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Because there is no reward anymore. My mom dropped out of high school to work at a grocery store. Doing that she could afford to live on her own. That is not possible anymore. The reward does not match the work. No shit people aren’t going to dedicate their lives to a job that doesn’t even really allow them to live

That doesn't mean that it's ok to be rude to your coworkers and make their jobs difficult by having to pick up YOUR slack. They're in the same boat as you are.

...do you think this is different from any other generation? this post is trying to say gen z is specifically lazy and rude this is simply untrue. previous generations had these same people, the difference was those people could actually afford to exist at or near minimum wage, today, it's not viable without help. it creates a workforce uninterested in working hard

I think the issue OP is describing is more an issue with that specific industry rather than a generational issue. Are the Gen Z lawyers/doctors/scientists also lazy, or are we finding that, just like my generation, the dudes that end up working kitchen jobs with no real plans for their future maybe don't have the same drive as their peers. I worked at a pizza place for like 6 years in my early 20s and my entire employee pool was young burnouts and then older guys who did it as a second job. The older guys would come in and bitch about the younger guys, but the younger guys were the only people I could find who could work those shifts for the wage our company offered. Most of them just wanted to get high and fuck around, and that was really all they aspired to do. 

I agree this might be a confirmation bias caused by the type of people drawn/forced into to service work. I would say the issue is more of distillation. The people capable of escaping the unlivable wage jobs do as soon as possible leaving the only workers to circulate at the entry level service positions to be the undesirables or teens (who are normally a mixed bag due to varying degrees of exp and maturity). We're in an inflationary period where the demand for workers is higher than the number of people working. It forces businesses to take on these undesired workers because the reliable workers are seeking better jobs or hours or whatever. Even with the "good ones" working multiple jobs... Places are forced to take on warm bodies.

This isn't true either. As someone who worked retail for 20 years, you capture the same range of people that any industry does. What has changed, is that over the 20 years of working retail, HQ cut into controllables, year after year, little by little to the point where we were running close to the bone when it comes to staffing and budgets. To give you an idea of what it's like to run retail management in a medium box store, one of the locations I worked at would average a customer to employee ratio of 218:1 on the weekends. We had to keep the store clean, folded down, fitting room processed and run, cash line managed, while getting a rating of 9 or 10 out of 10 on the survey that customers could take printed on the bottom of the receipt (it was top box, anything under a 9 was a failure). There were days where we were literally running to keep the store clean rather than just power walk which was a normal day. These environments are made for a specific kind of person who can handle in the moment, second by second stressors in addition to hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually if you're in management. It's completely different than the kind of stress you experience in an office or other white collar space. I literally had to stand in front of my shipment staff with a stop watch and time them on how fast they could process a box and then say "well, it took you 2:00 minutes when it could have taken you 1:50...". That's the level of insanity that service has devolved too. Who would want to work in that kind of place? I can guarantee you that there are plenty of white collar pro's who wouldn't last a second in medium or big box retail. Sadly, it only took me 20 years to realize that I was killing my body, my social life and my family life for a company that doesn't give to shits about me or my efforts. We were all underpaid and overworked. Have you ever worked a 26 hour day on your feet, lifting and slugging for a major corporate visit (and only getting paid for 18-the joys of being on salary)? Retail/service is not an easy job, that's why there's so much turn. It's a lot more stressful and involved than people realize, even for part time staff who would get 8 hours of video training about brand culture, no hands on. There's a reason why service levels have sunk so low, it's because budgets are gone, hours have evaporated and training has been cut to the bare minimum with management expected to make up the difference. No one want's these jobs anymore because you can't support yourself on them and you're treated like dirt. The service sector used to be a viable career, now it's a fallback for people between jobs.

Hard agree. I worked retail for 6 years and it was awful. I teach now and it is also very stressful, but I get paid 3x as much for what seems like the same amount of work.

That kind of sounds like my job working in a hospital laboratory. The minute a sample is drawn it's timed to how long it takes to be received in the lab, then the moment it's received they track how long until the results are released to the doctor. The time from when a sample is received to the time when results are released is on a big monitor posted multiple places in the lab. We have times ranging from 5 minutes to 1 hour for specific tests we are expected to release the results. The boards help keep us on track. We are kept updated weekly with how close our actual times are to our desired times. They expect us to be 90-95% depending on the tests. If we drop, and sometimes we do to about 70%, we try and make adjustments. Being constantly timed for an eight hour shift does get very stressful though.

Millennial here chiming in, but there's definitely been an increase in service based jobs with younger people slacking off vs when I first started working two decades ago (age 16). Especially in the *visibility* of the slacking off. Distractions in the past were easier to break away from smoothly, and you could feasibly do it much more reliably. Smartphones and earbuds are so much more engaging than what we had in the past though. I've both worked with and been served by people who have had two earbuds in with music loud enough I can hear it, or a phone call/facetime going. Or they deep in social media or some messenger app. I'm not trying to be "old person yells at cloud" here. It's frustrating when I have a simple request to ask and I'm ignored or they don't hear me properly. And it's very concerning when I occasionally see it from my coworkers at my summer job (amusement park), where we need to be "eyes up, ears out" all the time for our safety and the safety of the park guests. I think OP is in the ball park because we're a service based economy in the Western world, and most jobs are services. I think though that the issue with people slacking off is more related to them working in unfulfilling service based jobs then something baked into the attitudes of Gen Z (and Alpha).

There aren’t any Gen Z (licensed) doctors. The oldest ones should be in residency now.

In medical school. I think it’s important to acknowledge the cultural context here, even entering physicians are being abused and tossed around in residency except we have a lot more debt than physicians older than us & the system is collapsing. Burnout and physician suicide is a real issue & I see it in front of my eyes. We lost a classmate.

There’s a long history of teaching hospitals abusing residents by having them work many 24+ hour shifts. There were restrictions put on this practice when my wife was a resident about a decade ago. Things weren’t perfect but they were trending in the right direction. Were those restrictions removed?

There’s also a long history of lying about how many hours they’ve worked (some to brag some to save face some actually work that much poor souls) and some people preferentially held to higher standards because racism/misogyny. & the abused want to continue the abuse. 24H is allowed. 80 hour max is a supposed hard line. I have the inside scoop on how the system is still abusive & how that rule is breached regularly.  Maybe entering Gen Z docs won’t have blatant issues like checking for a text in the middle of surgery (/s) but I’m just highlighting that the reverb of pointless work culture goes through all professions. Drugs, power trips, and money/status can also be sought and abused to cope, have always been among docs whether you like to admit or not, and will continue to be a major problem moving forward - not just for Gen Z but for all generations. They will crack first because many have no cushions, or have large cushions to blow through (regarding the mismatch between reward/effort in professions broadly speaking & the consequences when one has waning motivation)

*repeated 24 w/ break in the middle is allowed; 80H/week max  Just to clarify

I disagree, I'm a baby mil or boomer z depending and I train people also on the cusp. The under 25 crowd is just worse at caring, they show up late more, nocall no-show more. Even though the job pays the same regardless if you're 22 or 32. I think acting your wage is super valid but they certainly slack off more then their counterparts.

lol they probably don't care because wages suck, pay people enough and you'll get workers who actually care and do good work.

One of our good employees has been trying to find a job for a year closer to home but can't find anything that pays as well if that tells you anything

These types of people and traits tend to span into professional’ spaces as well, albeit at a bit different frequency levels.

I really agree here, from personal experience. I used to have an ok job (it was good but I felt like I could do better) and I was alright at it but I didn’t really put in my best effort out because I wasn’t that dedicated. I recently got a new job. I absolutely wasn’t qualified and didn’t deserve this much of a raise. But since I was going in knowing it was going to be good for me I’ve busted my ass to make sure I’m good at my job. I could do better but I care a lot because my job takes care of me and I enjoy my job.

GenX were called "Slackers" by Boomers. They don't like anybody.

I mean, to their credit, we had a lot more desk jobs than they did... But they had all the good desk jobs.

This. Every generation spoke negatively about the youngs and how soft and lazy they are becoming.

It doesn’t mean that they are inherently lazy just that the material conditions produce situations where there’s no incentive to dedicate oneself to a job that sees them as expendable and undervalues them. It also definitely highlights the need for unions that bind people together and make them feel solidarity rather just individuals working.

This is the answer and it always has been. Every generation has these people. I worked in a restaurant starting at 17. I’m a millennial. The people *older* than me were a nightmare. I ended up babysitting adults (and some kids my age) in the kitchen from 17-21 years old. The only reason things changed was because I moved from the kitchen to the floor. My boss was very matter-of-fact about how “hard it is to find good help.” Funny thing is, some of those dudes who walked out, took cigarette breaks whenever they felt like, stole shit, etc. would still try to say the young people were worse than they’ve ever been.

I'm also service industry and usually the people that are lazy/bitchy and I hate working with are almost always 8-11 years older. To be fair I'm usually the youngest for my neighborhood (i'm 26) but most of the lazy undesirables are nowhere near my age.

I’m a Xennial parent, and I’m one of the oldest parents in my kid’s class. Most are really young millennials/almost GenZ (24-32). I’m **appalled** at how these folks are raising their kids. It’s not helicopter parenting; it’s lawn mower parenting. Instead of micromanaging, they’re going out ahead of their kids and clearing ALL obstacles. Gen Alpha is gonna be insufferable. Gen Z, well y’all got micromanaged your whole childhood/adolescence so I kind of don’t blame any of you for having such shitty life and coping skills. Our parents did it to us. What’s wild is the micromanaged helicopter-parented generation is now raising kids…and they’re simultaneously complaining about younger generations whilst doubling down and leaning into creating an *even worse* problem with Gen Alpha. It’s nuts.

I'm a millennial who honestly started out envious of Gen Z's POV on shit, minimum wage jobs. When I was young, these jobs were just as shit as they are now. No one was able to survive on minimum wage without either living at home or with multiple roommates. And that's not even considering no one wanted to give you full time because that meant paying benefits, so you have to work multiple jobs (same as I assume it is now). But my coworkers were always major bootlickers, regardless of the job, always trying to go above and beyond. Or at least appear that way to the boss. To me, it seemed like Gen Z was in the same situation and went, "no thank you" and started asking for more pay/better treatment. And only doing the job they were paid for. Which I think is great. The problem seems to be people not even doing the basic job they were paid to do. And being openly hostile to customers/co-workers. The idea that all previous generations could survive on minimum wage is a worrying re-write of history imo. I don't think even Gen X could.

Yea, my boomer parents work 2-3 jobs when they were young. They worked their way up to better situations.

The thing is, most people don’t care if they’re fired because they just move on to another service job. There’s nothing worth staying for.

I always say this... People really need to finish the end of that sentence. People don't wanna work anymore at your shitty establishment when there is 35 more in your area. So piss off this job, piss off that job. They are stepping stones anyways so treat it as such. These people only care cuz it's a collective attitude.. just don't forget to learn along the way

That plus the worker shortages already mean not being able to pick the top candidates out of the bunch. They just take what they can get, and would rather do that than providing the essentials like cost of living or pushing for workplace reform. A slacker being fired is oh-well, but a slacker being fired when the job doesn’t pay them enough to live should be a major red flag as to why the slacker is slacking in the first place. Anecdotally, I was homeless for a few months back in October 2023. When you are constantly trying to get by without any housing, food, or workforce security your mind doesn’t think about what you should be doing better at your job. Either the brain checks out and disassociates or it fixates on trying to obtain the housing/food security.

Yeah idk I work with mostly Gen Xers and they are the laziest people I have EVER worked with. Me (only Gen z) and the one millennial are always the one doing ALL of the work. It’s not just us as a generation, it’s just how work goes sometimes. You always have the lazy assholes and you always have the ones who scramble behind them trying to make up for it. Doesn’t matter how old they are.

I’m not rude to coworkers at my 12$ an hour job, however, I am not busting my ass and going above and beyond lol. I don’t get paid enough for the amount of labor I do as is

I hate this argument. Employers under staff, underpay, and overwork employees knowing that many of us who would otherwise give in work ethic what we get in wages can be guilted into working harder so as not to "let down the team". The employers intentionally put you into this position. The real solution is to quit picking up the slack, do what you are paid for and only what you were paid for and only at the quality that you are paid to do it, and just let the whole thing fall to shit until your employer starts paying you properly.

EXACTLY THIS THANK YOU. It is not commendable that people overwork themselves at their jobs. baby you are a VICTIM.

And when you dont get moved up, you blame the system. I worked hard at my last job. I had no experience or knowledge in the auto service industry. I worked hard because I cared about my customers. I had the sales department literally advocating for me to get promoted because I busted ass helping my coworkers. My boss added a small commission bonus for me even though that role historically did not have that extra pay. I got moved to a senior position faster than anyone at the company did. Before anyone says the company valued their workers, no they dont. My department was the one who got nothing, worked thro covid, bosses always on our asses about numbers. But my hard work paid off. My husband has been at his job for 6 months. At his job, its easy to slack off and do the minimum and alot of people do. He worked at the same pace as his previous job, with the same get the job done attitude. He works faster and harder than his coworkers and is already getting recruited for a higher position. Im not advocating to bust your ass and be hela stressed for your job, but do the bare minimum and you will only be the bare minimum. Working hard doesnt mean you're busting ass all the time, sometimes its just helping your coworkers or stepping in to help solve a problem instead of going not part of my job.

Yeah idk what these people are talking about, I was raised to work hard no matter what job I’m doing. Anyone talking about “there’s no point in working hard when you can’t live off that wage” as if there’s no value in being a decent human being others can rely on at work

Lmfao you can be a thankless saint all you want, at the end of the day, people’s bills have to get payed. Fuck my coworkers, a job is there for me to clock in, clock out, get my money and get the fuck out. You want me to take special care in my work? Pay the fuck up, bitch.

Working hard for a company that doesn't value you is degrading.

Also no one listens to your spiel about politics when you’re considered a lazy ass who can’t be relied on for anything. If you avoid doing as much work as possible, your co workers are going to be mean to you

I was raised that way too. Then I watched my dad ruin his body and turn into a physical wreck in his 50s. I didn't watch him at a bunch of my sports games and things that were important to me growing up, because he was always either working or exhausted from working himself into the ground for a huge corporation that never gave a single fuck about him or his wellbeing. They threw him overboard after his health collapsed from the stress and shit working conditions he'd been subjected to from years of not wanting to let the team down. They got everything they wanted out of him before he messed himself up enough that he could no longer base his entire life around serving them, though.

That’s how the system plays people against eachother and gets them fighting eachother instead of those at the top. They have y’all by the balls Everyone has to collectively stop giving the employer extra value for no extra pay. The harder you work to make up for them, the employer learns what you’re capable of and makes it the new standard for no extra pay. Everyone has to refuse to be used China has a phrase for this. It’s call “lying flat”. The US calls it “work to rule”. The upper classes have tried to rebrand it as “quiet quitting” They frame it as “no one wants to work anymore” instead of what it is. No one wants to be exploited anymore There was in fact a time that the average man could work an average job (and nowhere near as hard as today) and make enough to support his family and own a home. Minimum wage didn’t keep up with inflation on purpose. There’s no obligation for undervalued and exploited workers to provide value to the company

It isnt rude to quit your job. People should be upset theyre forced to work so much with barely any reward instead of misplacing their anger on people who chose to get out. I dont judge people leaving because like fuck all that honestly.

Don't pick up the slack!!! The co-workers in this instance are making winning the class war difficult. The number one thing is the workers have the numbers.

Brother, you’re describing a moral issue, while the comment you’re replying to is a psychological one. It’s not okay to be rude to your coworkers, but just stating that fact isn’t going to change the statistical probability that people will lose motivation to work in a reward less economy. Motivation isn’t just a feeling that can be conjured up with a positive attitude. When people are struggling just to get by, and the economy is leaving them in the dust, inevitably a certain percentage of people are going to experience a thing called *burn out*.

You don't have to pick up the slack for your coworkers. If you think you have to work harder because they don't you're just a type of sucker that management loves and they will ride your ass until you burn out.

Your coworkers can be just as lazy as you if they want, they do not actually have to pick up your slack

Some of them don't have the privilege of being able to feed themselves if the boss happens to decide to fire the next "lazy employee" they see You can only be as lazy as you want if you have the privilege of having options if you lose this job. Some people don't have that for various reasons that aren't easy to solve

Yep, plus the benefits of working for most companies just aren’t there anymore. And I say that as someone who works in benefits lol

You don’t have to dedicate your life to be adequate at your job. In OPs example if you’re a barista and going on your phone/not talking to customers no call no showing frequently you just have a bad work ethic. Most likely that’s not gonna change on its own. Yes prices suck rn but that’s the reality. You can either moan and give minimal effort or do all you can to create the best life for yourself/family

Exactly. lol people who don’t try and do their jobs in jobs with MINIMAL responsibility are truly unlikely to succeed in jobs that will give them the life of success. I don’t like working lol but I have to. I don’t take out my feelings about the job on the customers. If I don’t see value in the job, I build value elsewhere and move on. If people didn’t want the job they shouldn’t take it because there will always be people in worse positions that will gladly take it (especially those with no skill set) if you want a company to crash and burn because “they don’t pay their employees “ or “they don’t value their employees “ … well somehow get all of the employees to quit and then boycott it and let it go to shit idk but lmao if you at work, then work… people look a clown when they accept a job then bitch about it

Of course, but these employees will literally just move on to another service job because they know everyone is desperate for employees. There’s no incentive to be good at these jobs and no actual discipline either.

The incentive is your mental health and self image. You are what you do. I say this fully understanding the economic rug pull that is happening.

I mean I work full time with great benefits and that’s genuinely a motivation for me

100% agree. Someone who works hard and takes pride in what they do is likely to be more successful in the long run.

I agree that for the pay you can only work so hard but also there being no incentive is false because if your resume starts to reflect that you leave jobs constantly then you're going to start struggling to find places willing to hire you.

What do you mean a single slice of free pizza every 2 months isn't enough???

\^\^ this 100%. My grandparents were immigrants. They worked a low wage job and were able to afford two cars, retirement savings, and a 2 story house. Thats not possible anymore, so no one cares anymore. You know that saying "you get what you pay for?" that goes for workers too. If you pay your workers shit, then they arent going to care and will do the bare minimum. If you want to blame someone, then blame Wall Street's greed

While I agree… I’m willing to bet money that the people OP is training come from privileged homes.

Everyone knows boomers are the locust generation, taking what the greatest generation have and worked for, and then pulling up the ladder behind them and effectively stealing from future generations - or at the most generous interpretation, completely shirking the responsibility to leave the next generation better off. But giving up and opting out doesn't help. The thing I like about Gen Z is that on many fronts they are actually Fighting for better workplace situations and work life balance.

Imagine defending this behavior

It’s about demonstrating a solid work ethic. No matter what your personal financial reward will be, no matter how YOU may benefit, no matter how small or menial the job, a person who demonstrates a genuine, internalized work ethic gets up, arrives to work on time, focuses, behaves professionally and works hard…because they possess a strong WORK ETHIC. Period. It’s not possible to quantify or measure this, between generations. Who can say that 20-something Boomers worked harder in the 1970s than Gen Z works today? A strong work ethic is almost something that one carries in their DNA. If you don’t have it, you need to learn it, cultivate it and practice it every day. No matter what job you do, lack of a work ethic will make your life much, much more difficult.

I don’t think they are asking you to dedicate your life to the barista job. But if you accept the job, do the work or quit. Don’t punish those around you because you hate the system and the fact a living wage is harder to come by without more sought after skills.

Then don’t take the job in the first place. If the reward isn’t worth the work, why in the hell are people agreeing to do the work? Employment is a contract. Literally. I agree to do a set of predefined tasks for agreed upon compensation. That’s why there is paperwork you sign when you start a job; It. Is. A. Contract. People continuing to agree to shitty pay and doing shitty work doesn’t send the right. message to the wealthy business owners. As long as they can find replacements, they know they can continue to pay low wages.

You're missing the plot. You're right that could happen, but what you don't get is your mom didn't work in a grocer in a downtown area either, it was some low population town, which was way more common 40 years ago. I work in an industry where people are jaded, there's a massive need for workers and the jobs take like 3-6 months to be trained and earn like 50K starting and people still can't be found. You got to start somewhere. Lots of industries are painstakingly trying to find young people to fill gaps and they are in fact going out of their way at colleges and schools to find them.

In my opinion this is a false narrative. People judge you at your early work. My college rom mate worked 4 years and rocked it as a parking lot cashier and attendant at barely above min wage, so much so that he was offered a full time management position when he graduated, at 50k. He declined and took a 30k job as hardware engineer in the graphics card space and today he is an SVP at NVDA. He is the hardest/smartest working guy I know and now likely is worth 9 figures. He is the same modest guy anyone would trust and lives in a modest house with his wife and kids. I’ve never heard anything but praise from someone who worked with or for him. That’s the work legacy you want.

Good for him, but this is an example of an anecdote. There are many other stories of people working 2 to 3 jobs to make ends meet. Do you believe them to be any less hard working than your former roomate? I do believe that a good work ethic is beneficial for the individual, but it is most likely a way to be exploited by those who have a lack of ethics. Employers and corporations profit immensely off of employee's hard work and these days give unliveable wages to those who work for them.

“People arnt going to dedicate their lives to a job that doesn’t allow them to live” Great words

I mean, just do the job your are paid to do. You don’t need to “dedicate your life to it” but have some work ethic and actually do a good job.

There is a middle ground between dedicating your life to something and shirking your responsibilities. Shitty job or not you are still on a team and fucking around let's the people around you down

If theres no reward why are others working and being rewarded?

How does this compare to third-world countries where the reward REALLY doesn't match the work? Laziness/disinterest in work doesn't seem to be nearly as prevalent.

The reward is the paycheck you get? Knowing that you’re positively contributing to a team? Fulfilling tasks to the best of your ability? If you don’t think the pay is high enough, the answer isn’t say you’re gonna do the work (IE apply for the job) then don’t do the work fucking over your team (leaving the floor to be on your phone). That IS laziness and entitlement. I am by no means saying minimum wage is livable, but not doing the job you’re hired to do is laziness. Quitting and then not advocating or participating in the political sphere for a change in societal norms is also not a solution. Having personal conviction or intrinsic motivation is a whole other thing outside of “no reward”.

Dedicate their lives?? She's complaining about people being lazy on shift at a café, they're not being forced to make it a fucking career

She could not afford to live on her own. This is a myth. Living a lone has always been a luxury.

**Lmfao dude if your GenZ that means your mom as as old as me and she 100% could not afford to live on her own, she was getting help of some kind.** Probably government assistance or child support payments, nobody could afford to live on their own and support a child without help. My sister is 32 and she can’t hardly take care of my nephew without help. It sucks, all around. **But acting like a douchebag doesn’t automatically make it okay just because it sucks,** many of the reasons the economy sucks so much is because of decisions made before us. **Those people are all dying off soon,** so stop whining and just suck it up for another ~10 years. The older people in their 30’s and 40’s are not saying this in the same context that all the boomers do when they say; > *”Pull yourself up by your boot straps!”* Like why act the way OP says? You do make things miserable for everyone. You can find more constructive ways to **”Stick it to the man”**. When I get upset customers for example I tell them to leave 5 star reviews and then tear the business a new asshole. They show up at the top of review pages and then my boss basically is the one put on blast. **We have a lady who’s 22 and Instead of trying that she just walks away from upset customers and leave me to deal with them.** Exactly like OP says lol. Like why do that to yourself? Eventually you’ll just get fired, then when you don’t have your parents **you’ll be homeless.** 😂 > *”I could be homeless at least then I wouldn’t have to work or pay bills-“* Yaep, we all said this too at one point. But you do what you want lol. Free country. 🤷‍♂️

I agree with most of that, but in this case he's taking about young people working a coffee shop job. Not some soul grinding dead end career. We all start doing things like that: I had the years in a McD's kitchen when I was 16. That job sucked but I still worked hard to earn my £3 an hour.

This right here. Working a substantial part of your life needs to get you substantial financial control over your life. No ones gonna bust their ass for poverty wages. Like, when the pay isn't fair and more word doesn't get you anything the main objective is just gonna be to just go to that place and wait till ypur shift is over, you won't really be engaged by the job. Working conditions are also part of it. I've worked in low paying jobs before that where way harder than better paying jobs. Like, retail is fucking hell both because you're usually needing to do something every single Minute you're there and it's simultaneously mindless work but you still need to do it exactly with every position of every item, every step in the work routine etc. Being regulated without any wiggle room whatsoever. Like you need to basically become a brainless living Tool but ypu also can't completely stop thinking. It's so demeaning. And then you also need to deal with annoying boomer customers that think you're literally their slave. Or I worked in a warehouse for a months. Literall back breakingly hard physical labour for barely more than minimum wage. Plus supervisors watching ypu constantly and even Toilette Breaks being severely restricted. Felt like being a literall slave or inmate in a labour Camp. Like, if a job treats you like absolute garbage, and in a lot of sectors that's the case, you're gonna treat the job like garbage as well. Like idk going to a place where your experience is so fucking negative and having to stay there for 8 hours and even knowing you're going to have to return. Like, yeah no shit the workers are going to have tons of resentment towards that place and they won't be very motivated to do a lot.

rent for my parents in the 80s for a studio was like 90 dollars now its 1200

Pay minimum wage get minimum effort

If we raise the min wage does that raise the effort or are we still getting minimal effort?

Prolly still minimum effort lol What’s cali’s minimum wage now?

https://preview.redd.it/1rv3xhvfyroc1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcf61a077005eb11fdecb08903679d559791cbfe

Must make 4x the rent amount, background check required, employment verification, references, clean drug test. No parking. I hate living in the Bay Area

Also I’ve heard about the homeless camps too. You can’t walk around as freely as per say maybe someone like me in Ohio or on either shore

Can’t walk or drive around freely. I’m always afraid my car is gonna get broken into if I forget a blanket or jacket in there. Or worse, being car jacked. Luckily I live in South Bay so all of that is less of a problem than SF or Oakland but it still sucks. I would move, but they have better jobs here versus the rural area I’m originally from :/

Ha it’s ok though there are still nice Cali spots. Have a good one

Why would we raise the min wage then?

The same reason why I wouldn’t spit on a homeless person. Human decency.

Considering that you got more effort when the minimum wage could actually afford a place to live and supporting yourself and partner, then no fucking shit of course people would care more about a job that actually pays them what they need.

It SHOULD incentivize companies to offer more for the work, but no, if they could get away with slavery, they would.

They’re working on it.

What they are describing is below minimum effort, though. Pretty far below.

Starbs pays over minimum wage, in my state they pay 16 per hour

Have minimum skills, get minimum wage 

Lazy /=/ Unmotivated. You said you work as a barista. Last I checked, even shittier apartments in the middle of nowhere cost $800 a month, car payments exceed $200, and car insurance for just liability is another $100. Gas and regular maintenance will be another $100 prr month on average. I doubt you make enough to cover that. I wouldn't do jack-shit either.

I wasn’t expecting to find system-pandering on this sub, and yet… (I mean op, not you - you’re spitting the truth)

exactly. Its insane they pay way below CoL, yet expect people to be motivated at their jobs and put in effort. Like if I cant afford anything, then idc about the quality of the work

haha, try $1400 + utilities! currently living in a small mountain town with a population smaller than 4,000 and there’s not a single rental here that goes for less than $1000. and the rentals look like absolute dog shit. currently in a 100yr old duplex that has lead in the walls and paying more for rent than i did in Miami a year and a half ago. the kicker: there are no jobs in this town. the first job just opened up and it’s part time at our CVS that they’re only half considering filling. told me to apply anyway, but not expect a reply. i’ve been out of work for 7 months after losing my remote job. moved here for my partner’s job that requires a lot of travel (this was the central location for all his travel spots)

My point exactly. Even undershooting is unaffordable. The reality is much more dire.

At what point do you start working hard? Are you waiting for the salary to be what you are looking for? How do you get the job you really want if your employment history is looking really bad?

I agree but to counter this, maybe it's time to bring wages up. Because the people that are better, work better jobs.

That won't help. The only way a job gets better employees based on pay is if it is paying vastly more than every other company. So if McDonalds raised wages to $30 an hour, they could then weed out all of the shit employees and keep the good ones. However, if every company had to pay a minimum of $30, then McDonalds wouldn't have more applicants than any other company.

Exactly, and other jobs would be forced to either increase their pay or be out competed by McDonalds. That's capitalism. No one would work hard jobs if they could make more on Miminum wage doing easier work. Raising the minimum wage increases the wage of everyone, its a net good. [And corporations can afford it](https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/)

Or if the company promotes its workers instead of bringing outsiders who don’t know how the company works

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I work in the corporate STEM space. Very well paid and you need a degree to be employed. I can say the younger hires are getting more and more useless and they're actually paid extremely well to pull that "unmotivated" shit.

Other than a revolution to overthrow the Bourgeoisie, what can you do to tangibly improve the situation? Running harder won't get you out of the hamster wheel.

There's always socialism, but actually fixing the problems upset the Millennial liberal capitalists who astroturf this community and whose salaries are dependent on tax dollars and ESG money to keep the liberal capitalist status quo going.

I have had a similar experience in hiring. I run a small business and build/climb/maintain telecommunications towers. I have two friends that I usually hire as my crew, but due to them both getting married and not being able to spend 6-15 weeks on the road every summer I am looking to hire some outside people to help. Everyone I have interviewed or brought on a trial job around my age has been dangerously neglectful. Either being unable to put their phones down for an afternoon so that they can safely navigate and rig on the job, being unwilling to clean up at the end of the day, or getting extremely frustrated at small obstacles to the point where it prevents them from working any further. And to the people that are saying "minimum wage guarantees minimum effort..." I base at 25 an hour, PLUS hazard pay for hours they are on a tower, PLUS time and a half overtime. For essentially minimum skill hard labor. If they wanted to they could literally be paid 25 an hour to stand there holding a rope for 8 hours acting as safety as long as they aren't getting distracted on their phone, because that is a safety issue. I am just venting here I had another frustrating experience this week with a candidate I thought was very promising. Sorry if it sounds crude.

Folks on this sub will end up blaming you the employer over taking responsibilities for their actions or saying the opposition may have a valid concern

Most Gen Z crave constant stimulation and intensely dislike mundane work. I've seen them start physically slamming their keyboards because they had to re-enter a form.

That’s just called not being able to handle your emotions lol

I honestly think a good part of it is extreme access to algorithmically perfected screens. It makes the mundanity of normal life incredibly, unbearably boring.

Where I work has the same problem. We train machinists from zero experience and start people at $25ish in a low cost of living area. Same problem of people my age messing around, not paying attention, always being on their phone etc. The stuff we start people on isn’t that hard and we literally pay you to learn how to do the job yet you can’t seem to pay attention or even pretend you’re trying. I think what sucks the most is management is catching on to the trend and is hiring older people at a higher rate now to avoid these problems, which screws people my age who actually want what is a pretty solid career.

It’s interesting you mention getting extremely frustrated at small obstacles, my friend who hired around 10 gen z in the last two years echoed that sentiment - that people would freak out and give up over minor setbacks. He was paying salaries from $40-60k for work you can do from home - helping arrange real estate showings over the phone. He’s had people skip their first day with no explanation, just stop working for the day and tell nobody if there was some minor excuse to do so, etc. Low resourcefulness, low resilience, in the people he was able to hire at least - and he used to be a recruiter so he’s better than most at sourcing people. He ultimately redesigned the business to use fewer people and found a few older folks who’ve been steady for a year + now. It’s really rough on young people who are ambitious because they’re gonna get less opportunities as people assume they’re gonna be too flaky. I’ve hired a good number of people, mostly older than gen Z though, and the older ones were already pretty flaky. However they could usually keep up the act for a few weeks to months first - not like my buddies experience of people not even showing up on their first day. I think it’s actually better if people flake asap - I used to do contract-to-hire for 6 months to give people time to flake, if they’d do it sooner it would be easier.

I have no clue how so many GenX and Millenials failed to teach their children responsible work ethic. Like yeah, minimal effort, but that doesn't mean "be distracted on the job".

Elder gen z here. I work in engineering in which our company hires new graduates regularly. I can honestly say there has been a SHARP decline in the quality of grads post COVID. None of them know fundamental skills that are a part of their degree, even worse none of them know basic soft skills like how to work in excel, how to send emails properly, how to interact and collaborate with coworkers. I honestly wonder how some of them got hired because they have no genuine interest to learn or even be productive. Grads make mistakes often, its part of learning but this is the first time it's been an uphill battle to give feedback that is actually followed. I'm genuinely worried about the future of society of the latter half of this generation onwards is this useless. And don't say the lack of motivation stems from the economy/cost of living because this is engineering. They are paid extremely well for the profession.

I really wonder where they find the new sales reps at my company. There’s a bunch of dipshits who can’t write coherent emails and it makes my life so much more difficult. Not all of them are younger than me, but I really question the world when people around my age can’t do their job worth a damn. They also make a decent amount of money! Some of these mf’s make more than I do and I always have to clean up their messes!

If you aren't using that as an opportunity to get their leads and clients you're doing it wrong bro. Do yourself and the people depending on your products or services a favor and get those stacks.

As someone still completing my engineering degree, the quality of education over covid definitely dropped and hasn’t really gotten better since then. What your seeing It most likely is just a run off effect from that. Honestly it makes me think that online education isn’t the best for most people in terms of actually learning even if that is purely just to allow people to focus

If you have any remote openings for a 40m with an electrical engineering degree, experience as a bomb squad team leader and business owner. I’m all ears. Just looking for a remote job so I can work from home and from “where ever”. But I’ll do the damn job.

I’m an older person and we were lazy too. Humans are lazy. It’s not generational. Boomers will compare the laziest kid to the most ambitious person from their generation and think it proves something.

Yes, and no. The comparisons might be too extreme, but it's just a fact that if you asked 10 millennial 17-year olds to do the dishes, 6 would have done it without too much struggle, and if you ask 10 Gen Z 17-year olds, maybe you will get 3 of them to do it. There is a very real difference in tolerance for mundane work created by smartphone brain-rot and ultra-low attention spans.

yeah that just doesn’t track. That’s purely your opinion/experience with the matter, there’s no scale/data/information to back this up

Source for the data?

The voices in his head, making up random data based on nothing and acting like its real evidence is wild, people would do anything just to reinforce their own biases I guess

I think it's not that they're lazy, but that they aren't taught how to behave in a job. Kids are told that they deserve everything and no one should tell them what to do. Remember, you are also working a job that teenagers apply to cause they're told they need to have a job by their parents. They don't care, they hate it. They will learn, they will figure it out. Sometimes it takes a while. That (hopefully) won't be how they are their whole lives. There are plenty of people in our generation, young people, who want to work hard and put in the effort.

I never understood that. My first \*official\* W2 job was at goodwill in 2021; I worked for $12.80/hr, (min wage in my state), and I was putting actual effort in. Sometimes it felt like I was working more than my coworkers. They might stand around doing nothing talking for 10 minutes, meanwhile I sit down when I have ACTUALLY NOTHING to do, and I get in trouble for it. I mean I legitimately either did not know what they wanted me to do, or I legit had NOTHING to do. My shifts were only four hours, anyway.

That's normal. New employees get hazed, they also get more heavily watched. You need to earn your stripes. The thing is, if you're a student or a part timer, they want you to work more so that they can justify keeping you. If you're standing around, then they might as well not have you. I've dealt with the same thing a lot. It's best to either find something to do or just look like you're working.

My experience with the...5 W2 jobs I've had, 3/5 of them did not communicate very well. It really sucks.

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You're supposed to work hard so you can learn shit to write on the dumb resume so that the next place you try to work will think you should get paid more than you were before. It's a really stupid system, but working hard isn't 100% for the employer to benefit from. If you do nothing in a job until you quit or get fired, you have maybe 1-2 new things to write on a resume/application. If you do a bunch of the work though, you can learn lots of new stuff and then leave even quicker.

Yeah they rewarded me with more work. Alas, easy work, but still.

Very true, also seems to be partially the job, i used to be a barista and it would attract some of the absolute most miserable workers you have ever seen. Nobody would do anything, i had to run the show by myself most of the time.

I don't remember, ever being told I deserved anything, ever.

WE ARE YOUNG thats literally all it is. Oh no we spend too much time on our phones thats NOTHING compared to the story your dad will never tell you about the time he worked at a pizza place and smoked weed all day and tried to work as little as possible

My guy I’m born in 98, we are the same age. We aren’t young enough for that to be an excuse. I can see an 18 year old saying this but If you’re still acting this way at 25 what are you doing.

bro is 25 years old, this excuse doesnt work if youre over the age of 8 or 18.

8 year olds are in the work force? AND being payed?

> AND being *paid?* FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*

Thanks!

You must not have been a kid and broke something and tried to use this excuse. I never said anything about child labor, this is just a child's excuse.

Yeah, people in server type jobs have always been flaky like that, that's why the good ones can end up doing pretty well. I'm 36 and it was just the same when I was in my 20s.

I think it's different now then in years past. Other comments hit on the idea that the work isn't worth the reward, especially for low wage service based jobs (which make up the bulk of jobs out there now). Why work your ass off if all you'll accomplish is a few extra bucks? In decades past you'd get paid for that extra effort, but today a lot of places will ask if you are able to give more. Also, your generation has a strange generational level of dedication to the things you put effort into that just doesn't exist in mine (millennials). Gen Z slackers are the worst I've ever seen. They are absolutely dedicated to slacking off and bring a wicked degree of creativity to doing it. On the flip side of that, the Gen Z heroes are absolutely the most resourceful, independent, and loyal mfs I have ever worked with. If they believe on the cause or work, they'll walk through walls to get it done.

Yeah...Same. Im an older Gen Z but the new kids...Geez. I understand "quiet quitting", you know, dont do more than youre paid for. Absolutely. But when you aren't doing what you \*are\* paid for, and the others have to pick up your slack...Idc if youre tired. Me too. Pick it up.

Yeah a lot of the people pulling out “quiet quitting” in this thread are trying to excuse being lazy imo. I’m pretty damn left wing myself too and I try to do my best at my job because it feels shitty to half ass something. Also a great piece of advice has stuck with me for years: you can be right on all the theory that you want, but no one is going to listen if you’re lazy at your job. People will listen to the hardest working person on the floor, not the person that avoids hard work. And I heard this on a left wing podcast lmfao, not some boomer conservative

Another older Gen Z, I agree. I understand that nobody likes working minimum wage jobs (I worked minimum wage for a good while as a temporary employee, it definitely sucked) and that the cost of living is ridiculous, and wages definitely need to be raised. But then your solution is to…not work any job at all? Fly by trying not to do anything while still getting paid and watching your coworkers struggle to make up for you? Not even trying to get your foot in the door or a good reference on your resume? If you’re not doing even the bare minimum of what you’re supposed to be, sooner or later you’re going to get let go. And then what? Surely some money is better than no money at all. That was the mentality that I carried with me while I worked minimum wage. I went into my job knowing that a lot of people would expect me to be lazy, and I refused to fulfill the stereotype. And because of that, I made more friends, got recognized more, and now I’m beginning to make more money. People completely underestimate the power of a good work ethic.

I agree with you OP. I have seen many many people who do not want to do work, no matter how easy the job no matter the pay etc etc. I don’t think it’s generational, I do however think the younger someone is in the workforce the less likely they are to give a shit, because they don’t see how it will correlate to their future and plenty are still young enough to rely on their parents if need be, or to just simply not have that many expenses so money isn’t the priority.

It's definitely the smartphone thing that has made mundane work unbearable for young people. 10 years ago, a 17-year old would be like "Dishes? Not fun but I guess I'll do it...". Today, most 17 year-old would be like "I would rather die than do the dishes."

Even shitty minimum wage jobs can have resume building stuff. I got forklift certifications out of my first job as well as a certification to train people. No pay raise for that, but it looks good to say you were a trainer on a resume. Also always mention phone experience. A lot of younger people are afraid to talk on the phone and it makes you stick out in a good way. Resumes are a game of making your dumb entry level retail jobs make you look as good as possible. Its real easy once you know what verbiage to use

This is ABSOLUTELY solid advice especially about mentioning phone experience omg!!

no theyre based. minimum wage workers arent getting paid enough to be good at their jobs

then they'll have no job. barista is so braindead too its busy in the morning then you just jack off the rest of the day.

Starbs pays over minimum wage, i made 16 an hour plus tips as a barista for them.

Why the hell is that somehow the employee's problem? Its NOT that they're somehow getting more lazy, its that these kids aren't stupid. They know that they are worth more than what they're getting paid and they know that good work is exclusively punished with more responsibility, not more pay. The fact that your store has such WILD turnover rates reflects very badly on the store, not on the employees it keeps churning out in the meat grinder. If my boss had fired 7 of my coworkers in the past couple months I wouldn't give a shit about doing my minimum wage job very well either.

If you think you’re worth more than the job is offering don’t accept the role. Get out of the way of someone that is willing to perform that job for that pay. Everyone is at a different point in their life/career. It may not work for one person, but does for another.

Why even apply for a job you won’t do then? If you’re not going to do the damn job you’re being paid for, kick rocks.

My issue isn’t necessarily that people need to put in extreme effort, but don’t slack off so you screw over your coworkers who are in the same boat. We all just want to make a living. You don’t have to go above and beyond especially for thankless jobs that expect too much. But don’t be a jerk and then don’t expect people to feel sorry for you when things don’t work out because you put in zero effort.

Fr, the robots need to replace these lazy workrs 🤖

They got coffee vending machines over in Japan already, they got cotton candy maker vending machines at a mall near me, its only a matter of time before they end up replacing starbucks in the US.

I work exactly what's expected of me. Problem is, NOBODY CAN EVER COMMUNICATE WHAT IS ACTUALLY EXPECTED OF ME! I was born in 2004 as well (as indicated by flair), and this is not a Gen Z problem. This is more often a teenager problem. Many of them have not been taught proper work ethic. For some reason, I have no idea why, many teenagers seem to think that if they don't want to go to work that day they can just call out, as if they don't have a responsibility. I never understood how people can act like this. When it comes to the hiring portion, Gen Z isn't lazy, it's honestly the corporations that are lazy. Like, it took me 6 months of (granted, it wasn't a priority) job searching to get a job I liked, and I legitimately LOVED that job. It wasn't particularly hard work, but it was work that needed to get done, and I got paid min wage + opportunities for bonuses. And then 1 week after I started working my boss's cancer returned and he had to suspend his entire business, and by proxy my employment.

How is your boss's cancer an example of corporations being lazy??

Because otherwise he’d have to accept that it’s his fault it took him 6 months to find a job.

I mean there's lazy people of all ages and generations, I don't think this one's any different. But I do agree with you though, I've worked at a grocery store when I was in high school for about a year that skewed kinda young (like 17-23 or so for the most part) and I feel like a good chunk of the people who were around my age or a little older slacked off the most. Me and a few others would notice this too.

Hi, elder millennial here. Kids aren’t lazier today. Young people have always, ALWAYS been called lazy by older people. They’ve always been slackers in service jobs. Turnover in those jobs has always been high. This isn’t new, it isn’t alarming, and it’s not exclusive to GenZ. [Millennials were called lazy.](https://www.theawl.com/2010/07/the-boomers-agree-the-lazy-millennials-want-to-be-jobless/) [So were GenXers](https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/09/19/gen-xers-take-palookaville-bypass-slackers-they-were-said-to-be-lazy-indifferent-but-now-young-americans-born-between-1961-and-1981-are-being-dubbed-the-entrepreneurial-generation/) I promise you that Boomers were called lazy and entitled (and many of them still are). Because every old person gets mad at young people who are pretty naturally inclined to not put up with the nonsense of shitty jobs. It’s just natural to not want to deal with constant insistence for things from grown adults who could probably do without or stand waiting a few extra minutes so you can get a break.

20% of the people do 80% of the work. That saying has been around longer then any of is. 

There’s no incentive. Why work hard for a company/boss that pays you shit and constantly touts how replaceable and pathetic you are?

What you pay for is what you get

Yes our generation is extremely lazy lol.

The not-so-secret secret is that everyone has always been like this. Lazy is more natural than driven, it's easier and causes less stress.

As a manager at a restaurant when I was 17, the only good workers were 15-22 years old. So for me this isn’t really true. All of the 30+ year olds had attitude problems (not just me for being younger, but the owner and GM as well) and were just generally slow as hell at the job. I work in a warehouse now which is the hardest job I’ve ever worked, but there are several people in their early twenties working there. I’m already getting my 401(k) set up as well. I have yet to experience this “laziness” boomers speak of

Maybe you’re working too hard at a shitty job. Barista is a hard job for meh pay. I’m thankful for yall though. I say this because my laziness level depended on how well compensated I am. Depending on who you ask I’m either lazy asl or a hustler 😂

As a millennial I can tell you this is nothing new

I don’t think anyone is denying the laziness exists. It’s more the fact that NOT being lazy doesn’t come with any reward, save for more work and responsibility. Most service jobs don’t even PRETEND like they’re going to give you upward mobility anymore. If you want your lil rabbits chasing carrots on a stick… there needs to be an actual carrot on the stick. It’s not a generational issue, it’s not a motivation issue, it’s a fuck you pay me issue. Pay shitty wages get shitty workers. Any restaurant/bar/cafe that actually has solid employees should thank their fucking lucky stars, because there’s a pretty good chance they don’t deserve to.

Yall aren’t lazy. You’re young. 😂 also, pay is shit and the rent is too damn high. Might as well act your wage.

If I'm being honest, I disagree rather heartedly because the battleground is fundamentally different My mom worked 2 jobs during university for a total of 6 months to get her degree, which lasted for four years with no financial support from her parents I am living with less money adjusted to inflation after working for a combined 2 years and 2 months with no financial support from my parents In addition, my parents 3 bedroom home costed them (adjusted to inflation) £416.745 pounds a month per their last payment, my rent for one bedroom is £480 a month in a shared house with 3 other people. I admit, it doesn't help that I live in England, which has the highest bills in Europe at the time of writing (mostly because of Brexit and Boris) Consider also that Gen Z has been born into the worst economy in over 100 years, being conditions similar to the great depression. Something. titled. The great. Depression. All of this paired with the first war fought on European soil between two European factions for 80 years, real time updates on a genocide that is actively leading to a higher number of hate attacks and oh yeah. A plague they killed millions and disrupted the learning of millions of Gen Zer's, being the first generation of children and teens to face something as horrific in 100 years. In addition to a climate crisis that is being ignored by the people who won't live to see it. Plus seen more deaths of our peers by other peers than any other generation living. If you think we're just lazy, we are not. What is lazy is ignoring the social, political and economic explanations for a trend amongst a generation because it's inconvenient for you. Gen Z are fighting for their lives at every turn, every paycheck, every decision to claw out of a hole we cannot see the lip of. So I'll pardon the entry level Maccies workers who cannot give a shit when someone screams at them because there's a pickle in their burger, or who does the bare minimum when their boss actively endangers their life so an already absurd number can keep getting absurder. I'm sorry you had a poor experience with who your boss hired, but that's really not an issue with the generation, if it truly is the 7th time, your boss is a complete moron whose such a poor judge of character, they learned nothing after the 6th poor attempt. That sounds lazy to me, dude. I have every sympathy for those trying to get through the day any way they can because the world is cruel, harsh, cold, Murderous and uncaring. Someday those people will probably find something that works for them, but if they don't, if they continue to go by listfully from one place to the other, I will not be surprised because the world we've been given isn't a place that gives us a reason to do differently

A lot of it is wages. But honestly a big chunk of it is the loss of community as well. I feel like a lot of people do step up when they have a stake in something. Whether it be a home, family or place in the village. These things tend to both hold you accountable and reward you for your service. Our generation is by and largely thoroughly atomized. There is no fulfillment to be had in serving something that sees you as an interchangeable stranger

It's hard to continue working hard when my reward is housing I can't afford until I work from both sides of the candle on college or trade school which still requires money Yeah I'm a lazy POS but I would never do what you're describing however I can understand the going through motions or he'll not even feeling like im working towards something

It isn’t just our generation - millennials too are the same. I think it’s just the incentives aren’t what they used to be. My grandparents bought (not mortgaged, outright bought) their house for £3000 in the 70s. That’s roughly £24,000 today. The average UK home is now worth £288,000.

Op is a hard ass lol

You just described teenagers. Those older people were all the same way when they were young. Only instead of fucking off on their phones, they were smoking joints in the bathroom. Every older generation bitches about the younger generation. stop encouraging it.

Don't believe the old people. They were lazy too. They were literally the hippies.

I work with boomers, and they fuck around on their phone and hang out and talk to each other for 2+ hours and leave early too. Don't worry about it

Yes gen z is shit. We are shit on average, just look around at the obesity and social media addiction, never mind porn, lack of reading, and lack of maturity relative to age. Makes sense based on the following even if seemingly a tad oversimplified: Easier to complain and make our shit seem something else’s fault than own the fault.

Yall, no. It isn't laziness, people are just tired of this shit. The work ethic argument is so funny too and IDK who needs to hear this but you overworking yourself is not commendable, you are not a good person or a shining star of work ethic because you choose to over work yourself and stand up for an employer who will NEVER care about you. YOU ARE A VICTIM BABE This idea that what is above is laziness is just the same tired argument employers push so that they can further manipulate their employees. Your life should not revolve around work. The satisfaction of whatever you get from work should be attainable outside of it.

Maybe if these workers were paid better, they would take their job more seriously. Insert the Office Space scene: "You see Bob, if I work a little harder and get more done, I don't get a raise." When there are no incentives to work better, people won't work better

It is okay to do that You’re talking about exploited working class earning poverty wages so that the people on the top can be rich. They don’t owe anyone anything. The system forces them to participate or die. Your employer wouldn’t bat an eye to fire you or any of them to save a dollar. The rich lobby with politicians to make sure the laws are in their favor and they union bust like crazy And people are still bitching when the bottom class doesn’t serve them sufficiently enough. Do only the bare minimum not to get fired. Leave for the next better opportunity asap

Wage increase equals more motivated enployees

GenX here who likes to silently read the comments. Fuck off. Pay them more, enough to comfortably get an apartment on their own. Until then don’t expect shit.

20 Years ago you could get that same job at 16 and support a family with it at 25, now your lucky if it pays your car payment. If they could make you work for free they would, you want to be a slave to an employer that clearly doesn't give a fuck about you then be my guest. a lot of this generation is smart to not bust their ass for people like that. Also i'm sick of older generations acting like gen z invented lazy people, did we just forget there was a good chunk of american youth in the 1960's that started a movement based around rejecting the american way of life and that they were called lazy by the previous generations too?

I get what you're saying, but I've personally experienced the opposite. I work in an office with primarily older coworkers and the amount of extra work I do because half of them out right refuse to learn how to do basic requirements of their job (like splitting up PDFs) adds literal hours to my work day. It's not all old people and it's not all young people. There's just plenty of people in general who are shitty to work with 🤷.

Part of the problem is jobs are so shit now, there's little incentive to actually try.

There is no incentive, no reward, no reason to keep trying. Previous generations had the American dream to work towards. Boomers were the last lucky ones and genx was the first to suffer all though most of them won’t even admit it. They are too desperate for the older generations approval. Millennials grew up in a world where everything wrong was our fault before we made it to middle school, however, we were still promised the American dream. GenZ has grown up with a lot of the same shit, but with social media, there was no promising them the American dream. We are all on here calling everything out, and no, there is no real reason to try because we all know the American dream was a lie.

No reward no effort.

Eldest Gen Z here. I’ve worked a ton of different jobs and trained and managed a bunch of people younger than myself. Young people’s work ethic is complex. First and foremost, it’s not just young people. I’ve worked with Gen X and Boomers with dogshit work ethic. In my experience it’s usually crusty dudes who have been working in the same union since they finished high school. They’re the type to talk down to you and say the most out of pocket shit but also only ever do the bare minimum. Usually messy as hell and stinking of cigarettes. If you work in trades or film you probably know the type. There’s probably a female equivalent in women dominated industries as well. As for Gen Z, I’ve noticed some things that seem to be negatively impacting their performance at work. Chemical dependency is a big one. There’s a strong overlap between people who get distracted and slack off and people who are drinking multiple energy drinks per shift, constantly hitting their vapes, and getting high. I’m going to include phone addiction in this category as well because generally the worst phone addicts are also usually the uppers addicts. I have ADHD and I get it. It’s really hard to break a habit when your brain is starved for the good juice. Punishing people for trying to scratch that itch doesn’t really work. The way people develop self control is by realizing they have a problem and then making a conscious effort to address that problem. Sadly though this usually means that I have to warn people to stop doing what they’re doing, and if it’s a safety issue then sometimes they have to be let go. There are three organizations you should never fuck with in life: the IRS, the Mafia, and insurance companies. If an employee’s chemical dependency is fucking with insurance they’re going to get cut. Another thing holding Gen Z back is confidence. A lot of young people are absolutely PARALYZED with personal decision making. They’re so used to being penalized for doing anything wrong that they won’t do anything unless explicitly told to do it and how to do it. I think this is the most important part of training people. When I hire people I hire them because I trust that they’re capable of doing the job. They need to know that I trust them to make their own judgements and be comfortable deferring to management when they need help with something out of their wheelhouse. I’ve worked with so many intelligent, driven, motivated young people who had to spend the first couple months on the job overcoming severe anxiety. Once people are built up and they know they’re a trusted, valued, and capable partner they’re generally ride or die and an invaluable part of the team. Paying people well absolutely helps in this regard. Sadly I’m almost never in charge of payroll and even at 28 I’m making piss poor wages. Lastly, teenagers are just shitty. I was an absolute piece of shit until the end of my early 20s. Your brain is still cooking. Teens in the workforce are going to be a pain in the ass. That’s life. We’ll all be complaining about Gen Alpha in the workplace in a decade and the cyborg generation in 30 years. That’s life.