Do Millenials Have A Work Ethic Problem?

[b_line]

this is not so much a "work ethic" comment as it is a comment on the changing nature of work itself, and what is considered "worthwhile" employment...

I think over the last generation or two (the parents and grandparents of the millennials) there has been a real devaluation of physical labor, and I think this has done a real disservice to young people, particularly in the educational system. The emphasis has been that EVERYONE needs a college degree, that working with your brain is far superior to working with your hands. A few lucky people are able to do both and be in respected professions (doctors, nurses, dentists, veterinarians, and a few others).

It's a shame, really, because we will always need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, hairdressers, welders, etc etc)

I do think the trend is slowly shifting and more high schools are ramping up their offerings in technical/hands-on courses. I hope so...

This is such a huge part of what is going on. I think it's great when young people want to get an education in hands on applications, but the truth is that for most young adults, that was looked down upon. I hope it swings the other way, to where kids are going to school to be electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc again.

One thing that has impressed me though, is that I have a ton of millennial friends who are studying various fields of engineering. For me, I would say it's almost half of the kids I know who are still in college. They might have a rough adjustment for a few years out of school, but they should make good engineers in a few years.

 

[Carbon13]

They have actually confirmed this as a national crisis of sorts in Germany. We are trying to find something for our son here (he is 18 and has to either study or work to be allowed to stay long term here), and in discussing this with the authorities here they said the number of young people opting for a trade has dramatically dropped off in the past 10 years, and they are actually quite worried they will start to run short of those types of professions to a point where it will cause real problems. We have already seen it here with tram and track repair. They had a section of streetcar track to repair that took over 2 weeks, not because it was extensive but because they didn't have the trained people to do it any faster.

Wait, I thought Germany was the model for trade education. What happened?

 

[Carbon13]

This is such a huge part of what is going on. I think it's great when young people want to get an education in hands on applications, but the truth is that for most young adults, that was looked down upon. I hope it swings the other way, to where kids are going to school to be electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc again.

One thing that has impressed me though, is that I have a ton of millennial friends who are studying various fields of engineering. For me, I would say it's almost half of the kids I know who are still in college. They might have a rough adjustment for a few years out of school, but they should make good engineers in a few years.

I went to graduate school and yes, the transition to the corporate world was difficult. I think academe' tries to teach to absolute truths. The problem is, in the working world there is pecking order and decorum where arbitrary conventions take hold. It can be dizzying to someone who thinks they're the champion of reality. The faster you realize it is a game the better off you will be.

 

[LogGrad98]

Wait, I thought Germany was the model for trade education. What happened?

Everybody wants computer jobs, so they are doing web design and software development and such that has a similar education track as a trade, but is work in an office instead of a ditch. Even more are taking advantage of college courses that allow them to skip the harder Gymnasium (more or less and advanced college prep high school) and still go to college, which is basically free. Then they study software or business which is creating a real glut in those fields. They have been having real problems putting all the college graduates to work as a result. And now the wages for trades are slowly going up, but they still are not the glamorous jobs so kids don't want to do it. My son is interested in being a butcher or something to do with food, for example, or metalworking (he really wants to look into smithing, but he will probably start with welding, something like that), and they told us they had like 40 open spots for Ausbildung (apprenticeship and training) for butchers in the surrounding area and only about a dozen German nationals had applied for the spots. Same with welding, although the number of spots available are higher the percentages are about the same. Compare to web design, which has as much as a 2 year waiting list to get considered for a spot you might not get. Yet kids still wait for the web design spots instead. And the living wage estimates (basically what you can expect to make after 5 years on the job after you finish the apprenticeship period) for welders is a good 30% higher than for web designers. But the ratios are getting worse year over year.

 

[RandyForRubio]

We talkin about Montana State?

Yessir.

 

[RandyForRubio]

this is not so much a "work ethic" comment as it is a comment on the changing nature of work itself, and what is considered "worthwhile" employment...

I think over the last generation or two (the parents and grandparents of the millennials) there has been a real devaluation of physical labor, and I think this has done a real disservice to young people, particularly in the educational system. The emphasis has been that EVERYONE needs a college degree, that working with your brain is far superior to working with your hands. A few lucky people are able to do both and be in respected professions (doctors, nurses, dentists, veterinarians, and a few others).

It's a shame, really, because we will always need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, hairdressers, welders, etc etc)

I do think the trend is slowly shifting and more high schools are ramping up their offerings in technical/hands-on courses. I hope so...

Crushed it Moe. Crushed it.

 

[jimmy eat jazz]

I think an expert in statistics would argue that 279 out of 280 being lazy has almost zero chance of being statistically possible.

Actually, on rereading your post, I think I misunderstood your point, so I deleted my reply. Sorry.

If I understand you correctly now, you are arguing that the odds of so many workers being just plain lazy is statistically remote, thus a statistical anomaly.

In any case, with so many people quitting, my hypothesis would be a mixture of factors, and one that can't be ignored is that despite the boss' apparent implication that he is offering good jobs, which the lazy workers chose to quit, that perhaps the job isn't as great as he imagines it to be. In other words, an alternative hypothesis for this outcome is that it is just a really sh**ty job.

 

[franklin]

It's a shame, really, because we will always need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, hairdressers, welders, etc etc)

Maybe I live in a bubble because all those jobs pay very well here in Utah, with the exception of hairdressers (which isn't a job it's a hobby that young women lie to themselves pretending it's a career that they're bettering themselves while they wait for a man to take care of them).

 

[Beer]

Maybe I live in a bubble because all those jobs pay very well here in Utah, with the exception of hairdressers (which isn't a job it's a hobby that young women lie to themselves pretending it's a career that they're bettering themselves while they wait for a man to take care of them).

Yes, what bubble are you in and may I join?

 

[RJF]

Maybe I live in a bubble because all those jobs pay very well here in Utah, with the exception of hairdressers (which isn't a job it's a hobby that young women lie to themselves pretending it's a career that they're bettering themselves while they wait for a man to take care of them).

I don't think she's referring to the compensation. Rather the distance from this type of work that has been created by educators preaching education only. Rather than skilled labor.

 

[bigb]

Maybe I live in a bubble because all those jobs pay very well here in Utah, with the exception of hairdressers (which isn't a job it's a hobby that young women lie to themselves pretending it's a career that they're bettering themselves while they wait for a man to take care of them).

Wait, electricians are paid very well here? That bubble must be smoking some weird ****.

 

[b_line]

Actually, on rereading your post, I think I misunderstood your point, so I deleted my reply. Sorry.

If I understand you correctly now, you are arguing that the odds of so many workers being just plain lazy is statistically remote, thus a statistical anomaly.

In any case, with so many people quitting, my hypothesis would be a mixture of factors, and one that can't be ignored is that despite the boss' apparent implication that he is offering good jobs, which the lazy workers chose to quit, that perhaps the job isn't as great as he imagines it to be. In other words, an alternative hypothesis for this outcome is that it is just a really sh**ty job.

The problem is the dude is in South Dakota trying to pay people $13.50 an hour and acting like its the best job ever invented. The Dakotas are importing people like crazy to work, and paying like crazy too, to work in oil fields. (Maybe not as crazy in the last few months, but the point remains). If I were a young kid working at that job, and had the choice of making $50,000 a year after a bunch of training, or going to work in the oil field and making $75,000 right away, I'm pretty sure I wouldnt hesitate to take $75,000 right away. This dude is totally unrealistic about keeping employees I. His location.

 

[RandyForRubio]

The problem is the dude is in South Dakota trying to pay people $13.50 an hour and acting like its the best job ever invented. The Dakotas are importing people like crazy to work, and paying like crazy too, to work in oil fields. (Maybe not as crazy in the last few months, but the point remains). If I were a young kid working at that job, and had the choice of making $50,000 a year after a bunch of training, or going to work in the oil field and making $75,000 right away, I'm pretty sure I wouldnt hesitate to take $75,000 right away. This dude is totally unrealistic about keeping employees I. His location.

Correct, except a lot of those oil jobs got lost. I know a bunch of people who got fired. I'd look long term and get the welding license, and then go in the oil field!!

 

[babe]

I actually think millenials work harder than the previous generation. My fathers generation and the one before are responsible for the massive national debt. I think the baby boomer generation will be remembered as the silver spoon generation and my generation and the one afterward will work hard to pay off their debts.

That said, i also think millenials are more self-focused. David Brooks had a great editorial where he discussed the social ecology of pre-ww2, pre-black equality, pre-womens rights era america versus the social ecology of today. Basically he says our society was much more leary of the faults of the self and more likely to believe in a purpose or an idea of something greater than themselves. As we began to, very rightly, give women and minorities more equal rights and transitioned out of the depression, we began to give many disenfranchised people a belief in themselves. We began as a country to believe in the the golden inner version of oursleves. Combine this with an urge to relax and finally be able to have things after the depression, naturally we transitioned into an era of the big me. The big me is the era where one seeks success in life. This is where Brooks thinks we are, in an era that is still anachronistically affected by a bygone era. The problem he sees is today, it is more competitive, less purpose driven, more existential. He thinks there needs to be a bigger focus on a more deep commitment to the inner self and character.

I dont know if hes right but its an interesting thought. I do wonder though, is there an ancient summerian tablet somewhere that says my generation is better than the next one? Leave us millenials alone!

I was pretty certain, in 1975, that things had gone downhill. And I knew for a fact that the kids who became adults in the fifties thought my generation was soft. They still call themselves "The Greatest Generation", and they were the dupes of the corporates, too. They not only worked for the military production lines on virtual volunteer basis in WWII, they pulled on their boots and went and shot it up on the battlefield, dropping like flies, while our banks and corporates doubled, and doubled again their profits supplying both sides of the war. The Rockefellers who own our Bush and Clinton "talking heads" politically actually owned stock in the Nazi death camps. After the war, we imported some of the Reich talent to set up industries based on the technology developed for the gas ovens, as chlorine production or titanium production facilities that our military and space program eventually made profitable.

No kidding, whole American industries guided by German science from WWII. Owned by our richest, most "Right People".

But nevermind, we are going to go to war again for WWIII, and we'll have a new most compliant "Greatest Generation" who will make the world safe for "Democracy".

Honestly, I don't blame kids nowadays for focusing on what work does for them personally more than what it does for their bosses. . . . . might be a sign portending a different outcome this time around.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Correct, except a lot of those oil jobs got lost. I know a bunch of people who got fired. I'd look long term and get the welding license, and then go in the oil field!!

I'd go even longer-term and get the higher paying oil job and use that $$$ to go to school.

 

[The Pearl]

I know plenty of folks in my generation that took about 3hrs worth of smoke breaks everyday.

 

[RandyForRubio]

I'd go even longer-term and get the higher paying oil job and use that $$$ to go to school.

Pipe welders are getting $30+/hr. That's not too shabby.

 

[babe]

Maybe I live in a bubble because all those jobs pay very well here in Utah, with the exception of hairdressers (which isn't a job it's a hobby that young women lie to themselves pretending it's a career that they're bettering themselves while they wait for a man to take care of them).

So my favorite barber got a degree in education, and only turned to the hair job after finding "education" appalling and insufferable, and making a moral stand to do something that will actually improve people, rather than transform them into idiots. Even if is only possible on the most superficial level of things. . . .

 

[BabyPeterzz]

Sounds to me like "job creators" are feeling a little entitled these days. Their ego has been so inflated, with the recent downturn and the focus on unemployment, that they think younger people should be happy with their **** job that doesn't really pay that great and generally sucks. Shut up and like it, and if you don't you're lazy.

Business owners are getting lazy, thinking that starting a business and employing people is good enough. Well guess what? **** work attracts **** employees. Just because you provide employment doesn't get you off the hook. Your business would go nowhere without its employees and providing an enjoyable work situation should be part of a smart business growth strategy.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Pipe welders are getting $30+/hr. That's not too shabby.

It;s; also very physically demanding and not something most people want to do for their whole lives. Not to mention the work conditions and long hours you have to put in those said conditions. And the hours can be ridiculous. When you are working you really cant do anything else. Most people I know who do it just work a determined amount of months out of the year then take 2-4 months off. That works for some people but not most.