A Little Rant on Today's Generation of Kids and Their (lack of) Work Ethic

[Coco]

I just feel like I need to rant for a minute.

We have recently been looking for more employees at the shop. It all started when we hired a couple guys and were doing pretty well. They had some experience when they hired on, and we continued training them and both were doing well. Then one day, one didn't show up. No sign, no call, email, or text. The next day (he was off on Monday) the other one called in saying today would be his last day, but he didn't come in, so wasn't sure how it could be his last day if he didn't come in. Still never heard from the first kid, I guess he did send an email to the boss asking about his last check, which he always gives in person if something like this happens, as he wants to know the reasoning behind quitting, leaving, no call/shows, etc. He still hasn't picked up his check. Fun fact I guess he's got at least 10 checks that previous employees never came to collect from over the years.

The second kid finally came in and said a big reason he left is no one would talk to him. Granted, this kid was pretty quiet himself, but I get it. I personally try to talk to every employee as I am going through the shop. From what I saw and our current staff I don't know why they wouldn't talk to him, or if he was just saying that to save face.

Now, we have been looking for new employees. In the last month we have had probably 12-15 people interviewed, 10 accepted positions, at least one no show the first day, 5-7 come in the first day, spend a full day training, then no show the next day. One kid was somewhat part time, had 2 days off a week, 3 days were half days, and 1 full day. He did not show what would be the 2nd day of work, and after I sent him a text he said he hurt his back and couldn't lift anything. Ok, come in and sweep floors, or clean or do busy work that we sometimes do not have time for as we are so busy. He came in 2 days total before he quit, but he did at least come in and talk with us and mentioned it wasn't for him. Another kid did email in (after one day - and after his day off) saying it was too hard of work and he wasn't expecting that when he hired on... Out of the 10+ people we interviewed, hired, did paperwork on, and started training, we have 2 that have stayed and are great additions to the team. The other guys they are working with are all great guys, none of them are mean or rude, and they are taking their time to teach and train every new hire we get. I personally talked with every new hire throughout the day, and at the end of each day seeing if things were going well, if they were liking the work, etc and all told me yeah and had good attitudes. So it is just mind boggling that we get complete no shows with no communication when every member of staff that has worked with them say they were doing great and had good attitudes when they were working with them.

I am sorry, but what were you expecting when you were applying to an automotive shop? And mind you, I don't think this is really that hard of work! Oil changes, tire rotations, and tire replacement is mostly what these kids would be doing! Yeah it is manual labor, but ultimately not hard work! We strive to have the best equipment for our staff and for our customers' benefit, and have many training tools at every new hire's hand. Not to mention great bonus programs for showing up, and doing some additional training. Plus more to grow and move up within the company.

Is today's generation just too soft? They want everything handed to them and can't be bothered to work? Are there new guidelines that they have to show they are 'attempting to work' to keep living off the government and thus costing everyone - including the would-be employee time, energy, and money? Is the interest in working on cars just not there like it used to be? I don't get it... But I would say Yes to almost all those at this point.

Thanks for reading my rant, if anyone is interested in working in the automotive industry, hit me up! I promise we really aren't bad people.

 

[Cody]

I feel you. I had my 5th exec chef in the last 11 months escorted out of my business after having a paranoid schizophrenic episode, doing crack on premises, and trying to sell drugs to my staff. He went through 12 other line cooks in his 6 weeks. So that's 5 chef's and probably 30 line/prep cooks in the last year. That's doesn't include about a dozen that have been hired and never showed up. We usually only have 6 cooks total on staff for reference.

It's wild out there man.

 

[Kevin B.]

I don't feel like this is "today's" kids. This has been the story at every job with entry-level positions I've worked at/managed since my first job out of high school. Scrubs is scrubs, and the answer when I was managing scrubs was to treat them well, and pay them more than market rate (when it was my choice anyway) so that I had a better chance of keeping the good ones around. It didn't always work.

if anyone is interested in working in the automotive industry, hit me up!

I tried to send my boy out to put in an app with you guys, but he found a job washing cars at Mark Miller Toyota that he loves.

 

[Hickey]

I don’t thinks it’s just the youth. We run through a thousand applicants per year and they all have to have 30 months experience. Doesn’t matter if they’re 24 or 54. People are soft and entitled. We literally tell them and show them what we want to see during the hiring event, and we even pay them $24 per hour and feed them lunch for a week.

We’ve had a lot of former Yellow drivers come through lately and it’s been shocking how bad they are.

 

[Houndoc]

I have a staff that is mostly 25-30 year olds. Overall a fantastic bunch.

Yes, we fire a couple a year and get occasionally ghosted, mostly on interviews.

I think the issue is not so much work ethic or feeling entitled as it is a job market that favors employees. With very low unemployment, very easy to get a new job.

 

[Tonkaman]

It’s not a “youth” problem anymore because it’s been ongoing for decades.

My work has over a 90% turnover rate on new hires, but guys that last 3 months usually stay for decades.

I believe the problem is that since the 80’s we were all indoctrinated to believe college is the only worthy career path and manual labor is only for failures. Unfortunately that damage is done and will be nearly impossible to undo even as people cry about their student loans.

Imagine feeling like tradesman are something to be embarrassed about. Those guys quit because they can’t imagine telling a girl about their job without being rejected, or posting about their job online without feeling ashamed.

Blue collar wages are continuing to skyrocket due to the lack of replacement employees each year that the boomers retire. Eventually we will be paid so much that even high schools guidance counselors will be encouraging kids to skip college and go into the trades.

 

[SoopaHick]

It’s not a “youth” problem anymore because it’s been ongoing for decades.

My work has over a 90% turnover rate on new hires, but guys that last 3 months usually stay for decades.

I believe the problem is that since the 80’s we were all indoctrinated to believe college is the only worthy career path and manual labor is only for failures. Unfortunately that damage is done and will be nearly impossible to undo even as people cry about their student loans.

Imagine feeling like tradesman are something to be embarrassed about. Those guys quit because they can’t imagine telling a girl about their job without being rejected, or posting about their job online without feeling ashamed.

Blue collar wages are continuing to skyrocket due to the lack of replacement employees each year that the boomers retire. Eventually we will be paid so much that even high schools guidance counselors will be encouraging kids to skip college and go into the trades.

I definitely lean towards this idea for sure.

But I think from what I see with my students and trying to get them jobs is a combination of everything that's been said so far.

We're in a weird place in society where being low income doesn't absolutely suck enough to be worth the work to get out of it for a lot of people.

An entire generation that was pounded with the propaganda that University is the only path to success and never learned what hard labor is like. The same kids that weren't forced to do yard work, or fix something themselves if they broke it.

But most of all I really think it's a large demographic of people that have no, and may have never had, responsibilities.

They don't "need" that job. So the second it sucks in the slightest, they leave. They've never been held responsible for the effects they have on others, therefore they just quit without notice or explanation. And the "not returning for their final check" doesn't surprise me at all because that would require responsibility. It would require an uncomfortable conversation.

Hell there are a lot of things that I dislike about my job currently, but I can't leave it because I don't know if I could find a salary/benefits set up to match or exceed without selling my soul. I've got too many responsibilities and things depending on me to just walk away because it sucks a little bit.

 

[johngottfredson]

We're in a weird place in society where being low income doesn't absolutely suck enough to be worth the work to get out of it for a lot of people.

THIS. I have extended family members that never push themselves to achieve anything, because that would be hard, and it’s less hard to fall back on the social safety net.

 

[rholbrook]

It used to be that if someone could pass a drug test you hire them. Not you look the other way and if they can fog a mirror you hire them.

I once made my son mow the law three times because the first two times it looked terrible. The third time he figured out that if its worth doing, its worth doing right the first time. I look at some of my boy's friends that don't have to work while going to college and think that when they get out, they should make $200K a year to start and have had zero work experience in anything. I have told my boys that they have to make a decision out of high school; military, mission or school. School can be trade, tech or university. They are not sitting home and gaming.

 

[Hickey]

I’m looking forward to this winter sucking. I hope it ramps up the suck for my students, so the weak ones quit.

 

[N-Smooth]

It's not just this generation. I worked with the young men for 6.5 years and while some of them are definitely on the lazy side, hoping to just coast through life, MORE of them are hard-working, driven and smart. Don't get me wrong, I've blamed a lot of stuff on "kids these days" but it's really not that. Heaven knows there are plenty of lazy people my age too.

Also that job might just suck and you see it through rose-colored glasses. If they have better offers or just feel like it was worth trying but not actually the job for them... I can't say I blame them. It's not always black and white.

 

[Pike2350]

I've managed lower skilled workers quite a bit for over 20 years. I do have to say that there is something going on. The 1st 5-10 years, you had your fair share of bad apples that didn't want to work, but generally, I think you were looking at 1/10 that didn't work out due to them being lazy or entitled, or just not wanting the job, where as. 6/10 would just not work out due to other reasons. The job was delivery drivers for a local office supply seller (b2b, not retail) I knew, that a full time driver position at $10/hr back in the early 2000's was not going to attract the cream of the crop. However, we generally kept most of the employees we hired. Usually, if they didn't work out, it wasn't due to them just ghosting us, or being lazy (that did happen, but far less often) Usually, it was an accident, uninsurable, or some other cause, not them just bailing on us.

After I left that place, I did warehouse management for a auto parts aftermarket supplier. I started getting employees ghosting me more often as the years went on. It was still less then what worked out or that had other issues, but I did start to see an uptick in it over the 8 years I was there. in the beginning, I would say it was 3/10 started ghosting us, no show/no call, etc. We still had bad luck, and I would say at this point 7/10 didn't work out, but a the split was closer to even as to why

Now, I don't directly oversee the warehouse employees, but I am involved in payroll. The number of no shows/no calls has jumped dramatically. My employer tries to work with The Other Side Academy to help recovering addicts get back into the swing of things, and I would say those that don't work out are pretty equal with the younger kids (I assume younger because that's mostly what I see around the warehouse) who ghost us and don't show. Of The Other Side guys, 7/10 don't work out. I see kids ghosting us at a similar rate, and I would say we are now at a 8/10 not working out at all, but way more are guys just not showing up. What's even worse, I've personally seen kids quite after a week threaten to quite if they don't get a raise. They want to be making $25/hr. Now, we don't start at the highest, but I in the $17-19/hr range.

I think part of it is people's expectation of what they should be making is very skewed. Why work the manual job for sub $20, because somehow they think they can earn more then that without experience or skills. They can just be influencers, or as someone said above, they can just not work and still be relatively comfortable due to social programs, or more likely, family allowing them to be lazy and not work.


Thinking about it more, I think a lot of the ghosting is more a fear of confrontation. I recall so many kids just not wanting to admit, or be looked at poorly, so they would rather just avoid the uncomfortable interaction all together. When this happens, it is usually only 1-2 days of work, and the wages they'd earn just aren't worth feeling like crap to them. Out of sight, out of mind mindset I guess.

 

[glockman]

I have 4 boys. 3 of them are adults.

My oldest is an Electrician. He picked up his first DVM 4 years ago. He is 27 and is running multi million dollar projects for his employer. He moved up so fast I was really worried it would fall flat and he'd be in a pickle. He is making close to 6 figures and could make more moving companies but wants to stay with the people who helped him come up. He is a really motivated hard working kid so I'm not super surprised he is doing well but the rate he went from no experience to running the show is pretty shocking to me.

Second oldest is a diesel mechanic. He is not as motivated or nearly as hard working as his brother but he can fix almost anything. He has milled around a few places and is working for Bobcat in Orem now. He's been there a year and they want to make him the shop foreman. He works almost zero overtime and is making over $60k. He is 24.

Last adult boy is 20. I have a friend out on the Facebook site that hired him kind of as a favor and kind of because they were desperate for people. The job at Facebook was working with automation systems and electronics. He had zero experience and they started him at $50k as a 19 year old kid with a HS diploma! Not only that, they comp meals, cell phones and have an office trailer stocked with anything they want from pastries to red bulls and they cater a lunch about once a week for the whole crew. He is just like his oldest brother, is a hard worker and loves money. He will be in the $70k's within the next year.

This is partly a proud dad post because I am really proud of them but mostly I'm just blown away at how fast these kids of mine have built careers and the money they are making. I worked in a high paying technical field with a college degree for a decade before I made what they are starting at with zero experience.

I recently saw a post from a person running their own cleaning business. They did both commercial and residential cleaning. They were asking about their hiring issues and why they couldn't even get anyone to apply at $15hr with zero experience and any hours you want to work. Everyone told them they are not paying enough. All the people running similar businesses said they start people at $25hr!!! TO PUSH A MOP!!!! I was totally blown away and I started thinking about moonlighting as a mop pusher.

All that to say, I would bet your employer is paying what I and most people consider "reasonable" rates but that just doesn't cut it in todays market.

 

[jeeper]

And here I am forcing my kids to take jobs as a horse training helper for $10/hr...

 

[glockman]

And here I am forcing my kids to take jobs as a horse training helper for $10/hr...

That is going to be really beneficial for your kids. Once they are trust funders they can riminess about the old days before they were 1%ers.

 

[Tonkaman]

All the people running similar businesses said they start people at $25hr!!! TO PUSH A MOP!!!! I was totally blown away and I started thinking about moonlighting as a mop pusher.

All that to say, I would bet your employer is paying what I and most people consider "reasonable" rates but that just doesn't cut it in todays market.

I completely agree with this. When I was working on the airport project there were around 200 laborers that’s were only hired to push a broom. They started at $20/hr.

I think times have changed, the working wage now must factor in the cost of retraining an employee and the lost production of losing an employee.

 

[mesha]

Colton, it stinks you are having such a hard time with new hires. That has to be so frustrating. Good luck! I will talk to my boy about some part time work at your place.

 

[Houndoc]

And let's be honest here.

Every generation complains about the one after them, nothing new there at all.

The irony of course is we are the ones responsible for having raised the younger generations, but that seldom seems to come up when complaining.

 

[Hickey]

And let's be honest here.

Every generation complains about the one after them, nothing new there at all.

The irony of course is we are the ones responsible for having raised the younger generations, but that seldom seems to come up when complaining.

There are a ton of horrible parents out there who are more interested in being their kid’s friend, rather than their parent.

 

[Spork]

My 16 year old is going back to Cornbelly's next week when they start up, she seems eager to work, even if it's only for a couple of months. I'm hoping after Halloween she figures out something else to do. My other daughter has been applying to various places but they either don't get back to her or say she doesn't have any experience and don't hire her, she's in the pharmacy tech program out at MTEC so I'm hoping after she can find something.