Yeah and the thing is, I don't know exactly what the core issue is. Partly laziness. Partly whining. Partly, I think, is lack of perspective, which isn't entirely their fault. I work with various HR departments as part of my IT responsibilities, which involves interviewing & hiring people with technical skills. Especially for young people, they just have absolutely no idea how much of a huge advantage they have being able to use a computer fluently...typing, using Office, navigating the web...you'd think that'd be old hat by now since we've had this crap since like Windows 95, but that is absolutely
not the case. A huge section of the workforce still struggles with that stuff, especially in the 40+ age group, so for them to keep up in business functions requires a lot of training & frustration (for the non-technical ones). I'm literally still teaching people how to do stuff like copy & paste and how folders work. I mean sure, if you're in a hotspot like NYC or Silicon Valley where there's a wicked amount of competition, then yes, you'll need to be at the top of your game, but outside of that, pretty much everywhere I've lived, the younger generation just has such a huge technological advantage & has no idea that it's even important, especially for getting a job.
That coupled with some basic business & social skills and you've got a home run just about anywhere you apply for work. I've had people come in late, not have their resumes, come in the next day, not call, etc. The foundation of working is not that hard...you do your required actions (fixing computers, building parts, whatever your job is) & you keep people in the loop, so even if you're behind schedule or whatever, at least you're keeping them on top of the situation. Combine that with the basic technical skills of being able to google stuff, use Word & Excel, and type well, and millions of job opportunities open up for you. I think a lot of kids today don't realize just how powerful those base technical skills are in the workforce. Yeah it might not be your dream job doing data entry or being a secretary or whatever, but it pays the bills for now & that's important for a lot of people who need jobs.
Like I said, I don't really buy into all of this complaining about Millennials that the news is going on & on about. Every generation has whiners. What's really happening is that access to job information has been democratized, so companies can't take advantage of people to the same degree as before. I can't find the exact article I was reading about on "how to manage Millenials in the workforce", but here's a similar one:
https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-truths-about-millennials-that-will-change-the-way-you-manage-them
They point out 3 things:
1. They ask why
2. They like startup culture
3. They like constant feedback
Well duh. If you can hop on Monster or Indeed or Career Builder & find a new, better job in 10 seconds, you better be prepared to do something to keep your talent at your company. Plus you've got Glassdoor for job pricing, LinkedIn for networking, etc. So yeah...it's no longer a dictatorship where your boss' word is law, without question...people have creative ideas that can really help out companies, if they're willing to listen instead of just being stoic about it. The startup culture thing I think is important too...I see my co-workers more than I see my wife. I've worked at places that are disheartening to work at day after day & it's no fun. Work doesn't have to be hardcore, rote boringness, you can make your workplace fun & interesting if you really want to. Look at Google...free food, volleyball games, you get a portion of your time for personal projects...lo & behold they're one of the biggest companies on the planet because people freaking
love working for them. And yeah, the constant feedback thing...I mean the kids are growing up with social media, so you're constantly getting feedback from Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. Even though it's kind of silly, from a human perspective, it's just as nice to get feedback as a worker as it is to keep your boss in the loop on your projects.
So I don't really know what the root cause is, but it irks me when I hear it lol.
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