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?

Jerry, your kids are a rarity. Congratulations on a great job raising them.

Shawn's scenario is all too common unfortunately. It scares me when I see these same kids coming into the fire service. It's not the place to have a crappy attitude that most of these kids have.


.

I used to have to walk 6 miles n the snow to go to school, and we liked it.........you guys are sounding like my parents when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. It's a matter of attrition, the ones to finally "get it" will do well. the others will be whining about minimum wage. Raise your kids with respect for authority and a good work ethic and they will succeed. Probably own a Porsche some day even..

As GS said:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424281324.jpg

The problem is that the good, hard working people who have work ethic and drive are paying for all the lazy losers who can't seem to find or hold a job. This day and age, most workers will take the full 3 years of unemployment before they take a minimum wage job, even if it means food stamps, WIC, or EBT to buy thier groceries while the roll of bills in thier pocket pays for the beer and cigs.

It happened to my father with some of his grad students. Apparently the grades their snowflakes earned wasn't good enough. I was embarrassed on their behalf.

and how is that different than it always has been? The lazy will always be lazy..

Strange. I'm 23 and I would work hard for you. The best gift you can give your kid's is an unreliable sports car. My dad bought my 944. I paid for the repairs. I couldn't afford the repairs, so I learned to fix it myself. That taught me a lot about money and hard work.

Nothing is wrong with US. Everything is wrong with society. I think it is social networking and cell phones. Bad for the brain.

BPU699 hit the nail on the head as well.

This is something I got from my Aunt in an email. It might help explain what is going on...


40 something % of the people are too dependent on the government. They have learned to work the system.

A Ford Dealer's Report - From Tom Selkis' (Latham Ford) Facebook - True story yesterday at the dealership.


"I'll try to make this as short and to the point as I can.

One of my salesmen here had a woman in his office yesterday wanting to lease a brand new Focus.

As he was reviewing her credit application with her he noticed she was on social security disability.

He said to her you don't look like you're disabled and unable to work.

She said well I'm really not. I could work if I wanted to, but I make more now than I did when I was working and got hurt (non-disabling injury).

She said the gov't sends her $1500.00 a month in 1 check. And she gets $700.00 a month on an EBT card (food stamps), and $800.00 a month for rent.
Oh yeah, and 250 minutes free on her phone.

That is just south of $3500.00 a month.

When she was working, she was taking home about $330.00 per week.

Do the math and then ask yourself why the hell should she go back to work.

If you multiply that by millions of people, you start to realize the scope of the problem we face as a country.

Once the socialists have 51% of the population in that same scenario, we are finished.

The question is when do we cross that threshold if we haven't already, and there are not enough people working to pay enough taxes to support the non-working people?

Riots?? Be prepared to protect your homes.

She didn't lease the Focus here because the dealer down the road beat our deal by $10.00/month.

Glad to know she is so frugal with her hard earned money."

What is the reward for doing good work?

The opportunity to do more good work.

Sorry gents, but the problem started way before this generation. I don't think there are a bunch of 20-somethings in Washington passing increasingly liberal social welfare policy. Ironically it's the "get off my lawn" generation that created this problem. Lazy people have existed forever, today it's just easier to suckle up to the government teat.

My wife told me that at the University where she works at one 23 year old was applying for a student job and he brought his mother along to do all the talking. Mom got upset when they asked her to go sit in the hall while they interview the applicant.

They get parents sending a note to the office all the time asking for their precious snowflake 20 something be excused from work that day because they are sick. They must be so sick they can't even pick up the phone and call their supervisor to tell them they are sick. Much of that is anal glaucoma, they can't see their ass getting out of bed and going to work.

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Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy | Wait But Why

It is the job of all of us who are parents to raise our kids to NOT be like this. If your kid's lazy, look in the mirror and figure out what you did wrong, and how you can fix it.

What about all those slacker genx ers! What an overblown notion that was. I assume in time we will find that the negative gen y attributes are overblown as well.

Chain email from 2012.
snopes.com: A Ford Dealer's Report

I had a 20-something borrow money from me a few years ago, and I ran around trying to get him work to get me paid back. He worked at a Porsche parts retailer for a while and did spectacularly well - top salesman - when he showed up. Which was less and less of the time. I tried to get him work with a contractor friend, and the first question my friend asked was 'is he white?' I said yes. He said: 'I don't hire white kids. They're all on drugs.'

Maybe this generation of lazy slackers will figure out that Momma isn't there any more to give them stuff, and they actually have to get a job to make money, to afford things. This isn't likely with the government programs coddling everyone who has a "disability".

I think the thing that makes me mad is that 2 years ago, I was in a bad traffic accident when someone plowed into me at 70 mph after blowing a stop sign, It took me 5 months to learn to walk again after 17 broken bones, but I never used the handicap spot at the store, or scooted around on a "fat" scooter, or even had it cross my mind to try to get some sort of disability payment.

My wife has Fibromyalgia so bad sometimes that she can't hardly move, but still works hard everyday as a site developer/engineer for a house builder. Many of her friends believe she should quit work and be disabled. I'm sure if she did quit, so would her body and she would be a vegatable.

Yup. To the older generation, the kids are always a bunch of lazy slackers. I was born in 1980, so I think that makes me part of Gen X. I quickly rose to management positions by out working most of my peers, including those that were my seniors. This was after I worked my way to an engineering degree with a full time job and a wife and kid. But yeah, we're all lazy.....

One of these threads pops up every weeks. The "kids" are always lazy slackers. I bunch of my peers are losers. And an even bigger bunch are incredibly smart, hard working and talented. Same as it ever was.

This gen - y slacker is crossing hour 48 of work for the week. And I'm closing on a house soon...3 bedrooms, 2 baths in Lincoln Park...slacker.

The funny thing is, the majority of opinions being posted is by middle age white guys who are supposed to be working, not browsing Porsche forums on the internet on company time!! :)

^^ This!

It happened to me just this week.

I employed a 29yo girl to do Customer Service at $60k p.a. We went through the full recruitment process, reference checks, police checks, medical and drug test, aptitude testing. All ok

At the final interview when we were ready to offer her the role we even introduced her to the staff she would be working with etc.

She signed the contract with the usual "really excited about the opportunity" comments

She turns up on Monday this week totally unethusiastic. Mopes through the day of training and then sends an email on Monday night to our HR Manager saying she won't be in Tuesday because she has decided it's not what she wanted to do and she wanted to further her career....
There is no way the role was misrepresented.

WTF? It's $60k for Customer Services. Easy desk based work.

Now I'm dealing with HR on the employee termination forms (yes, even after 1 day there is still a process), email account deletion etc on top of still trying to find another person to fill the role...