Yet another rant thread: WTF is wrong with 18-25 year-olds
 

I've hired 5 kids at well above minimum wage to take shirts and pants out of one box and put them another box marking the quantity down. They don't show up, they come in late, they are slow. I get that this is temporary, menial work, but I don't see any work ethic at all in these kids.

What's odd is I haven't had this problem at all in the past. Completely new experience.

Who are the parents of these kids?

Probably stoned.

Kids today are not like we were. I call them the D Generation. (because a D is an acceptable grade :rolleyes:)
.......... I know that's been said many times before but I believe they are truly different now.

No motivation to get educated or work. Just the soft option with the most appeal.
Not even motivated to get their license to drive. Just catch the bus instead.
But they are motivated to get tattoos.

We have the same problem with high school and college age kids working part time in our wellness center. They don't want to work, just get a paycheck.

A buddy of mine has a 16 year old daughter that has only been working for 10 months. She is already the manager at a second hand clothing store. She will show up on time and do the job as the owners want. She has said they have a heck of a time finding anyone to work there for a wages and the average new hire only last a few weeks before they quit or have to be fired because they keep stealing the inventory or sell some item to their friends at less than the price marked.

I don't think 25 is the cutoff. I know someone in their mid 30's who is unemployed yet turned down a job offer @ $65k because they "just can't do the 9 to 5 thing"

Just like anything else, I think we need to be careful with the broad brush. My kids at my son's commissioning ceremony last year. He is finishing up BOLC now at Ft. Benning and starts ranger school in April. Daughter is finishing up her Masters on a scholarship with a guaranteed job. Both work their butts off.

I do agree that this generation is different but I know some outstanding youth their ages. I do run into more that are "entitled" and think they should be handed the keys to the kingdom without putting in the work.

We so quickly put everyone in categories or paint whole generations as lazy and entitled. Similar to folks needing to be labeled liberal crazy or conservative nutjobs. The world is gray.

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Jerry, good job on raising some fine kids.

Yours are exceptional and thank you son for his service.

Every generation has the workers that rise to the top quickly. The difference is now so many are willing to accept the "good enough" in things.

I know many friends with kids like yours. No doubt the parents are to credit for the good ones and the parents are to blame for the lazy ones as well.

Millennials defined: I'm going to do less than the least requirement, and still get paid. In six months, I will continue to do below-par work, and expect a raise. They OWE it to me - I deserve a salary.

A society cannot survive if the majority of the working class takes on this mentality. It seems that many folks my age and older have an issue with "work-home" balance - we have a higher priority for work than home. Now, the scales are tipping the other way for the new generation of workers. Finding the proper balance between the two is what can prevent burnout, and still have a productive society.

Yes, my statements are huge generalizations. But the shoe fits in most cases...

Off my soapbox now,
-Z

does he have some other way of supporting himself? :confused:

imo some people need more incentive to work. i've had to work since i was 14 to have any spending money and quickly learned that working harder, smarter, and doing a better job led to more money in my pocket.

April? So he'll be in the first co-ed Ranger class? I'm predicting that will be a very interesting cycle for everyone...

My, very sarcastic, opinion on this is: that America (and not just the early 20 something generation) as slipped into a bad mental state.

I jokingly say:
If the constitution were rewritten today the first amendment would be

You cant tell me what to do!

The second amendment would be

Well, it wasn't my fault!

Lets see....

Everyone is now graded on a curve
No child left behind (IE. No one fails)
Sports awards for participation
No score keeping to avoid hurt feelings
food stamps being made to look like credit cards to avoid humiliation
Losing benefits if you are foolish enough to get married
Tax deduction losses upon marriage
Increasing tax refunds based on the number of kids
Rewards for not working (Earned income credit)
Rewards for having kids (medicaid/free housing/free food)
Unemployment for 3 years rather than 3 months
Loan forgiveness if you do a shortsale
Bankruptcy creit score recovery within 1 year
Higher taxes if you are successful
Possible loss of social security if you planned well

Geesh. What else do you need? Our society has cultivated a generation based on the above. What did we expect??? Thank our leaders...

On the bright side, my kids will do great!!! There is almost no competition in schools. It has been dumbed down to such a level that smart kids have no obstacles. I fully expect scholarships/awards/and a very successful life for my kids...

For our nation... not so much.

As an aside, most highly successful people I know are WORKING LESS. There is no incentive to work more. I just figured out that if I go part time, my kids get more money for college.

What are the incentives to work hard? Beuhler? Anyone?

Young workers in Cambodia leaving a factory shift.

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I big part of the problem is technology,,,,All they want to do is play vidoe games, talk on thier phones, and piddle around on the internet. There are a whole lot of "empowering" parents that allow this lazy behavior, because they want to reverse the trend of thier own strict upbringing by allowing their own children to --"just be kids"--, no chores, no resposnabilities, no gumption to make thier lives better.

My preacher BIL did this with his kids, and one turned out a felon who smokes weed all the time, another had no idea how to wash or fold laundry, cook anything but mac-n-cheese, or clean the house for lack of ever doing it. These soft handed, pansies would never have survived in my household. There is firewood to cut, stack, burn, we have horse stalls that need cleaned, fences that need mended, and a house that needs DIY updating.

The factory I have worked for 17 years now hires a new group of potential employees every week, and it's entertaining to all to watch the tour group meander through the plant, with looks of horror on some of the faces of obvious soft handed pansies. Almost every week there is 1 or 2 who don't even show up for the first day of WORK, and more that only last a few months for bad attendance. REALLY ? suck it up, buttercup !

Ebb and flow. I think the same was probably said about many in the 60s who followed Leary's "Turn on, tune in, drop out." Prescription for life. Times change and people figure it out or they don't. Many of these kids are motivated but by very different things. Discover their "currency" and they will prove more effective.

Tats, facial hair, piercings, "vaping" and Xbox are all that seems to matter to a lot of these losers.

Next generation of Jiffy Lube / McD's / call center employees. Sad. There seems to be a lot of them. I will try like hell to avoid having my kids end up anything like that.

Parents have failed to teach their children how to work.

By 18, one should know how to add value to their employer.

They are the product of the Entitlement Philosophy that, now, for the first time in American history, more than 50% of this country embraces.

Just out of curiosity.

I recently heard an NPR story on the number of times HR gets a call/letter from the parents of a 20something applicant telling the HR people how big of a mistake they made by not hiring their brilliant, hard working, prize of a child.

Has this happened to you?