Lazy Gen Z

[DangerDave]

https://fortune.com/2024/09/26/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-months-after-hiring/

Lot of kids these days have a warped world view. Life isn’t just making tiktok dance videos or whining about Trump in their reddit safe spaces. Hopefully, they learn something going forward in life.

Edit: A lot of kids (especially country side and small towns young men) are embracing Christian conservative values, masculinity, and the nuclear family structure. But a lot of urban kids, especially young women (including small towns) are struggling with pretty much everything. I understand that it’s not their fault but America is one place where efforts do pay off and they need to acknowledge that. I guess the MSM and culture isn’t helping bring this change at all.

 

[Huskydriver]

Kinda funny I have 4 Gen z college grads that work for me and they are by far my hardest workers and attack everything I give them with extreme violence.

My boomers and older gen xers need a constant kick in the pants...

Pretty sure it's just like everything in life ... You take em and evaluate em as they come

 

[DangerDave]

Kinda funny I have 4 Gen z college grads that work for me and they are by far my hardest workers and attack everything I give them with extreme violence.

My boomers and older gen xers need a constant kick in the pants...

Pretty sure it's just like everything in life ... You take em and evaluate em as they come

There’s good dads like you out there and the kids inherit those values and principles. That article doesn’t apply to most of the kids with conservative parents IMHO.

 

[LuckyLuke80]

I believe the problem to be pretty widespread. Many people don’t want to work anymore. Those that do already have a good job and aren’t interested in quitting where things are good and they are making a good wage and have some seniority only to go start fresh somewhere new and have to rebuild. Seems like a lot of people want to start at the top and skip the intro

 

[ggmanning]

Raising. My 3 Gen Z's are well on their way. Then again I worked their ass off from an early age just like my dad did me. They are only as good as what they are taught the majority of the time. Country conservative kids are raised completely different than the other ilk. There are still a lot of good ones just not the norm it used to be in the past.

 

[LuckyDuck]

https://fortune.com/2024/09/26/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-months-after-hiring/

Lot of kids these days have a warped world view. Life isn’t just making tiktok dance videos or whining about Trump in their reddit safe spaces. Hopefully, they learn something going forward in life.

Can you surmise the article? I hit a paywall trying to read it and sure others will too. Withholding my opinion on the topic until I can understand what's being discussed is all.

-LD

 

[DangerDave]

Can you surmise the article? I hit a paywall trying to read it and sure others will too. Withholding my opinion on the topic until I can understand what's being discussed is all.

-LD

The article basically says that gen z kids fresh outta college lack professionalism, ethics, and productivity. So these companies that are hiring them are now firing them with a few months.

 

[kenny1773]

Too lazy to find your own free link?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-111719818.html

Modern life enables more lazy people these days.

You can get hired by the government or some really large company and get by everyday doing very little and not get fired. I work for a fairly large corporation and its a near impossible uphill documentation battle for a min of a year to fire someone based solely on performance.

 

[Tempest 455]

Have 2 sons that work their ass off. Overtime and whatever it takes to get the job done.
Both have been promoted many times for work ethic.

I've told them both, it's your generations responsibility to fix all this shit.

 

[HMRamateur]

This isn't true for all kids, there are outliers everywhere.

I'm curious though about how the job market has been in the States, but I know for Canada it is much more than just "lazy kids".

For about 10-15 years now, temporary foreign workers have been taking over low paying jobs. The country let's them in like crazy. Fast food restaurants, gas stations, grocery store employees, have all been taken over by people with terrible English. They probably work harder than teenagers because they actually need to survive without their parents paying their bills, but it's taking away the experience from teens. By the time they graduate, they're useless to the world because they've never had a job as there weren't many available for them.

Half the blame gets put on the parents, but the other half is on the government, in my opinion.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Part of the article it is the typical drivel by greedy corporate bosses whining about why their new hires won't work like slaves for next to nothing and actually understand the proper work life balance and want to be able to actually have a meaningful life and do what is right for them. Sorry all that "It's so virtuous to work yourself to death and miss out on all the good parts of life to make some corporation rich" propaganda is now easily seen through.

Stupid English school thinking they should work the students 12 hours a day to make the better prepared to be slaves, sorry this isn't the days of Dickens anymore, you greedy bastards.
You work to be able to afford to have a good life. You don't live your life simply to burn out as fast as you can to make some corporation rich.
The whole Covid B.S. had the side effect of making people understand what was important to them.

The part of the article that actually is useful, is that one of the biggest things that is a problem for some of the young is their inability to properly communicate with others on a professional level. (Probably from too much of this "safe space" B.S. growing up) and also that they are a bit to addicted to stimulation and excitement and can't handle work that is very monotonous, tedious and boring. I blame modern technology.

Robust professional conversations and follow up and detailed and informative communication are skills that have been lost to the ADD type modern technology world children grow up in.

 

[LuckyDuck]

The article basically says that gen z kids fresh outta college lack professionalism, ethics, and productivity. So these companies that are hiring them are now firing them with a few months.

Appreciate it- I'm neither defending nor admonishing the argument but will say that if we're being fair, that argument has been going on for at least centuries with every passing generation (I'll spare you looking up old news article to support that stance since it's getting late and I'm getting tired).

That said though- I do think that the world is changing (for better or worse, dealer's choice) at a rate that has never been seen before in human history. To bring it down to a slightly lower level, I also think that our economy/lifestyle/perspective even nationally has largely changed at an unprecedented rate. But the USA is BIG, and there's still areas that have been insulated from some of this economic shift- not to single anyone out in particular but just to mention one industry that I have some familiarity with- coal mining towns.

I could never understand how broad the experiences of participants here encompass, but I'd have to say that a percentage represent these areas that were more so insulated/shielded (you take your pick on what term you prefer) and their opinion wouldn't be wrong either.

But from a higher level/macro level just speaking nationally, our country has been a snowball since we started shifting from a manufacturing powerhouse to more of a service focus (not arguing that's either right or wrong either but I feel like we haven't reaped what was sold at the time) since maybe... if I had to put a finger on it at least, the 60's? If you'll agree with that, there's a whole lot of generational churn (none of which is because of "Gen Z") with Vietnam, Civil Rights, Women's Suffrage/Entrance in the workforce/Birth-control/ etc.

The world has changed, and it's not Gen Z's fault, they grew up in a different world than the proverbial "silent generation", "baby boomers", "Gen X" (woot woot! but they don't care), "Milenials" etc. These generational terms, in my opinion, have existed for centuries and only serve to divide otherwise cohesive societies and shift their focus away from the inevitable changing in the world/society.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Too lazy to find your own free link?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-111719818.html

Modern life enables more lazy people these days.

You can get hired by the government or some really large company and get by everyday doing very little and not get fired. I work for a fairly large corporation and its a near impossible uphill documentation battle for a min of a year to fire someone based solely on performance.

LOL, and I'm not even "Gen Z" good on you for finding it.

-LD

 

[DangerDave]

Appreciate it- I'm neither defending nor admonishing the argument but will say that if we're being fair, that argument has been going on for at least centuries with every passing generation (I'll spare you looking up old news article to support that stance since it's getting late and I'm getting tired).

That said though- I do think that the world is changing (for better or worse, dealer's choice) at a rate that has never been seen before in human history. To bring it down to a slightly lower level, I also think that our economy/lifestyle/perspective even nationally has largely changed at an unprecedented rate. But the USA is BIG, and there's still areas that have been insulated from some of this economic shift- not to single anyone out in particular but just to mention one industry that I have some familiarity with- coal mining towns.

I could never understand how broad the experiences of participants here encompass, but I'd have to say that a percentage represent these areas that were more so insulated/shielded (you take your pick on what term you prefer) and their opinion wouldn't be wrong either.

But from a higher level/macro level just speaking nationally, our country has been a snowball since we started shifting from a manufacturing powerhouse to more of a service focus (not arguing that's either right or wrong either but I feel like we haven't reaped what was sold at the time) since maybe... if I had to put a finger on it at least, the 60's? If you'll agree with that, there's a whole lot of generational churn (none of which is because of "Gen Z") with Vietnam, Civil Rights, Women's Suffrage/Entrance in the workforce/Birth-control/ etc.

The world has changed, and it's not Gen Z's fault, they grew up in a different world than the proverbial "silent generation", "baby boomers", "Gen X" (woot woot! but they don't care), "Milenials" etc. These generational terms, in my opinion, have existed for centuries and only serve to divide otherwise cohesive societies and shift their focus away from the inevitable changing in the world/society.

-LD

Agree with a lot of it. I live in a small town and most of the male high school students are working for farmers and other blue collar businesses. Female students on the other hand, have all these mental/gender identity issues. Some of these parents are so caught up in material things that they don’t have enough time to provide right guidance to their children.

Statistics do say that young gen z men (especially country folk) are embracing masculinity, hard work, Christian values, and conservatism in general.

 

[LuckyDuck]

Have 2 sons that work their ass off. Overtime and whatever it takes to get the job done.
Both have been promoted many times for work ethic.

I've told them both, it's your generations responsibility to fix all this shit.

Sounds like you raised your children right AND it stuck. I mean that as a sincere compliment to you & your wife sir.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Agree with a lot of it. I live in a small town and most of the male high school students are working for farmers and other blue collar businesses. Female students on the other hand, have all these mental/gender identity issues. Some of these parents are so caught up in material things that they don’t have enough time to provide right guidance to their children.

Statistics do say that young gen z men (especially country folk) are embracing masculinity, hard work, Christian values, and conservatism in general.

Wasn't my intent to "argue" with you, only to share an opinion was all. The mental/gender identity issues... well that's likely another topic/conversation. That said, we had the usual teenage "angst" in my day too, but in my experience if you really wanted to be "counter culture" you jumped into the Goth group/culture. One of the things that really (and I mean REALLY) bothers me, is the counter culture was a typical part of that goofy teenage part of all our lives, now it's being manipulated, subsidized, promoted, and celebrated to a degree which I never could have seen coming nor can I understand. What's even more... notable I'll say is how fast we got to this point. Everyone has their opinions of course but... damn. I feel like this very conversation equates to being a part of the band playing music while the Titanic sank (part of that mindset is because of the submarine thread I just read I guess but the reference still holds merit).

-LD

 

[Maser]

The older generation and the younger generation will never respect eachother the way Asian cultures respect their respective generations. Why you ask? Because both generations in western culture think they know everything when in the end they both don't know shit.

 

[Emerson0311]

https://fortune.com/2024/09/26/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-months-after-hiring/

Lot of kids these days have a warped world view. Life isn’t just making tiktok dance videos or whining about Trump in their reddit safe spaces. Hopefully, they learn something going forward in life.

Edit: A lot of kids (especially country side and small towns young men) are embracing Christian conservative values, masculinity, and the nuclear family structure. But a lot of urban kids, especially young women (including small towns) are struggling with pretty much everything. I understand that it’s not their fault but America is one place where efforts do pay off and they need to acknowledge that. I guess the MSM and culture isn’t helping bring this change at all.

Efforts used to pay off a lot better here in the west. The game is more heavily rigged now than ever. Of course, without family advantages, we have no other choice than to work hard until the sweet release of death. Fuck off with your Gen Z comments. I’m a Gen X, and I have learned that no one gives a fuck about me, on average. I will look out for me and mine, and do whatever I need to to get buy, while trying to stay out of prison.

 

[DangerDave]

Wasn't my intent to "argue" with you, only to share an opinion was all. The mental/gender identity issues... well that's likely another topic/conversation. That said, we had the usual teenage "angst" in my day too, but in my experience if you really wanted to be "counter culture" you jumped into the Goth group/culture. One of the things that really (and I mean REALLY) bothers me, is the counter culture was a typical part of that goofy teenage part of all our lives, now it's being manipulated, subsidized, promoted, and celebrated to a degree which I never could have seen coming nor can I understand. What's even more... notable I'll say is how fast we got to this point. Everyone has their opinions of course but... damn. I feel like this very conversation equates to being a part of the band playing music while the Titanic sank (part of that mindset is because of the submarine thread I just read I guess but the reference still holds merit).

-LD

didn’t think we were arguing at all.

 

[LuckyDuck]

Part of the article it is the typical drivel by greedy corporate bosses whining about why their new hires won't work like slaves for next to nothing and actually understand the proper work life balance and want to be able to actually have a meaningful life and do what is right for them. Sorry all that "It's so virtuous to work yourself to death and miss out on all the good parts of life to make some corporation rich" propaganda is now easily seen through.

Stupid English school thinking they should work the students 12 hours a day to make the better prepared to be slaves, sorry this isn't the days of Dickens anymore, you greedy bastards.
You work to be able to afford to have a good life. You don't live your life simply to burn out as fast as you can to make some corporation rich.
The whole Covid B.S. had the side effect of making people understand what was important to them.

The part of the article that actually is useful, is that one of the biggest things that is a problem for some of the young is their inability to properly communicate with others on a professional level. (Probably from too much of this "safe space" B.S. growing up) and also that they are a bit to addicted to stimulation and excitement and can't handle work that is very monotonous, tedious and boring. I blame modern technology.

Robust professional conversations and follow up and detailed and informative communication are skills that have been lost to the ADD type modern technology world children grow up in.

I didn't gain much traction/participation in my thread about unpopular opinions from Monday but a lot of what you're speaking of reminds me of that. I feel like we're at a precipice that we haven't encountered... well I'll just say for some time. The last time (in my opinion) dealt with representation politically, this current situation I feel is more economic.

It isn't how I was raised, how I grew up, or what I personally believe but I would be lying if I said that I didn't quite get the 'counter-argument'. I'm willing to bet that both you and I grew up in different times than what we're calling Gen Z, maybe even different times between us. But this latest section of our society entering the workforce (I like phrasing it that better), it's kind of hard to even place a finger on what their perspective may be.

I betcha both of us can remember where we were at during 9/11- these folks weren't even born then. We likely both remember life before the internet, going to libraries, TV Guides, reading the newspaper, etc. Hell we probably both remember manufacturing jobs, I'll say for me, I remember getting a factory job over 20 years ago making something like $11 an hour and think I had it made (but still worked two retail jobs at the same time because I wanted to buy a sweet car with all the extra cash my likely $8-$9 an hour jobs paid for extra spending money). None of this was a part of the lives of these new entrants to the workforce. Heck none of my memories aligned with the Boomers either.

I felt like I was going a direction with this but I lost my thought. Anywho, to move forward, we need to understand these changes and work together rather than play the pariah and build our self imposed camps and point fingers at each other.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

didn’t think we were arguing at all.

It's the internet and this is the Pit- just wanted to be clear was all. It seems to become more rare to have a civil discussion and I know context is not easily interpreted in this format so just clarifying.

-LD

 

[DangerDave]

The older generation and the younger generation will never respect eachother the way Asian cultures respect their respective generations. Why you ask? Because both generations in western culture think they know everything when in the end they both don't know shit.

I am part of that asian (south Indian) culture. Most of that respect is from the hundreds of beatings I got for getting bad grades, getting into fights, or girls. My parents were big on caste based arranged marriage so they stopped talking to me when I married a white American woman. My father-in-law who’s a textbook conservative (grew up in poverty, church, hunting, fishing, and hard working) taught me everything I know today and I still keep learning everyday. I found God in America and the quality of life I have here is incomparable to what it used to be. That’s why it’s sad to see some of these kids not understand the value of the “American dream”.

 

[Bradu]

Kinda funny I have 4 Gen z college grads that work for me and they are by far my hardest workers and attack everything I give them with extreme violence.

My boomers and older gen xers need a constant kick in the pants...

Pretty sure it's just like everything in life ... You take em and evaluate em as they come

It's a problem with all age groups. The boomers think they are entitled to coast until retirement because they've "earned it" even though most I've been around will never be able to retire since they didn't plan for retirement. Doesn't matter if it's guys in their early 20's or late 60's, most of them can't go anywhere else with their work ethic/lack of knowledge. Out of 22 people, I'd keep 5 or 6 and the rest would gone tomorrow if I had any say in it.

 

[Huskydriver]

It's a problem with all age groups. The boomers think they are entitled to coast until retirement because they've "earned it" even though most I've been around will never be able to retire since they didn't plan for retirement. Doesn't matter if it's guys in their early 20's or late 60's, most of them can't go anywhere else with their work ethic/lack of knowledge. Out of 22 people, I'd keep 5 or 6 and the rest would gone tomorrow if I had any say in it.

Amen to that

 

[eddie102870]

my son was just like me, chased girls and partied in high school. i worked his ass off. he did one semester in a community college and had bad grades so he joined the marines. best decision he ever made. hes a hard worker and has common sense which is lacking with a lot of kids these days. he still does stupid shit and learns things the hard way but i dont have to fund it which is a plus.

 

[E. Bryant]

Gen X has taken over the managerial ranks and we are not taking any shit.

Seriously, my experience with Gen Z so far has been very good, but I think that our process of filtering out bad candidates is pretty solid. If I were hiring average people off the street then I'd likely have a much different option based upon what I'm seeing in the retail environment (lots of tats, hair dye, and attitude; not much competency or work ethic).

 

[Bantam1]

I have 15 workers under me and 10 are Gen Z. Of those 10, three are completely useless most of the time. I am in the process of trying to clean house but have to fight with my boss that prefers to coddle them. It's not as easy as it used to be to let people go for some reason.

Google how to work with Gen Z and pretty much every answer is to let them do what they want. Thankfully I still have a few that work hard and understand the reasons for working hard. They all come from conservative families.

 

[brianf]

Was speaking to my nephew..good kid. And he thinks it’s the ease/ availability of information.

He was saying that “we” had to

go to the library..which meant getting a ride or riding our bike

Pick out a book or 3 …my town had limits on how many you could have out

Actually read it, couldn’t just skip around like a video

And get it back on time or pay a fine

He said now, we open our phone find immediate information told to us on video..zero effort for sane outcome etc

When we’d started talking about “common sense” and things like that

What he also said is that because they can just open their phone..there’s no need to remember anything or have an alternate viewpoint. You just find the view you like and watch him. So none of his friends “know” anything.

I tried to shorten it..so I’m not typing forever

But it made a lot of sense / me understanding what we are noticing

 

[Yasherka]

We've had three Gen Z operators fired in the last 5 months (and there are only 9 of us in the group). One was a reserve Marine Lt. who was showing up drunk and vaping on the Ops floor in front of everyone, then denying it.

The second was fresh out of the Space Force and was about the laziest fuck I've ever seen. He actually asked if he could just come in for the satellite passes (about 25 minutes of work) and then go home. He missed a lot of work due to "medical issues", then we found out he was forging doctors letters so he wouldn't have to come in. Some of those forged papers had prescriptions on them which I believe may constitute a felony.

The last one got canned because due to an ugly divorce and subsequent arrest (DV related), his court dates were making him miss work...as in not showing up for his shift and not letting anyone know about it. No coordination whatsoever. Our site manager bent over backwards to work with him but the guy didn't seem to care.

All of these guys had (past tense) TS/SCI clearances (the last guy probably still has his) and each was earning over $80k starting salary. I'm a Boomer and have been in the workforce since I was 15, this is the easiest job i have ever had. I am also the oldest of our group by over 20 years. When I had my periodic review, my manager opened it up with "Sam, you're my adult,".

We do have some good Gen Z people, but the percentage of shitbags is distressingly high.

 

[Whistlepigs]

I have lost count of how many Gen Z we have hired in the last 4-5 years, got to be around 15 or so, and only 2 have worked out.

Lazy, dont care about the work they put out, think they know more than anyone else, ask them to work more than 35 hours a week and they look at you like you have lost your mind, should be paid the same as someone who has been on the job for 30 years.....list just goes on and on.

 

[Makinchips208]

I mean the article does have a point…
GenZs aren’t all great, but to be fair some millennials were failures also, maybe they got it from GenXers, can’t blame them though, they were just taught (or not) by the Boomers.

Yeah, it’s the boomers fault.

Actually, kids will be kids, foolishness is bound in their heart. If it isn’t removed then we end up with what we now have.

And, there are amazing leaders, horrible bosses, and everything in between. Some bosses need to quit complaining and look in the mirror (Zuckerberg, Bronson, etc).

 

[buffalowinter]

Finally got the gate opener my wife gave me six years ago to work.

It took 8 years, but I got the reloading machines working.

 

[Bradu]

Gen X has taken over the managerial ranks and we are not taking any shit.

Seriously, my experience with Gen Z so far has been very good, but I think that our process of filtering out bad candidates is pretty solid. If I were hiring average people off the street then I'd likely have a much different option based upon what I'm seeing in the retail environment (lots of tats, hair dye, and attitude; not much competency or work ethic).

Isn't gen x the ones that raised gen z

 

[Stevo86]

Finally got the gate opener my wife gave me six years ago to work.
View attachment 8511515

It took 8 years, but I got the reloading machines working.
View attachment 8511517

That’s good stuff. I remember the day my son was old enough to start opening the gates! Felt like I hit a milestone in life!

As to GenZ …. I have 35 full time employees…. Honestly most of the gen z kids have been extremely hard working and smart, lot of them come from broken families or poor families and they don’t wanna live life like that anymore. and there’s been a quite a few that are completely worthless and I have fired.

We have guys ranging from 18-72, I don’t think it comes down to generation, I’ve hired and fired every age range. I think it just comes down to how they were raised and how bad they wanna succeed and how much You want to help them and teach them. Some can learn, some can’t…or just choose not too. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[E. Bryant]

Isn't gen x the ones that raised gen z

There are a lot of POS Gen Xers. They fucked off in school, became life-long addicts, knocked each other up, and now their kids are "grown up".

 

[Bradu]

There are a lot of POS Gen Xers. They fucked off in school, became life-long addicts, knocked each other up, and now their kids are "grown up".

So the same gen that raised the ones you guys are complaining about are going to save us now...

Why does this seem an awful lot like the border crisis created by democrats but now they are going to fix it

 

[ironman56]

It's a problem with all age groups. The boomers think they are entitled to coast until retirement because they've "earned it" even though most I've been around will never be able to retire since they didn't plan for retirement. Doesn't matter if it's guys in their early 20's or late 60's, most of them can't go anywhere else with their work ethic/lack of knowledge. Out of 22 people, I'd keep 5 or 6 and the rest would gone tomorrow if I had any say in it.

In my experience (construction) if you fire a guy that was unproductive or constantly late ,the next guy you got to replace him might be worse always a crap shoot on new employees.