Do Millenials Have A Work Ethic Problem?

[Crawlnstall]

I could see them having a work ethic problem, but like what is mentioned above, I am more concerned with college tuition costs. The rise in tuition added on with the rise in food, gas, car and house/rent makes going to school extremely difficult. Trust me, I'm living it. I have a very very good job for someone who doesnt have a college degree and it comes with pretty good insurance. However I'm still poor while putting myself thru college and raising a family.

 

[The Pearl]

I could see them having a work ethic problem, but like what is mentioned above, I am more concerned with college tuition costs. The rise in tuition added on with the rise in food, gas, car and house/rent makes going to school extremely difficult. Trust me, I'm living it. I have a very very good job for someone who doesnt have a college degree and it comes with pretty good insurance. However I'm still poor while putting myself thru college and raising a family.

I am assuming you are a Utah resident?

 

[Harambe]

If you ask a millennial that employs high school kids, they'll tell you this generation has a work ethic problem.

If you ask their generation when they're our age, it'll be the next generation.

When I was your age I walked barefoot in the snow to school, uphill both ways!

 

[The Pearl]

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

 

[b_line]

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

Great post.

 

[BabyPeterzz]

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

I was about to say.....

"Sounds like a personal problem, man."

 

[NAOS]

Can we go back to the initial question?

Does an entire, vaguely defined and poorly understood population have the same problem?

The best answer is probably an annoyed silence.

 

[LogGrad98]

On another note, when 99% of people leave a place, perhaps management is an issue.

Just perhaps. I know that's a wild idea to throw out there.

In my experience people quit bosses, not jobs. Most people can be happy doing just about anything for work as long as they are in an environment where they feel safe, which includes any number of other attributes (happy, secure, challenged, supported, etc.) that are all directly influenced by the boss. That is how I view my job: create an environment where people feel as good as they can about giving up such a huge part of their lives to come to work, remove roadblocks and give them the tools for success (training, tech, follow-up, respect, etc.), and then get out of people's way and let them work.

I do not know if I agree with the whole loyalty thing. Why do you think unions were invented in the first place and had such a hold 60 years ago? And why are they fading fast now?

 

[LogGrad98]

If you ask a millennial that employs high school kids, they'll tell you this generation has a work ethic problem.

If you ask their generation when they're our age, it'll be the next generation.

When I was your age I walked barefoot in the snow to school, uphill both ways!

To me this answer is a cop out.

Meh it is always the same nothing to see here, move along folks. Everything is always hunkydory, no reason to do anything differently.

 

[Harambe]

To me this answer is a cop out.

Meh it is always the same nothing to see here, move along folks. Everything is always hunkydory, no reason to do anything differently.

It's a terrible cop out, and should never be used.

But it will be.

As has been reported previous(credit; The Pearl), statistically all but one of those employees leaving is not going to be laziness, or lack of work ethic.

 

[RJF]

I have to agree with b_line here. I've been on/seen both sides. 5 years ago, I managed a team of 18-20 people, the majority being 19-21, and they are wired differently. Being part of something was more of a reward to them than the satisfaction of the results of their work. It was frustrating because I'm not wired that way. I adapted, but ultimately moved on professionally. It's also difficult to motivate people to do a $15/hr job when the company only lays $10/hr.

As far as company loyalty? Laughable at best. Greedy ****ers are only concerned about the bottom line. And/or the return they can give their shareholders. Frontline be damned.

I'm not bitter...okay, maybe a little.

 

[franklin]

Them lazy, good-for-nothing millennials.

I'd rep this if it weren't for the built-in payoff blind spot that is often ignored in the college tuition discussion.

 

[Deleted member 848]

That Yale thing is cute though, but let's be a bit more realistic.

For example, a years worth of tuition at Montana State University is ~$6,800.

Minimum wage is $8.05. That would be about 2 and a half hours a day, every day of the year to pay for tuition. Super unreasonable.

What was tuition at MSU in the 70s Tho.


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[RandyForRubio]

What was tuition at MSU in the 70s Tho.


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About $1000.

So 1.9 hours a day compared to 2.3

Still very reasonable, still very attainable for anybody. I mean ****, today I saw McDonalds was hiring at $9-12/hour starting wage. Not great, but it's still a way to pay for college.

 

[LogGrad98]

About $1000.

So 1.9 hours a day compared to 2.3

Still very reasonable, still very attainable for anybody. I mean ****, today I saw McDonalds was hiring at $9-12/hour starting wage. Not great, but it's still a way to pay for college.

Also with grants and scholarships available for myriad things not many pay their full college tuition without at least some help.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/luciel...-pay-full-price-for-college-today-should-you/

According to the 2012 Tuition Discounting Study published by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), 87% of entering freshmen in the fall of 2012 at the 383 private colleges in the study received institutional grants and/or scholarships. On average a student received a 44% discount off of the published tuition. Knowing that institutional discount rates can be calculated from the data in the common data set which most schools post on their websites, I looked at the website of the college he’ll be attending and it turns out that my friend’s son is actually going to a school with an average discount rate of 52%. His freshman classmates will be receiving more than half off the list price of their tuition while he’s only getting a third off.

 

[bigb]

I've not dealt with a lot of millenials working, but I think they're just different than I am. I consider my job to be very hard. I am out the door about 7:30 every day. My job is the epitome of "blue collar". It's tough, physical labor and the financial rewards don't translate into the corporate world. Based on my education and experience, if that were to translate directly into the corporate world, I'd make probably 3x what I make now. But there is no way in hell I could handle the corporate world.
I look at millenials and see them doing things entirely differently. One of my suppliers has a kid (probably younger than 25) working for them. His main job is to work the "check out" (basically the cashier). But he takes the will call orders and fills those, too. When he has the free time, he's supposed to help the warehouse guy stock shelves, etc. Instead of doing that, he spends every free minute on his phone or surfing the net looking at stupid ****. As a result, the shelves don't get re-stocked. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I was there and they had the conduit I needed inside the store. Instead, I have to go out to their yard and dig the pipe out myself. Is this lazy? To my way of thinking, yes. To his, probably not. He's doing his job description.
So, basically, while the general description to me would be lazy, to him, he's doing his job. He has zero interest in whether or not the customers are really happy. He knows they keep coming back. He has zero interest in coming up with ways to improve things there. As long as his pay check clears the bank every week, he's fine with whatever is going on in the store. I try to put myself in his place and, just knowing myself, I wouldn't be able to just sit there like that. If I had free time and spent it looking at my computer screen, I'd go crazy. But, I need to be doing something. I don't sit still for long. If I'm on the clock, I'm working.
Like I said, we're just different.

 

[Beer]

About $1000.

So 1.9 hours a day compared to 2.3

Still very reasonable, still very attainable for anybody. I mean ****, today I saw McDonalds was hiring at $9-12/hour starting wage. Not great, but it's still a way to pay for college.

We talkin about Montana State?

 

[moevillini]

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...

 

[LogGrad98]

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...

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.

 

[Carbon13]

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...

I also think if we were to teach kids how to save and invest their money properly they would be more likely to do trade work. If you look at the long term comparison of getting a trade degree, saving a sizable portion of your income and promptly investing it in low cost index funds that are optimized for tax efficiency versus getting a PhD and starting work 10 years later with a lot of debt. You would see a lot people making the more rational decision of just going into a trade in my opinion.