I am finishing up my biggest project of the year. Have about 10 guys and 1 young lady working for me. Most are about 20-22 years old.

What is it with these guys that cannot fricken listen? Simple instructions. Simple commands, they don't understand.

Example: Go get #1 for the heater. I look and there's dyed diesel. I ask and yes it is dyed #2, not #1.

Don't leave the heater on the hotsy on if you stop pressure washing for more than a minute. Hose blows and everyone is totally unaware of the water spraying everywhere.

Get work rags out of the dryer. Go by and they're still in there.

It is the simplest stuff that I ask to be done or how it needs to be done and these simple things are totally ignored or misinterpreted. About to drive me nuts.

If you can keep their noses out of their phone screens, there's hope. Amazes me how many employees (not just young ones) that use their phones while working in places of business while I'm there.

They just simply suck. They think everything is a negotiation and have to right to do as they feel.

Don't sweat it, happens here as well...and not just with young ones either.


I am just pleased when some turn up for work.

Phones...I'm as guilty as anyone.

Stop demanding so much. Just shut up and pay them........... ( that's the expectations of many, but not all, of 'em these days).

Bingo.

Lock their phones up and watch them loose their minds and tell you about their rights.

No hablo ingles?

I had a 50+ year old fella from Scotland on a crew once. When I interviewed him he said he “could do the work of two men”

Well, that was a lie....it was more like 3.

My Latino fellas loved him, except for the cigarettes. Funniest thing in the world is a Latino trying to imitate a Scottish accent. Holy crap...

Im convinced all places of work should have a box at the entrance all phones must be placed in before employees hit the floor, only to be retrieved at break and lunch. They forget it's not their time when working, it's the employers time. I absolutely despise electronic devices and their use in day to day interaction. Sure, Ihave one, but it's not turned on and I couldn't tell you at this moment exactly where it is, probably in truck console?

have the same problem with 30-40 yr olds.

I am blessed to work in an environment where cell phones (all PED's in fact) are strictly forbidden. We have lockers outside the work area where we can lock them up if we don't want to leave them in our vehicles.

You guys know you can fire people, right? Or do you just want to bitch like women in the salon? [bleep] old men are indistinguishable from old women.

Ha...good luck with that here, and the lazy buggers that you already have are head and shoulders above the ones that can't even be bothered to turn up.

The problem is that they've never had to work before. They don't know how to do that.

Their minds are prone to wandering off on whatever BS tangents much of the time anyway, more so when they aren't really interested in what they are doing and especially when they really couldn't care less to learn.


.

Bingo...a work ethic is something you learn.

Hopefully.

My middle son is 20 next month.

Same deal

3rd year math and physics major, however when we are doing projects...I simply cannot give him more than 3 tasks. He will always not do one and when asked later says he "forgot".

I can look him in the eyes and tell him what I need him do, I have even text messaged my list to him so than he can follow. Nope....will predictably forget one.

I read many years ago to never expect employees to be as hard working as you .

& this




In todays construction world the wimpy young guys expect me to do anything that's hard or takes any thinking - while they check out their phone .
Saw a show several years ago of kids being taken in for treatment from phone/computer game addiction - mind boggling to see how bad the addiction is .

One guy at work a few years ago - he and his wife averaged over 10,000 texts to one another per month - 20,000 text . When they were in the process of buying a house they hit 30,000 texts .
We were working near his house so swung by and picked him up - as we walked out his front door leaving he fired off a text , i said who you texting -amber - the wife . They had spent 16+ hours together and he had something to tell her before the front door was latched . ADDICTION .

In the past three months I have organised four jobs (guaranteed) for early twenties, two apprenticeships and two bar jobs at a local club...not a single one of then even bothered to turn up for an interview.

Screw that...five, I forgot the automotive spray painting/repair apprenticeship.


I will not put myself out for others again.

Wrong again, seven.

....are a bunch of bed wetters.

Part of the problem here is that the entry level farm jobs kids used to do when in high school are being done by foreigners so the young are generally not getting the chance to learn a work ethic.

I had guys like that 20 yrs ago. But when something got complicated...they all had something in common. They smoked cigarettes.
Complicated hip/valley, jack rafters, tie ins, compound miters. Holy fugk...uhhhh smoke break.
Well chit...I guess I we want this done today, I've go to do it.

All the middle school boys around here play fortnight all summer long. Picked the best of the bunch to work for me. Does ok but be interesting how this pans out.

hiring the young has always been problematic. Around here, just getting the little darlings to even show up is a challenge.

So did i , and always a few miutes or more late .
And if you're nice to them they start thinking they're YOUR BOSS .

You guys forget what you were like as 18 and 20 year olds.

Or was there no hormones, booze, smoke or women back then?

I had given my 18 yr old grandson a car. He was supposed to do some work for me to pay me back. Never made any effort to repay me. So, after a year I went and took the car back. The worthless little bastard. Technically he's not a bastard. He has a daddy, but his dad is worthless also.

Good for you although you waited 9 months too long .

The greatest attribute of any good employee is their "Want To". If that is their only skill, you can teach them anything.

Years ago a friend who was in the manufacturing business told me he wished he could hire more from south of the border as they knew the value of, and how to, work.

Haa, plenty of that, but I couldn't use any of it if I didn't work. My car wouldn't move unless I put gas in it and couldn't buy the booze and take the girls out without money.

Yes, hunger makes the best sauce for picky eaters and need makes the best grease for moving the shiftless.

A manager at my trucking company told me that there is a big push for self driving trucks. This is because, according to federal law, you can drive 11 hours a day. And they can't hire a millennial who can go 11 hours without texting on his Iphone. Can't go 1 hour.

And this was 3 years ago since then it has only gotten worse.
So the truck drives itself, and the human sits at a desk in the sleeper berth and texts on his Iphone. Coming soon, to an interstate near you!

Simple solution. FIRE THEM.

I guy I know who is 70 now had to work with collage kids during the summer. He hated it. They were lazy and always on there phones. Lying about work completed. He quit once and they begged him to come back. Now he is retired and he is seeing the lack of work ethic from a distance. Really pisses a guy off.

i did all those things ,but also ran a floor crew for my dad starting at 17.

Some of these guys were giving Patton orders at 17.

Kids make mistakes and can be distracted.


The balance lies somewhere between "let them be kids" and "you dont work you dont eat".

Parents need to be teaching work ethics, not employers.

Good luck with that, most cannot even manage manners.

I have a donut maybe once a month ,carb spree, dunkin donuts up the road .
Order 1 bearclaw 1 cake donut med. coffee , price $7.75 , hand 20 year old lad a $10 - computer/cash register is down , he has no idea how much change I get .
65 year old guy stands there staring at him says 'you've got to be kidding me' lad scowles at mean old boomer . The three of us just stood there quiet older guy shakes his head and says figure it out lad says the cash register isn't working -- figure it out - lad is looking around waiting for someone to do the thinking . Man tells him how much to give me and says you've got to use your head .
A young male employee was just getting there -lad turned and started talking and followed him smiling having a good time without another thought of what just happened . No desire to do anything except get a little $175 check in a few days , guarantee he thinks he should make $20 per hour , but reality is he isn't worth $3 hr. .

Maybe we need to take some of these sorry people that want work ,don't know how to work and send them south of the border ,replace them with people that will work

It's the parents that suck first, then they pass it on to the kids.

I hired a 20 year old a couple years ago. Good worker, good learner, nice kid, when I could get him out of bed. Of course he didn't have a drivers license so I had to pick him up. And half the time he wasn't out of bed yet. Also, he was a heavy sleeper so he wouldn't hear his phone ring. So there I sat, work scheduled for two, sitting in his driveway wondering if I should get the whole lazy damn family up or what. Most of the time he'd climb in the truck the smell would hit me. Laundry that had been left in the washer for days then dried in the dryer. Sour smellenest schit ever. About gagged. Had to tell him to go put on something that didn't stink.

Why is single dad letting this schit happen with a kid that lives at home? Get that kid out of bed, boss is coming to pick him up! Teach him to wash and dry his clothes. Teach him to pack a lunch and have food in the house for him to pack! Tell him to stay off the phone in the middle of the night, that nighttime is for sleeping not playing.

Nope, it's the parents failure first. I fired the kid after a few months, told him why and told him he wasn't going to get anywhere in life if he didn't change these things. Nobody owed him anything. Last I heard he got a fat girl pregnant.

I've had 20 employees at a time, back in the day, that were less trouble than that one kid was. He was so bad I have employee ptsd from it. Never again.

Know what also tough?


Finding a kid that can properly lace a leather belt.


Try finding one that properly sharpen a scythe.


Properly cast a babbit bearing?? HA! Forget it!

Lots of europeans who would work hard if given the chance - all the Polish guys here work very hard and smart .
Way too much brown in this country leave them down where they belong .

No, you need the same solution we need. kick all foreign workers out and severely limit taxpayer funded handouts.

Work, or starve.

More citizens get off their lazy arses, and less coin being bled from the national coffer which leads to less tax.

Yup...same for me too.

I was more on the 19-20 side.

Got married at 18yrs old, wife and I were building our own home at 20. She worked 2 jobs, went to college at night. I built a route of about 100 monthly accounts for pest control, lawn & turf, moisture & ventilation and termite control. Went to state university at nights.
Licensed, chartered, with Tn Dept of Ag.
Started a renovation and contracting biz along side. My customers couldn't get contractors to repair something like 5 rotten floor joists or install a new front door after termites ate the casing.

I was making so much cash money at 21, hell I wanted to work all the time.

I want ask young people today...don't you like money to have to be able to go places, see things, and do chit? WTF

My son is in his mid 20's and works hard. But he won't get serious. He takes a job and works it for a while,..then he quits and takes a break for a while. He took a little job at a Pizzeria/Pub a while ago. It's actually a decent place and makes high quality, high dollar Pizza from scratch. The most demanding job there is pizza cook. After he worked there a while they had him make the Pizzas. He got good at it. One day he decided he didn't want to do it any longer and just quit.

The manager called him in and asked him if somebody had upset him. My son says, "No,...not upset with anybody." The manager told him he could come back anytime he wanted.

He seems happy. He makes enough money to get by, but that's all he wants.

I don't understand him. He's always worked hard and is well liked by the people he's worked for. But like I said,..he just won't get serious about it long term.

First off, not quite old, yet.

Secondly, of course I know I can can anyone any time. But that isn’t very feasible. I’m running a crew in an area with a very small population. Top it off I’m in the middle of our biggest job of the year. No time to train someone new up.

Do you have any employees?

Taught my three to work hard, they have done well!

I never play on my phone at work!

I work with a pile of different aged folks. You guys bash on the Millennials, but, they're some of the hardest working guys and gals in our office. The 20 year old interns are pussies that don't listen, like the thread says. I woke, yes, actually woke one up from a nap at his computer yesterday. He's supposed to be an inspector in the field.

DAMN gitter done slumlord .
Me I worked week on week off on an offshore drilling rig - detailed cars/trucks/motorhomes on my days off and bought and fixed up cleaned up used cars .
Biloxi is a weird place people seem to think if someone like me bust my ass making money - they should get some of it . Go anywhere with anybody and they fully expected me to pay for everything - all of them were like that - weird.

There are a lot of hard working kids like that.


Most times they just need a little longer to set down roots.


Most of my wife's friends did that. Work long enough to have some spending money....travel, screw around,,,,spend money.....find new job. Repeat.



Now they own dairy farms.


Americans marry quickly, and are expected to have a career nailed down, have a house bought, consume like crazy, and have crushing debt incurred by 25.

You are a no account if not.

Howd you make that post?

When a business fails, it always fails for the same reason, and it isn’t employees.
It might be that the only answer is no employees.

I agree 100%. I worked at a very busy tourist oriented shooting range and gun shop. 80% of our hires were recently discharged vets, many w/ combat tours. Safety and customer service were paramount and standards rigidly enforced. Good jobs were hard to find in Las Vegas at that time. We started them at $12.00/hr and they received 30+ hours of training prior to RSO status. No cell phones when in customer areas. The work was not easy and often done in a hot noisy environment.

The secret to success was paying well for performers. You had 3 months probation. In that time you were expected to prove your work ethic, customer compatibility and reliability as well as become intimate w/ 40+ guns, from revolvers to M 249s.

At the successful completion of probation the RSO became eligible for our profit based bonus system and frequently earned an extra $1000.00/ week and decent benefits. Good people need motivation to perform at a high level. About 30% completed probation, many quit or were released w/in 10 days.

Good employees are hard to find and must feel invested in the job to maximize their potential. Good bosses are leaders, motivators and trainers that lead by example.


mike r

Computer ..

lvmike ,
Did you mean $1000 per week as you or a month ?

Per week w/ tips. On busy days we often grossed $60k in 10 hours. Profit sharing motivates good people to bust their ass.


mike r

Those work. Hablo ingles don't.

HA.

I could get the middle one right.....................mostly.

Show me the other two once and I'd likely do alright.

I'm afraid those are quite the lost arts Jim.

Perhaps, as others have alluded to, the first lessons seem to be get out of bed and get to work on time.

Your earlier post about girls, booze, etc made me think back to when I was 18. My first "real" job, with a dress code, timecard, regular wages. And as much of a screw up I was, I knew to show up on time and work hard. I wuit that job because they wouldn't give me 5 weeks off so I could hike the Olympics and climb Mt Rainier, the trip paid for with my hard earned wages.

Doing fun things with kids, on a schedule, helps them to realize the importance. When the Scout leaders' cars are leaving the parking lot and you're not in the car to go to that camping place you've been get to all summer, you might realize why it's important to be on time.

But I get your point, the olden days weren't that different than today......................well, maybe a bit different. I'd imagine if kids in my cohort had been able to magically stay in contact with the cute girls with big ta-tas at any time of day or night, they would have. Especially if they could have gotten pics of them lifting their shirts.

Geno

Haha! Thats right Geno.


My Dad often tried to hire teenagers back in the late 60's and early 70's.


He said it was easier to do the work yourself.

All have NEVER had a good ASS KICKING!!

Seems I followed the model of your wife's friends.

After that first job (grocery store) I ended up in the commercial baking industry, long hard hours in hot ass conditions, production line so you couldn't just slack off when product was moving down the line. Production schedules to stay on, breakdowns that meant clean up work, or ruined product that had to be dumpstered. Work was so much fun that we had folks take the job then leave on their first break after 2 hrs and not even come back to pick up their paycheck. I thought it was great, for Union wages no less. $15-20K a year in 1975 when OT was included wasn't a bad deal for a 21 yo kid. But, I'd work for a few years, get a grub steak, then move along for a few months partying and having a blast. Or, when one of them decided for corporate reasons to move from San Diego to Pomona of all places, I had to tell them if I wanted to live in the LA area I'd already be there.

Finally settled down and quit the make money/travel/party lifestyle at 32 and went back to University and started a career.

Sowing oats is important to some of us, especially when the sowing is done in multiple fields trying to find a good productive one.

Geno

Some maybe, but there are plenty that I have seen who have stepped up and done well, the odd thing is that it is not necessarily the ones I would have picked. I have also seen some that
having gone bad turn about pull their socks up and commit to stability.

There seems to be no picking who will stick it and succeed.

Do a better job of hiring. Good people are out there.

I was lucky I grew up on a farm and worked ever since I can remember. Then when I got in Junior high I got pulled off the farm and sent to our Pontiac Cadillac GMC dealership uptown where I worked until after College when I went off on my own. My old man wasnt ever in a good mood so I learned to listen and do what I was told. I never knew anything else. My first job out of college I got cornered by a few of the older employees and got the old if you do that then the rest of us look bad. I got another job and got the heck out of that first place as I didnt want to or know how work with slackers.

Thanks ..
That's turning and burning 60K in a day - nice !

This is the one good thing about working in a prison. But can you believe there are two factors in failure to retain these kids, mandatory overtime and no cell phones.

Raised with no Consequences.

If they don't listen no big deal.

Re: folks from south of the border and willingness to work.

A recent experience. My firewood guy, a friend John, came by last week or so to deliver some wood for the upcoming winter. I'd seen it in log form on his truck and told him to just come by and cut it into rounds here instead of offloading, cutting, and loading the rounds at his place. He showed up with a helper "Joseph". Joseph had an accent, grubby clothes, and a jug of water with him. John cut and Joseph stacked the rounds. Didn't do the best job, but he basically let John get done faster. I had no idea what cut of the firewood money John was going to give him.

Yesterday, John comes by with the third cord of rounds and I ask if he's seen Joseph around town. John told me no, he just wanted work to get money to get back down the hill. He apparently has some property further up the hill from our place he wanted to check up on, although to look at him one might think the only thing he might own is a stolen shopping cart. John said Joseph said he'd work for $40 for a day's work so he could get a bus ticket back to the Valley. John, nice guy that he is, said 'Not for me you won't" and paid him a good wage.

Joseph, understood Spanish when I said good bye to him, and the odds are he's from south of the border and not the home country of España.

Not often one would find anyone to work for $40 a day in the hot sun just to get a bus ticket back down the hill.

Shame we have so many stories of folks, young or old, that won't truly work for their pay.

Geno

Agreed... They can't leave those damned things alone for more than about 20 seconds - if THAT..

I call it "electronic heroin".... IF I was to ever hire someone the very FIRST rule is " you leave that damned phone in the car - or don't bother applying"...

Why work the democrats give you everything for free?

Man, isn't that the truth.

I found the more you pay some people the less they show up. I told several there are people that would love to have their job for all the pay and they could go work at a gas station and IF they showed up a full week make the same money. For some reason I was called "mean old Dave"?

That there is really nothing new. I quit doing that for people 40 years ago and it really hasn't been any different in the 40 years since.

Practically since the first day I walked in to General Motors I've listened to a barrage of how great it would be to have one of those GOLDEN JOBS at GM... I'd do anything, who do I have to know... could you get me an application for... In 40 years I had exactly ONE person who paid attention when I suggested how to get what they were asking for and THEN DID what I suggested. A few years later I ran in to him on the shop floor and really barely remembered talking to him about, it is something I'd do for any one who asked or seemed the slightest interested. At least hundreds over the course of 40 years, may be thousands if you count the many times I laid it out in internet threads of people looking for jobs.

The ONE guy, came over to me on the shot thread and THANKED ME for the advice "a few years ago when we were talking at the break table together... it worked and I'll get my journeyman ticket next year!" ONE, exactly ONE. High school friends, GOOD friends, neighbors, relatives... poor people, people with pretty good jobs and people with NO jobs. One guy I barely knew.

Now, my wife works in an office where she handles paper work and DOES THE APPLICATION FOR PEOPLE WHO WANTS A JOB. Yep, if you want a job just show up and they will PAY someone to fill out the application for you. They can't read, they can't write, they don't know what county they live in or what county the job is in, they don't know their own zip code and can't SPELL ANY OF THE ABOVE. They can just BARELY WRITE their own name, it is a challenge. Oh, yeah, THESE ARE THE LOCAL CURRENT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES.

Much less think, consider options, arrive at a solution (even if wrong) on their own. I started working summers on farms when I was 13.

I vividly remember the trauma of being out in the field, maybe miles from the home place, and having to solve a problem without the boss around!

I hadn't had to do it before. No cell phones/google then either.

Oh yeah - those wrong solutions? I'm a connoisseur by now, nearly 60 years later..... but I still know how to get there!

Sometimes the only "wrong solution" is to not even attempt to find one.

Geno

SP I know of what you speak.

Believe it or not, you have to learn to work. Especially if you are not raised in the country. Farm kids grow up learning to work. Suburban kids grow and learn how to go to school.

Been trying to hire decent help for my contracting business for years now. Was planning to train a guy and hand the business to him when I got out. Now I am sick of it. Shutting down and going to line work. Hard to make good money doing it all yourself.

Best help I ever had was a semi-recovered methhead. Had to roust him out some mornings, but he would come along and bust ass with me all day. Eventually shaped him up, he moved away, and he is a riding boss for someone where he lives now. 28 bucks an hour and insurance plus a company truck. Happier that a pig in slop.

I know how to work with a guy and teach him if he is willing, but these kids all think they deserve six figures and a desk job. That's the good ones. The rest think they should be able to make a fortune turning their hobby into a YouTube cash machine. SMH.

I believe that a great deal of incentive went out the window, with the Obama healthcare act. Prior to that employers worked their employees 40 a week! After because of mandatory healthcare, many cut back to under 40 to save on costs! From that point on part time jobs are the norm in lots of places! The good employees find honest companies and stay with them. The others go from job to job looking for greener grass! There has always been a percentage of useless people! No plain sight to a future is not a good incentive! Having had a 36 employee crew prior to retirement, I seen a lot of people come and go! Twenty percent rotated jobs every two or three years. Prior to retiring, I started letting the crew hire who they wanted to work with! They did a great job of picking good workers, knowing they had to accomplish what the new one couldn't do!

True story about a young man working himself out of a job 41 years ago.

This 16 year old guy got a job working at a high volume boat broker/sales business. His job was to assemble boat trailers. The back lot had about 150+ trailers stacked as high as could be reached with a hi-lift forklift. The fat lazy guy that work there before this young dude and got fired took 2 or more days to build a trailer. The work consisted of taking a frame and bolting on the axles, wheels and tires, fenders, lights, reflectors, tongue, risers, winch, ramp and rollers. Then wiring the lights and rolling the completed trailer into the lot to await a boat. This young dude was doing this work with hand tools for a few days under the hot Oklahoma sun in the gravel lot and figured it was going pretty slow. So being a thinking sort he rig up some shade to work under then strung some air lines to his work area and used air impact tools to bolt the bits together. Then being a competitive sort he started keeping time on how long it took him to complete the tasks per trailer. Then to pass the time and make an extremely boring and repetitive job more interesting he began trying to beat his previous time. So in about a month he had done all the work the owner thought should have taken about 3 or 4 months and soon had noting to do all day. As a reward for this innovative thinking and production efficiency the boss fired the young man. All was not lost though. This young guy took this go get 'em attitude and found a job in construction that paid twice as much and where hard work was appreciated in the years to come and carried that work ethic though college, law school and private practice for the past 30+ years making a very good living for him and his family.

But my daughter's idiot 20 something boyfriend wouldn't know how to pour piss out of a boot even if you showed him and would not break a sweat trying to get away if hogs were eating him.

Perry

PWN,

sad ending to a happy story.

Geno

i have two 20 yr olds that are hard workers, one will work with me all day then go work for his uncle at night. have a buddy who's 27 yr old son is a rig welder has 3 welding trucks and has a mill in the bank, so there are some exceptions to the rule.

I don't care what he does as long as it makes him happy. But he's a bright kid. He's bound to realize that there's dues to be paid regardless of which route you go. He went to college long enough to get his associates degree,...and there's money for him to finish up any time he chooses.

Like I said,...working isn't the issue with him. He doesn't mind working. He'll show up for work and do a good job. But I think he's reluctant to take that step that there's no turning back on,...mortgage, debt, workworkwork. (The American Dream)

Lately, though,..I think he's decided to take the plunge and start paying his dues. He's stretched his freedom about as long as he can.

This phone thing is amazing to me. A couple of years ago I was the First Sergeant for a combined arms battalion infantry company. We were on active duty at NTC (National Training Center) at Fort Irwin, CA. Yes, the desert. We were there for three weeks of training. Two weeks of that was what is known as "in the box". We were in the field, in the desert, in simulated combat. For that period in the box all cell phones were turned in to our supply section and placed under lock and key only to be released upon our return from the field and with the combined permission of myself and the commander. Our men/boys performed exceptionally in the field, for two solid weeks of 100 degree temperatures. Upon our return from the field we had reverse SOI which entailed, cleaning and maintaining all equipment and turn in of all equipment we didn't own, etc. This is a labor intensive couple of days. Well, the commander decided we should allow our Company to have their phones when we got back. I disagreed; but, he's the boss. Phones were released to the men/boys and productivity went from great to crap. Everywhere you looked soldiers, including the older veterans, had their noses in their phones. It took twice as long as it should have It was unbelievable.

Brother-in-law had a small residential remodeling company and typically had trouble finding good dependable workers (DC area). Hired one who worked his butt off AND showed up every day. After 3 or 4 weeks BIL gave him a decent raise. The worker didn't show up for work the following Friday. When he did come to work on Monday, BIL asked him "Why did you not come in Friday?" expecting to hear something about a family situation. Instead, the guy said the raise he got was big enough to pay the bills and such so he didn't need to work more than 4 days a week. BIL fired him right there.

Just can't figure out the mindset some people have.

Otter,

maybe he is a staunch believer in "Moderation in all things"?

Geno

lol, that is a big part of it. when I was a young fellow on my first job as a wood-dog for framers, one of the older guys (maybe late 20s) told me all you really have to do to be considered a "good hand" is to show up, and work. I have tried to do that as a minimum for the last 4 decades or so. I think today's young people want to know as much "why" they are doing something as they need to hear what you want them to do. granted, we in my gen. usually figured out that the wheel does not need reinventing constantly. today's kids seem to feel a challenge to CHALLENGE everything!!

Yeah for somebody like me deal with all that plus any kind of equipment (heavy equipment) experience or at least aptitude to learn it. And have a valid CDL this is damn near impossible

I have had 40 yr olds, that after they get paid ,don't show up until they are broke again. The 20 yr olds constant drama. Always on their phones.

I hate Iphones. They do much more damage than they do good.

My 21 year old daughter worked hard the summer for a little less than three months to make $5k net to take back to college with her.

Shes had the same summer job for three years now. The store owners absolutely love her and give her a couple hundred dollar bonus every year. They are hoping she comes back after she graduates in the Spring.

She's my third kid that has worked for that local privately owned company. They asked her if she had anymore siblings at home when she left last week.

I might just quit working for myself and go work for them.

One of the best guys I have today is an early 20's fella. Shows up on time, works hard, polite, thorough, and is bright enough to handle most issues. His mom was a teenager when she had him. Old school gramps had a big hand in raising him. I bet he'd lay under the truck before he dissappointed gramps.

Some of the worst Ive had have been 30ish year old Army soldiers. Being near a military base, plenty around looking for work when they get out. I like to give preference to veterans but it has usually bit me in the azz.

I hire on attitude first. If youre eager, show up early, ask questions, etc.....experience aint a big deal.

Not only do we need a "like" button, but for your daughter I'd like a thumbs up emoji.

Good on her, being asked back three summers in row is a great accomplishment. I'm pretty sure that when future employers call the store owners for a reference she'll get a glowing one.

Geno

I know of two companies in the Cincinnati area that give preference to employment candidates from our little county. Specifically, because the "farmers" that have to get up an hour before their other employees to drive in, will be AT work, READY to work, and WILLING to work when it is TIME to work...

And then they can draw unemployment on you.

I had to ask a 20-something young man to correct some of his work.
I can't recall the details, but I told him this must be done this certain way. It is the only way we are allowed to do it.
He told me that we need to take a few minutes and discuss how we each feel about the way we are doing it.

I think they must be getting some of this from their schools.

Some of the guys I've worked with, that would seem to be a small price to pay to be rid of them.

Never owned a business, but would imagine that their claim might get denied if one documented their inability to perform their duties and their lack of punctuality.

Geno

19 and still showed up at the shop at 4:30. Didnt want to be the pussy who couldnt cut hanging out all night and not make it in the next day. Also almost $15 an hour in '94 was pretty decent money for a laborer.

Old superintendant told a lady to go fugg herself and go back in the house fat ass.

Drew all winter long.

"Because I told you so" doesn't seem to fly much nowadays.

My wife and I go back and forth over all the feelings crap that goes on in the workplace nowadays...................and we're both retired now.

Geno

Did the company fight his award?

Geno

Boomers be bad mouthing the young people.....competing for the same Walmart Jobs I guess.......

lol

X'ers badmouthing the millenials......

what will we call the next generation

the layabout generation?

Geno

PS, them old cars were the best eh? Who want's something with air conditioning and air bags and scheit anyway. And you could usually get 25, maybe even 30 thou before the needed valve adjustment.

Yes, went to court but since the lady did not show up to tell her side the judge awarded his unemployment. All we had were emails from her to our company.

Live and learn.

It has been a long time ago, I have had 20, and younger work for me. Good young men, now good men.

A couple of my guys were so bad about being late that 2 weeks ago I told them start time is 7:00 and 7:01 constitutes a 7:30 start time.

Gave them a 3 strikes policy. 3rd time late and they could be terminated. Not so bad if they call me 20-30 minutes before and tell me they would be late but they just show up late and act as if nothing happened.

One of them belly ached and I told him being on time was the easiest part of the job, doesn't even have to touch tools to be on time.

Today I sent 2 of them to do a little clean up on a job we just left. They called 3 hours later and said rain had them shut down. I went by shortly after they called and if they did anything I couldn't tell.

Have security at the school looking on cameras to see if they did anything or sat in the truck. If nothing done they will be going back again for free. Company not being paid 2x so why should they.

These guys are in their 30s. One of them was bitching the other day he needed more hours and when i added up the last 6 weeks he had average 46 hours a week. Just trying to get something for nothing.

We advertise we are looking for help all of the time but with our line of work basically only lasting 8 months of the year good help is hard to find or when you find them they get some experience and move on without asking for a raise.

Oh, the crap you get to deal with with the "special" ones.

Hired a college kid last year. Was going to be an optometrist. (you ARE? REALLY!). Anyway, needed a body to move pipe and help with construction.

First strike, no show. Usually, you only get one of those but we did need the body, so he got a talking to.

Second strike, no show the day I had 9 concrete trucks scheduled. Go pick up your check.

Fast forward to last month. The little special one has filed for unemployment on us (10 months later), claiming layoff due to lack of work. The redhead would have ripped him a new one if she could have found him....

This year, hired the neighbor's high school senior daughter. Moves pipe starting at 6 AM, never late, runs the skid steer, cleans, whatever needs doing, and then goes and moves pipe at home when she's done. Trying to convince her to not meet Mr. Right at BYUI and come back again next summer. Not sure my vote counts, though....

That is boredom. A job is fun as long as you are learning. Once mastered is is just boring repetition.

The kid really needs to find something challenging and exciting. Quality control manager at a whorehouse, maybe?

Dutch, that's quite the story too. Maybe you get lucky and the girl finds here beau nearby instead of at school!

Did the dirtbag get to collect on that UI claim? I hope not as it kinda ruins it for those that really do need it.

Geno

I just fired one the other day thoght he should be a partner and get a dollar raise before 90 days 🤔

I am talking about 20-22 year olds. That I am paying to get a job done. These aren't my kids. They are there to benefit me so I can benefit them with a paycheck.

I understand that.


Some people have it, some dont.

Doesn't matter the age.

I fear you are over generalizing. Yes there are good people. I have a few hired.

My problem that I stated in the OP was about the problem young people have with listening. Not that they aren't good people or that they can't be good workers.

I raised my son to be responsible, respectful and to put out the best effort he possibly can and he soon learned those rewards.
Growing up in the outdoors hunting and fishing in extreme environments, he quickly learned the value and fruition of hard work and that average effort nets average results.
Today he is a highly respected wildlands firefighter that won firefighter of the year from his peers.

I still work part time in my grocery store, meat cutting environment with these worthless puke millennials.
One is 23 years old, can't stay off his phone, doesn't drive, is constantly late to work, plays video games until the wee hours of the morning and still lives with his mother and obviously has never neen laid.
JFC... I was married, and living in a different universe than these idiots....as is my kid today.

You know what they say about Texans.....


There is only two things they cant do.....listen and do what they were told.

Where were these kids from Matthew?

I have a cople guys working that are phenomenal workers. Young brothers, 16 and maybe 19 or 20. Mennonite kids that work. Flat out work. Listen and do as you ask of them. Wish I could get them to work more for me.

You guys have Mennonites down there? Not Hutterites?

I fired my office assistant about 6 years ago and never hired another one. It was easier to just do it myself the first time than to try and fix all the mistakes. That is when they did show up to work.

I asked one to take the trash out and she said why should I it's your trash. I said because it's on your job description that you signed. She said but it's your trash. I said why don't you turn in your time sheet and keys, you no longer work here.

She then came in and said she couldn't get our stupid scanner to work and she needed to scan her time sheet in. I told her to Go Fax Yourself. She said that's harrassment. I said no it's no it's another way to scan. Go fax yourself and get out of here.

Bb

I remember when I was 18 and working construction with my older brothers they were 30 & 32. I was running the mixer with a batch of lime for plaster finish when I got lime in my eye, their reaction was you have f 2 eyes and I could flush it out later....

Maybe their mind is on the same thing our mind was at that age.
Also, millennials aren't even close to the only ones with a phone problem. Go anywhere in public and see just how many people over the age of 40 are glued to their phone.

Well while in school I worked delivering papers for friends that went on holidays, then got my own paper route.
Also
Worked summers helping a plumber, cleaned house, which included waxing their hardwood floors, fixed cookoo clocks for one ladies antique store.
Washed dishes after school at a country club, babysat for one family for years during my school time and continued after starting work.
I would get the kids off to school and then go to work.
Also I did work for classic and thourobred motors in the body shop doing cleanup, got a two dollar raise after less than two weeks there, which ticked off my buddy that told me about the job, did not understand I earned it.
Then I got a job with our BCHydro and worked there three years, then took a job with them on the transit side as they ran the buses from when they were called BCElectric, they split off the bus side and I was stuck on transit and here I am now retiring aug 31 after 44.8 years total time.
Some of us worked and stayed loyal, the young guys can not believe how long I was there for,
Got a lot that said "gosh I wasn't even born then, neither were my parents" thinking back to my last day of school and first day of work, it is amazing how fast it all went by.
I got to where I could be the one to say "I got underwear older than you"

Curmudgeons.

Lazy bastids come in all ages.

Those that say “l get to go to work” and those that say “ I got to”. Tell them the difference, it might transform them.

I often work with 3 mid 20s carpenters and they are great workers, keen to learn and produce, my only complaint is that they are really dull at smoko, they get on their phones and don't have much conversational skills

My grandson had twenty jobs by the time he was twenty years old. He was fired from every one of them. Finally his dad told him, "Don't keep you opinion to yourself. DON'T HAVE ONE!"

Now he's thirty years old and applied for a job at a gas station; while open carrying. How bright do you have to be to do that?

Lot of you guys are going down the path of the phone distraction, which is a real problem also.

I am just commenting on how difficult it seems to be for these kids to focus long enough to take a simple instruction and do it right away.

We have the entire spectrum. Hutterites, Mennonites and Amish. Th Amish are on the rez. At least I think they are still there. There is a colony down on the Crow also.

Getting people to pass a drug test is less than 50% or so it seems.

Cell phones are indeed problematic, we don’t allow the use of them in the work area, only in break room or outside.


Once that distraction is gone we find 20 year olds about like any other age group, some bad, some okay and some terrific.

It always gives me great delight to see or work around a young person that has manners and a work ethic. Heck it gives me delight to work around anyone like that.

But young folks that have that, just love em and are grateful most often to their parents.

Pretty lucky to have 3kids in their twenties and by all reports they are admired at their respective jobs. Gotta thank their momma for that

The 80 or 90% of them that are useless outside of their electronic fantasy all encompassing world, dont make up for the 10 or 20% that are well grounded.

20 year old stepdaughter who came with my wife 5 years ago. She's looking for an apartment and says she'll be moving out in another month or two. Can't come soon enough. She works at Walmart exactly 1 mile away and bitches non stop about having to walk. Gets home and only gets off her azz to eat, and use the bathroom. Non stop video games. When she's not playing she's watching people play online. No skills, no ambition, no goals, and no drive to do anything to better herself. I've tried so many times to help her find a hobby, offered to teach her to shoot, nope. Fishing, nope. Woodworking and building in the shop, nope. Always an excuse. We have to ask her to help out with dishes and such around the house but it's at the point where I quit asking and do it myself because she half azz does it. Free housing and free all you can eat buffet is coming to an end and can't wait.

There are smart, efficient, hard working, knowledgeable, and self sacrificing employees that get most of the work done.
Those are your best 10%.
Everyone would like to hire them.
But when you want new people, you have to draw on the other 90%.

My grandmother immigrated from Sweden 110 years ago, and most of her male descendants are engineers.
The University of Washington gave us IQ tests and took blood samples to follow an inherited gene.

My father, uncle, cousins, wife, and son are all perfect engineering employees. Top 10%

I am the black sheep of the family.
I am not a good employee.
I am selfish and lazy.
As a consulting engineer, my attitude was "How much money have they got? How can I get all of it?"

Those video games are as addictive as heroin to a lot of people. I've never even played one.

My son nor I will ever forget the day that he was helping me rip some 8' boards on the table saw.
After about 2 boards sawn I had flat out had it, he was helping with one hand and nonstop texting with the other, paying me, the boards or saw no mind.
He was so engulfed in texting that he never noticed me turning off saw, walking around it, I swiped the phone from his hand and threw it as far as I could into the woods.
But he knew and I really think that something clicked in his brain.
I looked in disgust and told him that I needed BOTH of his hands as well as his focus for 30 minutes and he could be on his way but I wasn't going to take an hour to do the same without his complete focus and that the sooner we finished meant the sooner he could retrieve his phone.
He's now a welder making great money at a place where phones are locked away while on the clock.
He never tried doing anything like that with me again.

My son designed and sold his own video games for the Iphone. Then google hired him to write software for budget androids that would seduce africans to use google instead of facebook.

Like framing on the tracts in the 70's
Get a splinter, mark it and dig it out on your time

My oldest son has a problem with the gaming, but iirc on Saturday nights it’s dungeon and dragons, think that’s a card game ?


I told him in all my life experience I know very few people financially successful, that only worked 40 hours per week.


It’s his life now and I hope he’s successful, his mom and I worked our azzes off to achieve the financial comfort we enjoy. So he knows what it takes.

Told him it was the same scenario about getting the hot chicks, if they got any smarts to go with their looks they want someone ambitious, not someone using 200 hours per year to get their nerd on 🤦🏼‍♂️

His little brother spends more time per week at his hobby, but it’s working out. Seems a way more productive and useful way to spend time than gaming. You can sure see the gains he’s made. Exercising discipline to work out and eat healthier bleeds into other areas of your life including work. Not much ticks lil brother off more than someone making him late for work. He knows starting time is 15 minutes before you’re supposed to clock in. So typically late for him is arriving at clock in time, he likes to see new work orders for the day and line his truck out with proper tools and materials.

I’ve always told my boys balance is difficult to achieve in this life, fair days work for a fair days wages is almost impossible to attain. Someone most often feels like they are getting screwed a bit. Make sure your employer feels you’re getting screwed, that you work harder for your wages than your peers. Most likely you’ll always have a job.

My yard guy quit when he found out I was looking for another. Funny thing it was for clearing my trails and burning brush which he has never done for me in the past as he's my trimmer guy..

Never asked WTF. Just quit.

Fuggin' hillbillies.

Good day of block laying Saturday two weeks ago. Equipment storage building going up on our property.

14 year old son Rob was a total stud... he unloaded about 7,000 pounds of block and about 2,000 pounds of mortar mix. Hung with me and the mason all day working.

Total time on a Cell Phone/Tablet during the day = ZERO!

Damn proud of him.

My wife and I worked together in the welding field for 25 years...I made general foreman years ago and she ran lead or foreman most of the time...as a woman she had to work harder than most to prove herself....most men held her in the highest respect for her work ethic and knolage not to mention she was very good welder....
We left that industry several years ago to run the farm and don't miss it 1 bit...between the 2 of us we were making around 70/ hr...it would amaze us how we had a crew of youngsters all driving 50-60 k dollar trucks and not a single one could make a full week...
We were driving my old 93 Chevy with 300k ....just don't get ! we couldn't get an honest day's work out of them either.. Can't run em of either....oh they can pass a drug test...and they all knew the company wouldn't touch them...
I came into the trades in the 80s and boy you better stand out big if you wanted to work...

My grandson has been coming up to the farm this summer to work...he is 11 and is really better help than most of the 20-25 years olds I have seen....we have had him cutting trees out of pasture and working fence...scooping out grain bins....warms my heart to see a young boy like that drenched in sweat.and happy to help...we bought a small square bailer just so he can experience throwing hay...guess what? he is home schooled and not yet poisned by the school system....
his dad is determined to not have snowflake kids....

That boy doesn't know what he's missing yet.

Come out from scooping grain bins at the end of a hot day and get handed an ice cold bottle of beer that basically turns to steam when you guzzle it down. Nothing better.

OR

lol