Wow kids dont value money anymore

[fishnut9]

Ok so met a few people that are getting annoyed with the amount of immigrants in fast food places here in grande prairie. I have to say though i would rather have an immigrant that knows the value of money and commitment instead of a snot nosed kid that is only worried about their outfit.
Anyways im only 23 and i cant believe the lack of product knowledge these 16 year olds have where they work. I used to work for footlocker in the mall here when i was 16. When we were trained we needed to know everything about shoes and their new models. My friend walked into footlocker a few months ago and this girl was on her cell. There were 4 other customers trying on shoes by themselves. My friend yelled out "i hope the person on the other line is more important than your job." she finally got off and helped some people. Just today i went to futureshop to get a card reader for my computer. I ask someone at the computer to point me in the right place. He gives me one that isnt what i wanted so i asked him if there are any other types. He says not that he knows of. So i walk around for a bit and i end up finding a full wall of the stuff. I used to work at futureshop as well and I know more stuff than the actual salesteams.
Bottom line here is that many employers just dont want to hire unmotivated kids. Many kids here have an easy life because they dont need to work. When they turn 18 all they have to do is get a few easy tickets and go work in the patch. Also when they do land a job they dont care if they are fired because some other place will hire them for 11$ an hour down the road.
Now tell me would you rather give a job to some kid that will cause you alot of problems. Or would you rather hire someone that has a family to feed, living in poverty, and will try his best not to screw anything up.

[Off in the Bushes]

Why blame the kids I think that it is a lack of training from the employeer as to where thier prioducts are located and company policies.

[sewerrat]

Why blame the kids I think that it is a lack of training from the employeer as to where thier prioducts are located and company policies.

I think Parents have a lot to do with this as well.Kids are being spoiled now a days They don't need to anything cause mommy and daddy will give it to them.

[fishnut9]

Why blame the kids I think that it is a lack of training from the employeer as to where thier prioducts are located and company policies.

Lack of training doesnt make explain the cell phone texting. Also my problem wasnt that he didnt know where it was. It was that he flat out said no without looking. I was a merchandiser when i worked at fs meaning all i did was organize stock and present it. I did the research on my own time and when all the salesmen were busy i stepped in and helped out the customers with no commission. Also when my break came up i never just dumped the customer to another employee. I stayed until it was all done and took the break later. I had a cashier at fs one time close her till with 4 people in the line just for her break. So then we had to merge with another line with 4 more people in it.

[glen1971]

Try working in construction.. A couple things I have noticed lately with alot of younger workers.. Lack of a decent work ethic and actually showing pride in the job you do. No real desire to learn the trade and no real ambition to actually work hard. Most are all about the money.. This is not all about the training since you can only show someone so many times hand on before you see that they could care less...

I asked one guy for a measurement when I held the "dumb end" of a tape measure... He told me it was "143 2/3 inches".. I said "what?" He repeated and this went on two more times. I came down, and reeled the tape measure out and said "where is 2/3 of an inch??" He pointed on the tape, and I asked " You mean 5/8?". "How do you know what all those little lines mean?" He was in his early 20's...

I asked another person to cut me a piece of material "5450 long".. He comes back with it cut nice and straight, all filed, but 545 long... I said "what is this?" He replied "I figured this was close..." He was 19.. I said "This is your system of measuring and you don't know how to use it?"

Some of it comes from home too.. I know of quite a few people that have stories of "the guy drilling in reverse and thinking the bits are dull." I know if I was helping my dad and he asked for a 9/16" wrench and I handed him a hammer, there would be some new colorful metaphors being used...

[fishnut9]

Try working in construction.. A couple things I have noticed lately with alot of younger workers.. Lack of a decent work ethic and actually showing pride in the job you do. No real desire to learn the trade and no real ambition to actually work hard. Most are all about the money.. This is not all about the training since you can only show someone so many times hand on before you see that they could care less...

I asked one guy for a measurement when I held the "dumb end" of a tape measure... He told me it was "143 2/3 inches".. I said "what?" He repeated and this went on two more times. I came down, and reeled the tape measure out and said "where is 2/3 of an inch??" He pointed on the tape, and I asked " You mean 5/8?". "How do you know what all those little lines mean?" He was in his early 20's...

I asked another person to cut me a piece of material "5450 long".. He comes back with it cut nice and straight, all filed, but 545 long... I said "what is this?" He replied "I figured this was close..." He was 19.. I said "This is your system of measuring and you don't know how to use it?"

Some of it comes from home too.. I know of quite a few people that have stories of "the guy drilling in reverse and thinking the bits are dull." I know if I was helping my dad and he asked for a 9/16" wrench and I handed him a hammer, there would be some new colorful metaphors being used...

What kind of construction do you do. The fact that you hired such an inadequate worker makes me want to work for you. I would love a construction job (love building things with my hands) but i can never find anyone to hire me. They ask for experience i say none and i automatically get denied. Lol too bad you dont live in gp.

[Off in the Bushes]

Well we live in a very install/ throw away society now and if we need info, cash, make a call there is not waiting for it is just a click or a swipe away and you have what you are looking for, look at all the diet pills, just pill and you are thin there is no hard labour or patience to get what you are desiring.

[nick0danger]

if you asked me to cut some thing in metric, you better give me the unit or you would of got that in micrometers. Im, 27 and a jman electrician, trust me ive seen older guys not able to measure in inches proporly


Try working in construction.. A couple things I have noticed lately with alot of younger workers.. Lack of a decent work ethic and actually showing pride in the job you do. No real desire to learn the trade and no real ambition to actually work hard. Most are all about the money.. This is not all about the training since you can only show someone so many times hand on before you see that they could care less...

I asked one guy for a measurement when I held the "dumb end" of a tape measure... He told me it was "143 2/3 inches".. I said "what?" He repeated and this went on two more times. I came down, and reeled the tape measure out and said "where is 2/3 of an inch??" He pointed on the tape, and I asked " You mean 5/8?". "How do you know what all those little lines mean?" He was in his early 20's...

I asked another person to cut me a piece of material "5450 long".. He comes back with it cut nice and straight, all filed, but 545 long... I said "what is this?" He replied "I figured this was close..." He was 19.. I said "This is your system of measuring and you don't know how to use it?"

Some of it comes from home too.. I know of quite a few people that have stories of "the guy drilling in reverse and thinking the bits are dull." I know if I was helping my dad and he asked for a 9/16" wrench and I handed him a hammer, there would be some new colorful metaphors being used...

[deerhuntercentral]

The service sucks because the managers are just as unmotivated. They don't care, so the staff don't either.

I had an incident at future shop at Christmas I bought my wife a gift card so she could buy a Canon T2 camera, it was out of stock. I kept going back for a month and it was still out of stock. So I eventually asked the kid there if I could return the card and get my money back so I could buy the camera elsewhere. He said no, they don't refund gift cards. I said what do you mean, it's as good as cash, where's your manager. He tells me he's in a meeting. I said well get him for me. He phones someone and then gets off the phone and says OK we can take a gift card back within 30 days. And he was a real little ass about it. I could have smacked him upside the head.

[Redfrog]

Wow! if this thread was about the lazy immigrants, there would be a lot of noise,.

If all it takes is a few easy tickets to work in the patch, why wouldn't you do that?

[Albertadiver]

Wow! if this thread was about the lazy immigrants, there would be a lot of noise,.

If all it takes is a few easy tickets to work in the patch, why wouldn't you do that?

My mind is FULL of many suggestions and reasons he may have(basically excuses), but I don't want to make the mods jobs any more difficult than it already is.....

[eastcoast]

it's funny to me that people with kids complain about kids being lazy and not valuing money, where do the kids learn these types of things? from the parents.

[TBark]

Read your posts fishnut, seems a lot going on in your life, and looking for career change. Hope you find what you want, you're young. Most people make more than a few Career changes in life. Good luck with yours.
I'm lucky, been in the same field of work for near 25 years now.
The youth you speak of, you're one of them, later in life you'll be in the other group, mid life before you know it.
Was going to reply to your other post, but it's locked.

TBark

[Marlin xl7]

I do know of some kids that do not value money. Simply because they can go get another "job". But, here is some insight from the view of a 15 year old working in todays society. There are some of us that try hard, do good work, and don't mind getting our hands dirty if it means we helped the customer. Then there are those of us who slack off, hide in the back rooms, and don't put in the effort that the customer wants, and deserves. I am a part of the small percentage that works hard and tries his hardest to help the customer.

From my view, the kids who don't care whether or not the customer is satisfied, Don't care enough to go anywhere in life. Now this may not be true for all, but i have found it is for the majority. Most kids I go to school with don't have jobs, and have NO desire to get one (these are the kids who when asked a question, sit there like a deer in the headlights). Me and a few of my buddy's have been helping out around town, on eachothers farms, and grandparents acreages since we were big enough to cut grass.

We realize that money is hard to come by. So we don't spend foolishly and try and save as much as we can. We actually find it better to work, than to just ask our parents for money. And if we can help someone while making that money, well thats just icing on the cake.

$.02 from a a hard working 15 year old.

[Redfrog]

Sounds like you got it goin' on.:)


Good attitude that will take you a long way.

[matathonman]

I know if I was helping my dad and he asked for a 9/16" wrench and I handed him a hammer, there would be some new colorful metaphors being used...

How true. lol

[huntinstuff]

My son has been with WSS since they opened the south edmonton location. He is young

I told him to always be busy. Look thru every binocular and spotting scope and know how to adjust them

Open up every trailcam, read the manual and know how it works

Handle every knife, check out every boot and shoe and know them

Learn how to hook up and light every portable stove

He did. He is still there.

Are there quiet times? Yup. That's when you dust the shelves and make sure the clothing sizes are in order. Realistically , I doubt he does everything right. But he is still there, and he actually knows a fair bit for a 17 yr old.

I agree. If parents took just a bit of time to encourage and take an interest in what their kids are doing, there wouldnt be as many of these stories about bad service, or inappropriate behavior at work

I told John to work like he owned the place. I think it worked

[MWD 800]

Sounds like you got it goin' on.:)


Good attitude that will take you a long way.

X2

I had my neighbors 17 year olds friend jump from his roof to mine and went right through it! Landed on the edge of a sheet just right. Long story short they paid for the repairs but what set my neighbors kid apart from the other one is when I was building my deck he came over and ASKED if he could help. I just about fell over. I accepted. He didn't know anything about anything but tried and learned a few things. Then last summer while a few of us were building fences There is was again. He came over AFTER he got off work at a local gas bar and came to help. I was floored.

This fall he decided he wants to persue a career in construction and asked if I would be a reference for him. I told him no problem. With it being slow he hasn't been able to find anything. I told him to apply to a buddy of mines framing company and gave him a great reference and he is now working for them.

He is one of the small percentage that you and your friends are Marlin xl7 that is why he will do well in his life as I am sure you will too.

Joe

[New Hunter Okotoks]

What I don't understand is why people feel that minumum wage jobs should be staffed by highly motivated,driven,intelligent,and personable people. It seems to me that those types would be working at a level on the payscale significantly higher than the bottom. If employers want better employees then they have to pay better wages.;simple as that. The old adage of "Treat this place like your own" only holds water with employers who treat their employees as their own. If an employer feels that they are only getting the bottom level people applying for jobs then that means they are not paying enough. For every dollar/hour an employer is willing to go up, the better quality person they will get applying for any given position.

[pickrel pat]

what i don't understand is why people feel that minumum wage jobs should be staffed by highly motivated,driven,intelligent,and personable people. It seems to me that those types would be working at a level on the payscale significantly higher than the bottom. If employers want better employees then they have to pay better wages.;simple as that. The old adage of "treat this place like your own" only holds water with employers who treat their employees as their own. If an employer feels that they are only getting the bottom level people applying for jobs then that means they are not paying enough. For every dollar/hour an employer is willing to go up, the better quality person they will get applying for any given position.

bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[u_cant_rope_the_wind]

Why blame the kids I think that it is a lack of training from the employeer as to where thier prioducts are located and company policies.

I call BS to that
its there upbringing and ethics, then its up to the employer to teach them about their product,
if the kid don't care or doesn't have any work ethics or respect for his job then the the employer ain't gonna teach them nothing because they don't want to learn, kids nowadays have way to much handed to them on a silver platter from Mommy and daddy

[DarkAisling]

If parents took just a bit of time to encourage and take an interest in what their kids are doing, there wouldnt be as many of these stories about bad service, or inappropriate behavior at work

I think what you say is true, but it is certainly a two way street: the parent needs to take an interest and educate, and the child has to be willing to be receptive.

#1 son's first job went bust as he was unaware of his rights as an employee, and didn't realize he was being manipulated and taken advantage of (Safeway). He knew it all, of course, so he never consulted with us regarding the situation (until it was too late).

His second job went bust as it was a miserable job (and we had cautioned him strongly against taking it . . . we told him it was a ludicrous idea). As all of his friends were working there, he just had to (Callaway Park). He lasted a month.

Job #3 now, and it looks like he's finally got it figured out (McDonalds). He's (I have to say it) just "lovin' it." I find this curious, but my audiophile kid's supervisor let's him crank Rammstein while unloading the truck, and this keeps him happy as a pig in poop.

I've got a kid who really seems to need to learn things for himself. At 6'2" and 220lbs it's not like I can beat it into him. As my mother used to say to me, "It's like talking to a brick wall."

[huntinstuff]

Absolutely correct

[MWD 800]

What I don't understand is why people feel that minumum wage jobs should be staffed by highly motivated,driven,intelligent,and personable people. It seems to me that those types would be working at a level on the payscale significantly higher than the bottom. If employers want better employees then they have to pay better wages.;simple as that. The old adage of "Treat this place like your own" only holds water with employers who treat their employees as their own. If an employer feels that they are only getting the bottom level people applying for jobs then that means they are not paying enough. For every dollar/hour an employer is willing to go up, the better quality person they will get applying for any given position.

I somewhat agree but you can't start at the top either. Pay raises are earned and should not be given to people who don't try to excel at what they are doing.

Joe

[Redfrog]

What I don't understand is why people feel that minumum wage jobs should be staffed by highly motivated,driven,intelligent,and personable people. It seems to me that those types would be working at a level on the payscale significantly higher than the bottom. If employers want better employees then they have to pay better wages.;simple as that. The old adage of "Treat this place like your own" only holds water with employers who treat their employees as their own. If an employer feels that they are only getting the bottom level people applying for jobs then that means they are not paying enough. For every dollar/hour an employer is willing to go up, the better quality person they will get applying for any given position.

That may work on paper but it sure does not work int he real world. I have had enough employees to know it is the person and their attitude and ethics that decides whether they work or not. It is not the money.
I paid a good wage to start and if an employee showed me he was there to work and learn, he didn't wait months for 50 cent an hour wage, he moved up the pay ladder quickly. There were also bonuses for those guys who showed up on time, by their own transportation, with a lunch and personal gear ready to work. I had the ones that after day one expected to be driven to the job, head to the store cause they ran out of smokes and wanted an advance after two days. They usually never made day three.

BTW I paid more than most in my industry. Still got more duds than workers..

[New Hunter Okotoks]

That may work on paper but it sure does not work int he real world. I have had enough employees to know it is the person and their attitude and ethics that decides whether they work or not. It is not the money.
I paid a good wage to start and if an employee showed me he was there to work and learn, he didn't wait months for 50 cent an hour wage, he moved up the pay ladder quickly. There were also bonuses for those guys who showed up on time, by their own transportation, with a lunch and personal gear ready to work. I had the ones that after day one expected to be driven to the job, head to the store cause they ran out of smokes and wanted an advance after two days. They usually never made day three.

BTW I paid more than most in my industry. Still got more duds than workers..

So the person who showed up in the interview was completely different when they started working? That's what probation periods are for. If a guy doesn't cut it, you can tell them before long that this just isn't working out and send them down the road.

I also went through my share of workers but I had my hands tied by upper Mgmt. with what they figured workers in my field should be paid and I did not do the hiring. They would get me guys who did not know simple math (12 times tables.) I would tell some workers how I wanted something done;and more specifically WHY I wanted it done a certain way. Instructions were not followed,very expensive mistakes were made and I was expected to answer for other peoples' incompetence. Some had substance abuse problems. I worked at the place for 10 years and pulled the pin because I could no longer work up to my expectations because of the support staff I was given to work with. I know full well that if I had done the interviewing and was allowed an extra $4-$5/hour to work with, I could have made things work with 1 less employee and had a very smooth running yard. BTW the place I worked for typically made over 10 million in PROFIT per year out of the Calgary Branch and the money would not have been problem to come up with.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

I dont think its a matter of not having a sense of money , more like times have changed . Just like most kids who cant leave there cell phones for more then 5 minutes at a time . Its just the way things have changed , All this technology and electronics .

Sure they should be working but there is no discipline , they get miss treated they sue , or get mommy and daddy going to the media . The world now in days has turned into one big soap opera , just like some of the posts . :lol:

But why work hard when you can go from job to job to job to job . Theres alot of work out there , So why work for 8.00 an hr when you can go somewhere else and make 10.00 , and so on .

[bessiedog]

If we fast forward 15 years, there's going to be a very large shortage of quality people for management and professional positions. i expect that there will be a huge lessening of quality in those areas soon.
I was talking to a buddy about the Firebag oilssands and gas projects that are in stRtup mode. he told me they are short of 150-200 project managers, and are getting deserate. Soon, they'll accept the grossly under qualified. Fun times eh?

Perhaps i should moonlight.

[dumoulin]

Here's the thing, a person can complain about the youths of today not appreciating what they have and we can blame rock'n roll, iPods, parents, too much money, too many jobs, entitlement...the list goes on. Here's a question: If all these reasons are true, who will teach the next generation what we hope to become ourselves? Rather than pointing fingers, should we not put verbs into our own sentences..?

Not trying to be a smart*ss, we have a job to do and we (some) have ignored it to a point where we can no longer ignore the problems it has entailed. :thinking-006:

[ctd]

Most of the issues have to do with our society as a whole. "Kids" are not the whole problem, the people they looked up to are the root cause. How to fix it is hard to say, we have already expieranced what throwing money at the situation has done. Caused those same slackers to stay because they make more money for less production.

What I do when I get a new person working with me, I ask them what they know and they don't know. If you don't know ask. if you do something with out knowing what to do and screw it up then your fully responsible, if you ask and I show you how to do it then you will not screw it up as bad. Everyone has to make mistakes to learn. How big of a mistake they make can be the difference between small inconvience where people learn or a catastrophic situation where people die.
It is up to every individual to train and retain their people. It is hard to hire expert already trained people nowadays. Even the older self proclaimed experts seem to be duds more times then not. But is is more then possible to train and mold 80% + of those who walk into your doors into what you need to get your job accomplished. You may not like them, or even respect how they do things, but they can still contirbute positively to your company.

Give 10 people a job to do and you will have 10 different ways to accomplish the same goal.

When I was in the Army I use to tell the other guys to send me their worse troops. I would have them trained up or they would quit. Only two guys left blaming me as the problem. The rest got knowledge and the time spent to train them up to where they need to be. Just beacuse your the boss or supervisor does not mean your good at it.

[HVA7mm]

[QUOTE=BIGBADJOHN;876203]I dont think its a matter of not having a sense of money , more like times have changed . Just like most kids who cant leave there cell phones for more then 5 minutes at a time . Its just the way things have changed , All this technology and electronics .

Kind of like a lot of us b!*@ching about things from a keyboard, rather than sitting around a coffee table, bar room table, or a campfire. Technology is starting to get a bit ridiculous, sometimes all it seems to do is amplify stupidity.
Time for a huge electromagnetic pulse to straighten things out.

[dumoulin]

[QUOTE=BIGBADJOHN;876203]I dont think its a matter of not having a sense of money , more like times have changed . Just like most kids who cant leave there cell phones for more then 5 minutes at a time . Its just the way things have changed , All this technology and electronics .

Kind of like a lot of us b!*@ching about things from a keyboard, rather than sitting around a coffee table, bar room table, or a campfire. Technology is starting to get a bit ridiculous, sometimes all it seems to do is amplify stupidity.
Time for a huge electromagnetic pulse to straighten things out.

You are aware that electromagnetic pulses will also likely cause testicular cancer, straighten short and curlies and wipe out this forum!:mad0030:

[HVA7mm]

[QUOTE=HVA7mm;876403]

You are aware that electromagnetic pulses will also likely cause testicular cancer, straighten short and curlies and wipe out this forum!:mad0030:

Not aware of any health hazards associated with EMP's, but straight short and curlies could perhaps be hazardous. :)

http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/factsheets/factsheets-htm/fs41elecpuls.htm

[JimmerAB]

"If all you pay is peanuts, then all you'll get is monkeys...!"

[pickrel pat]

guess what?........your daddy thought your generation was screwed.....your grampa thought your daddys generation was screwed. great grampa thought grampas generation was screwed..........see the trend?

[midgetwaiter]

"If all you pay is peanuts, then all you'll get is monkeys...!"

A someone who spent part of the recent slow time working in retail I want to tell you all that this is the root cause of the problem. Even or maybe especially in specialty retailers like computers. I was good at that job and I wouldn't mind going back there some day if I didn't make twice as much money for half the stress elsewhere.

How can a store owner pay a decent staff if everyone will cross the street to save $2?

[dumoulin]

guess what?........your daddy thought your generation was screwed.....your grampa thought your daddys generation was screwed. great grampa thought grampas generation was screwed..........see the trend?

LOL Just think when you'll be an old fart at Shadygrove Senior's Lodge, your caregiver will be some over tattooed person with metal ornaments hanging off their face...oh and and iPod in their pocket of their jeans who are half way down or nearly off their ass...

[fishnut9]

The worst part about this whole thing is I'm only 23 and I'm talking about 16 year olds.

[Fisherpeak]

guess what?........your daddy thought your generation was screwed.....your grampa thought your daddys generation was screwed. great grampa thought grampas generation was screwed..........see the trend?

Yeah I do but at least they and we knew that 12x12 was 144 with out bustin` out a calculator,and we didn`t read a tape measure as "24 and 5 little black marks"and we sure as hell didn`t text message our friends while on the jobsite.
My boss decided to hire a promising 23 year old girl who had just finished her third year (carpentry)a big thing for him because he`s an old misogenist.She spent more time on her cell than working.We warned her.A lot.She lasted a month and was ****ed when she got canned.
All kids aren`t like that though,we have a 25 year old in constuction and a 23 year old on rigs,both smart and hard working.There is hope.

[pattycr125]

i think way to much importance has been placed on money and material things that it actually devalues them. kids can't respect $11 dollars an hour because they have been taught by the media that they should be millionaires , so i don't blame them. and things are pricey nowadays even 11$ an hour really doesn't go far at all.

[tibetanpet]

We need to change the way we percieve this "Millenial Generation".

Millennials are the new generation of workers
born after 1982. They have grown up
with personal computers, cable, music
videos, video games and now search
engines as daily interfaces. This has created
actual physical changes in the way their
brains work, revealed by functional MRI’s.

Parents, educators and employers often
perceive them as disloyal, apathetic,
dysfunctional, illiterate, unwilling to be
trained and refusing to be scheduled or
instructed with traditional methods. What
is being observed is actually their ability
to think in non-linear ways, their early
recognition of corporate and educational
“games” and that they see no need to be
“educated” when the information they need
is constantly changing and a click or two
away.

From "Understanding the Millenial Mind" by Scott Degraffenreid. He makes pretty good case...

If anyone is interested in reading the entire treatise, I can e-mail
a copy of the free e-book. Edited to ad: Pm me... :sign0161:

[savage_logan]

I would tend to agree with Marlin xl7.
I too am a teen (17) and I have been working since I was 15. True, some kids are definitely lazy, have no ambition and no desire to excel in life. But please don't let the reputation of all teenagers be tainted by those that have no work ethic. There are rotten apples in every bunch, and the stereotype of teenagers being lazy punks that have no cares about life, who don't know what hard work is, make me very annoyed. I guess my main point is that there are still some youth around that aren't cocky brats, and I reckon this forum has a good bunch of them, as a love for the outdoors and exposure to it seems to produce better kids. Just my opinion.

[denpacc]

First off Marlin Xl7, you sound like a fantastic young kid with a good head on your shoulders. Good on you!

Pickeral Pat made a good point about each generation is perceived as failures by the previous generation.

An aquaintance of mine dropped out of school at age 17, was kicked out of her home at the same age by her father who saw her as a failure. She travelled/hitch hiked across Mexico, Central America, the U.S., and Canada for a couple of years. After that, this "failure" finished her highschool, got a law degree, and owned 45 revenue properties by the time she was 42. Now she is in her early 50's, retired and no longer practices law. Don't always be too quick to judge youngsters.