us to talk about.

• 24:00Speaker 00

  We have a couple of messages as well that we'll, we'll cover after this break right here on ESPN Bakersfield, 1230 AM, 101.1 FM. Are you curious to learn more about how you can be money wise? Check out the Money Wise website at MoneyWiseGuys.com to get more info about what we do.

• 24:22Speaker 01

  More to Money Wise Show, we're back. Legacy Staffing Solutions. We have a couple of listener questions, Stephen.

• 24:31Speaker 00

  All right, well, the first one says, do they only hire people in the medical field, or someone that may have no experience? Are they like a temp employment place?

• 24:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, so we do multiple industries. I know, you know, we are highlighting medical a lot today because of the need in Kern County. But one of our pillars is community and our goal is, even though Kern County has some bigger industries, like we already talked about oil ag. But at Legacy Staffing, we really try to reach the, all of the community in terms of all of the different industries we have. We're quite open to all the industries and therefore that allows a variety of experiences as well. So, you know, we do have some parameters in terms of you do have to be 18. But other than that, I mean, from no experience to changing a job, to being let go from a company

• 25:28Speaker 03

  after 25 years, like we do try and help a lot of people with very varied backgrounds.

• 25:36Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 25:37Speaker 00

  That's great. The next one says, for some business owners that have problems finding quality employees, what is the stages or the steps to set up with you guys?

• 25:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, one of the things that I was talking about during the break is, individuals are not always doing the best job with their resumes. And that's part of what we work on as well. In fact, Ariselli and I get to help out some people about every two weeks, work on resume building, interview skills. But we will interview people that have submitted resumes and they're really good resumes. And then we, as we talk to them, we find out they're missing certifications they have, additional attributes that are not displayed. And what's really hard about the workforce is originally you are judged by that piece of paper. So it's really important. Important to make sure that your resume gives a very good picture of all you have to

• 26:34Speaker 03

  offer because sometimes people do have that talent and they just don't know.

• 26:38Speaker 00

  And that makes sense and it kind of goes into this last question. It says, for example, I've been an electrician for 20 years, but always worked with family under the table and now they have left state. Would it be difficult to find me work since I've worked under the table for so long?

• 26:55Speaker 02

  Well, if that electrician is actually a certified electrician, I don't think there's going to be a problem for him.

• 27:02Speaker 01

  In fact, we can find him a job right now.

• 27:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, let's do it.

• 27:05Speaker 00

  We both need an electrician.

• 27:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, supply through us, yeah.

• 27:10Speaker 01

  No, I think that's a very good question and I think what's good is the fact that you guys provide the service of helping people build their resumes.

• 27:18Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 27:18Speaker 01

  I mean, if you are an electrician, I mean, let's just be honest, you don't build a resume. You go to trade school. I don't think that's top of mind to, hey, I need to build a resume just in case. No. Electricians are such in such dire need that the last thing on their mind is to build a resume. So to come and sit with you guys, professionals, to build a resume, highlight some of the certifications, it's really, really cool. And you mentioned you and Arsalie do this on a regular basis for people?

• 27:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, so right now we are offering it to, through CAP-K. Again, one of our focusing on our pillars too, we really try to give back to the community. You know, I'm on the board of three nonprofits. We're involved in so many chambers. We really try to be at every ribbon cutting, every event to support, again, everyone in the community. So that is something that we do partner with and we have a few other agencies that have expressed interest as well. And I know other agencies also dive into that and help and there's a lot of great people that we do partner with that also do the same work that, you know, there's that resource out there.

• 28:30Speaker 02

  Kern County itself has a lot of resources out there for people that are wanting to get a certification for their typing classes or to get some other skill sets that they need and we can help them, you know, bridge that gap and say, hey, go here, go to this job fair, go to this. And there's so many things that people just don't use and utilize. But we are kind of, if you need help.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Our doors are open.

• 29:00Speaker 01

  It's it's so let's highlight this because I think it's important. A lot of the time people think that by them coming to you, I'm talking about employees.

• 29:07Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 29:08Speaker 01

  They're gonna get charged for you for sitting down with you to build a resume or look at the job listings that you guys have. That's not something that takes place, right?

• 29:17Speaker 02

  No. Um, we never charge the employee anything. So our job, our role, that's why if you see our symbol of legacy, it's like a stepping stone. We want to help somebody that is brand new, a graduate, or even somebody that just finished high school and needing something. And then try to walk them through and say, okay, you need, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? And guide them and try to send them to places that will help them grow. Even, you know, sometimes we have to say, hey, go back to school.

• 29:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:54Speaker 02

  Finish your degree.

• 29:54Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 29:55Speaker 02

  Get your certification on this.

• 29:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  Get some training.

• 29:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's, that's, that's huge because a lot of, a lot of people are just sometimes need that assistance. And a job might not be the answer at that moment.

• 30:08Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 30:09Speaker 01

  It could be just, hey, an advice so they can help them further the search or get another certification, make them more appealing.

• 30:18Speaker 02

  Correct. I've had even fifteen year old come walk the door and say, I need a job. I need to help my family. And then sometimes I tell them, okay, well, I need you to get a worker's permit from your school because you can't work without that.

• 30:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:33Speaker 02

  So we try to guide them so that they can get some sort of, you know, um, some help, some assistance.

• 30:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, some, some of the, the other questions that, that, that we have is if, if a, if a business owner is needing employees, but a job is like, they know they're gonna get a contract, but it's not for another three, four months. When do they need to reach out to you guys to start the process?

• 31:03Speaker 02

  Yesterday.

• 31:04Speaker 01

  Yesterday?

• 31:05Speaker 02

  Correct. Because there's a process. So we offer three different things. We do temp to hire. Temporary, which is maybe a seasonal work that is one month, two months, three months. And that's stated in the contract. And then we also do direct hire. So depending on what that employer need, contact us. You know, once you reach out to us and tell us what you need, we'll walk you through the process. Because we do have to get an approval. If it's a temp to hire from the C, you know, actually get a C and L, a worker's comp, to approve it. And give us the base rate, so we have that under wrap. And then if he tells us, three months down the line is when I need the employee.

• 31:49Speaker 02

  We are already pulling people, sourcing them out and say, okay, I think this is the person that's best fit for them.

• 31:55Speaker 03

  And that's why I like, that's why I said yesterday too, is, I mean, preparedness. Ideally, even though this industry, we are great at the emergency situation where someone's really vital employee goes on medical leave unexpectedly, but they need a person working in that role. That's one of the reasons you also call a staffing agency, because we can fill it that quick. But at the same time, like all businesses, preparedness is a lot better way to function.

• 32:21Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 32:21Speaker 03

  So if you already know you need that, why not tell us as soon as possible?

• 32:25Speaker 02

  Especially if you need like 50 of them all at once.

• 32:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I want to switch gears and something came up today. There's an article about Microsoft laying off 9,000 workers in an AI realignment. Are you seeing AI affecting the job market here in Kern County and with the business owners that you guys have?

• 32:48Speaker 02

  I do.

• 32:51Speaker 02

  A lot of admin assistants or executive assistants do get affected in regards to that. They may, instead of hiring two, they'll hire one because they're using and utilizing AI. Also, there are other companies outside of the United States that really heavily rely on AI that provides programs where, you know, you don't need that admin assistant to be working at your office. We can hire them somewhere else. They, instead of one person.

• 33:23Speaker 01

  So we're not just competing with AI, we're actually competing with overseas workers.

• 33:27Speaker 02

  Oh, yes.

• 33:27Speaker 01

  Even, even here in the, in Kern County, in the Central Valley.

• 33:30Speaker 02

  Oh, yes.

• 33:31Speaker 01

  That's, that's, that's huge for business owners to hear, in my opinion.

• 33:34Speaker 02

  Do you know why, though?

• 33:36Speaker 01

  No, go ahead.

• 33:37Speaker 02

  It's because now that we are charging, or our minimum wage has increased so much. And we think, oh, yes, great, minimum wage. But businesses are struggling to pay.

• 33:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:49Speaker 02

  All of that.

• 33:50Speaker 01

  That's, that's, that's a very good point. Our minimum wages in the state of California is definitely affecting business owners, small businesses, that, but more importantly, or the restaurants, for instance. The restaurant industry suffers tremendously. A lot of people, mom and pops, restaurants, they're looking at closing down because they just cannot afford the labor anymore.

• 34:13Speaker 00

  On top of the food costs.

• 34:15Speaker 01

  On the top of the food costs, that's went up dramatically since 2020.

• 34:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, one of my friends owns a local grocery store, and a lot of their employees are high school kids. It's great to get those high school kids experience, but from their perspective, it's very interesting hearing, you know, are there high school kids that maybe do need that minimum wage, like you said, maybe helping take care of the family?

• 34:37Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 34:38Speaker 03

  For sure. But are there also other narratives out there where this is just a job for them? And now they're getting a ton of money, and that is, that's hard for that business. You know, that's not, they're trying to help young people and give them the experience, but when it's at such a top dollar, uh, you know, will high school age kids also not get jobs as frequently anymore?

• 35:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, we have one more question. So does employees need to get their licenses ahead of coming to your office? Where is the office? So let's start with the address. What's your address?

• 35:10Speaker 03

  It is 2623 F Street. We are in Suite A, and that is downtown. We're 93301. And the answer is no, you do not need to get all those certifications, degrees. We are happy to take a resume today.

• 35:27Speaker 02

  And guide you through the process.

• 35:28Speaker 03

  Exactly. I mean, you're ultimately, again, as Mary Ann said, it's at no additional cost. It's no cost to you. So if you want extra eyes on what you're doing and what you're working towards, why not come and get that advice?

• 35:40Speaker 02

  That's something I actually love to do. I'll see sometimes a resume and I'm going, oh my God, you need help.

• 35:48Speaker 02

  I'm like-

• 35:49Speaker 01

  And that's the community thing on your values, yes.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  And I just dissect it and go, okay, let's simplify this, or, you know, or I guide them.

• 35:56Speaker 01

  Or just guide, yeah.

• 35:57Speaker 02

  Yes. And I said, okay, you're applying for an admin position, but what certification do you have? Then I guide them and say, okay, you know what? Sometimes LinkedIn offers free education on certain things. Excel, Word, PowerPoint. Just get that. Get that certification for me, that you actually know what you're doing in that regards. Or go to Kern County and ask for a certification for your typing skills. Little things like that makes a difference in finding a job.

• 36:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, and at BC too, they're also really working hard. I was with BC yesterday doing some mock interviews for them. And, you know, same thing. There's some people with incredible talent and I'm like, hey, just go and get a couple of those certifications to prove it.

• 36:40Speaker 02

  Yes, yes.

• 36:42Speaker 01

  Well, great. We'll go into our last break. When we come back, we'll touch base. I want to continue the AI conversation because I think it's very important when we come back.

• 36:51Speaker 00

  Are you an employee with a company-sponsored retirement plan? Do you fully understand how you're invested and whether or not you are maximizing your retirement plan's options? For more information on a free assessment, contact MoneyWise's 401(k) Specialist, Justin Leland, at 661-847-1000.

• 37:21Speaker 01

  Keep going, Stephen. I'm not gonna start the show until I hear the next verse.

• 37:27Speaker 01

  We're the Money Wise Show. We're back with Legacy Staffing Solutions. Mary Ann, Ashley and our Sally are here on the Gero Ellis padded room on Stockdale Highway. We started talking about AI and then we veered into international labors and how they affect us here in the United States. Let's go back to AI. There's a huge push, everybody knows that, and it's affecting the job and the job seekers. With that being said, there's some data that you went to a Richard Chapman event?

• 38:02Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 38:03Speaker 01

  Okay. And for instance, we have a hotel opening soon, Hard Rock Casino.

• 38:11Speaker 01

  And you had a statistic there, a number of new employees are seeking.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, because right now the capital investment for Hard Rock Casino, it's about $1 billion that's coming in to the Kern County. And it's going to provide at least 2,000 jobs. That's important. We need more of that. And thank God, actually, Kern EDC, they do a great job in recruiting and getting businesses to come to Bakersfield because we are a lot more lenient in permitting.

• 38:39Speaker 01

  Richard already has a big head. Stop. Stop.

• 38:42Speaker 00

  At least he's a Dolphins fan.

• 38:44Speaker 02

  Oh, my goodness.

• 38:45Speaker 00

  I knew I started that way.

• 38:46Speaker 01

  Oh, God. Is he? Oh, that's right. He is. He is. He is. Yeah.

• 38:51Speaker 02

  Yes, and there's other businesses that are coming to town. Hyderstore, which is an energy sector, and that's about $2 billion investment. And it's going to provide, you know, at least a couple of...

• 39:05Speaker 01

  How much did Richard pay you?

• 39:09Speaker 02

  No.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  I know he pays in Luigi's. He pays in Luigi's dollars.

• 39:12Speaker 02

  When I heard all this statistics, I was very excited for it, for Kern County. That means more jobs for people who have lost their jobs in the oil industry.

• 39:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 39:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:24Speaker 01

  So AI, but people, like for instance, we started this conversation with Microsoft laying off nine thousand people.

• 39:31Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 39:31Speaker 01

  Now, that seems, you know, four percent of their workforce, basically.

• 39:35Speaker 02

  I'm afraid of it.

• 39:36Speaker 01

  However, they also invested eighty billion dollars.

• 39:39Speaker 02

  Correct, yeah.

• 39:40Speaker 01

  In capex, capital expenditures to hire and retrain and get other people that are AI-focused or AI-focused jobs, like for instance, um, some of the jobs that are prompt engineering role.

• 39:59Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  That's something that's new and it pays about hundred fifty K a year or more.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  And, and, and there's no pipeline of employees or degree earners yet.

• 40:10Speaker 03

  Sounds like I should start studying.

• 40:11Speaker 02

  Right?

• 40:12Speaker 01

  We all do.

• 40:14Speaker 00

  I know somebody.

• 40:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, send, send them over to Legacy so they can build their resume and help them. But also, training-wise, you guys have some resources, you know, to help people with maybe some training, maybe not in-house, but you can send them to people outside. So let's talk about that a little bit.

• 40:34Speaker 02

  We are always looking for, you know, industries that train individuals, um, even in the new upcoming,

• 40:44Speaker 02

  technology, right? So, of course, if there are individuals that are like, I'm interested in that. Our job is to find those.

• 40:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:54Speaker 02

  And connect them to the right people.

• 40:57Speaker 01

  And, and, and you mentioned Kern County.

• 40:59Speaker 02

  Oh, yes.

• 41:00Speaker 01

  For instance, and they have a bunch of programs.

• 41:02Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 41:03Speaker 01

  Uh, to, to, to help individuals, including business owners, uh, too, with hiring some employees and getting some, maybe some grants and, not grants, but like, trained employees where they pay a portion of their salaries. I don't know what that program is called, but.

• 41:19Speaker 02

  I know what you're talking about in my mind, it's actually, uh, went blank.

• 41:23Speaker 01

  We can, we can always go back.

• 41:24Speaker 03

  Open Classroom.

• 41:25Speaker 01

  Open Classroom.

• 41:26Speaker 02

  Yes, they do fifty percent. Um, so if you want to hire somebody and even, even if it's through us and you decide to hire them full-time.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  Open classroom will actually pay you 50% of that person's salary for a duration of time. It's not unlimited.

• 41:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:46Speaker 02

  But it is free money, so why not use it?

• 41:48Speaker 01

  That's right. I'll be honest with you, we're in the process of interviewing for the World Works and we're looking into the programs like that.

• 41:56Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 41:57Speaker 01

  Because they are available.

• 41:58Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 41:59Speaker 01

  We still feel like we're helping the city, we're helping the individuals.

• 42:02Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 42:03Speaker 01

  So why not take advantage of things that are available for us as a small business?

• 42:06Speaker 03

  That's why I love this county so much. The partnership ability is endless.

• 42:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 42:12Speaker 03

  You know, whether, yes, okay, hanging out at Luigi's, you can create some great partnerships there. The networking events that we spend time at, the quality of people that we spend time that are really genuinely excited and looking for partnerships, I think, is what makes our businesses thrive so much. As long as you're open to that. You gotta be open, you gotta be attending those things and working hard with the people around you, but we can create endless partnerships, I think, and I think that's what helps us in terms of some of those resources you guys were mentioning.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  So, one thing, I know we have two minutes, two more minutes to go. One very important thing about you that we did not discuss is that you guys are a majority or 100% a woman-owned business.

• 42:55Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 42:56Speaker 01

  So for people that are doing state jobs or government jobs and they're paying and they need help in that with a woman-owned business to hire through, you are qualified for that.

• 43:11Speaker 02

  100%. Yes. You know, there's other things also that we're qualified for. It's not just the woman-owned and, but, yes, we are qualified, just come through us.

• 43:25Speaker 01

  Yes. You heard the lady.

• 43:28Speaker 00

  Yes, listen to the podcast.

• 43:29Speaker 01

  Listen to the podcast.

• 43:30Speaker 00

  Look at the show notes. We'll have all their information, so you can find them while if you're driving, you don't need to pull over, we got your info. And we really appreciate your time. Tune in tomorrow for the final day of the week, as the 4th of July is Friday. We'll have Chris and Seth sitting down with the Wounded Heroes Fund right here. Be smart, be safe, be money wise.

• 44:10Speaker 04

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