4 ms·

It only takes a couple weeks working in any company that has young employees to know that 90+% of those employees under 30 think they're the greatest thing sinc

It only takes a couple weeks working in any company that has young employees to know that 90+% of those employees under 30 think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread and that all of their amazingness is simply unused and underpaid. It's really sad actually because it means in 10 years we are gonna have significant work depression levels due to children being raised to believe their reality would be much different than it will turn out.

FrozenTuna 9y ago
I think a lot of this stems from training for job interviews. A few years ago, I was doing a gig as a consultant for a while before I realized that side of the industry wasn't for me. While on the job, I was trained (by 45+ y/o's) to walk into interviews and new jobs like I was 100% the best because that's what employers expect in today's job market. I believe its more the effect of a "Fake it 'til you make it" culture that stems from a result of lowered employment prospects as mentioned in this thread.
jbattle 9y ago
I saw the exact same thing at one of my jobs! Kids barely out of school convinced everyone over 30 was completely out of touch and unable to learn new things. After two years of working they all expected to be "architect" this and "manager" that. Of course, this was 20 years ago, which is to say - the more people change the more they stay the same
superhuzza 9y ago
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” -Socrates, ~450 BC
- acheron 9y ago
  Nope. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-childre... I would say this is an example of Abraham Lincoln's famous observation "you shouldn't trust quotes on the Internet", but that one predates the Internet, so you probably shouldn't trust quotes in newspapers either.
  - skate22 9y ago
    I dont think the author of that comment expected people to take that one literally. I interpretted it as how the op felt older generations view younger generations.
  - msla 9y ago
    The fact is, some older people have always been prejudiced towards younger people, to the point it's a cliche, and, therefore, the five millionth iteration of it isn't interesting, or valid, or true, or even much worth hearing. (... and it's especially rich to hear it coming from the Boomers... and I'm sure the more historically-aware of the Boomers thought it was quite rich to hear it coming from the Jazz Age refugees... )
  - spicymaki 9y ago
    Thank you!
  - slededit 9y ago
    It doesn't really invalidate his argument considering the quote was a summary of ancient writing in a student's thesis.
jvagner 9y ago
In the last two years I hired 6 college graduating seniors. None of them knew how to address an envelope... and only one thought to google for the answer. We had to throw out a ton of (customer conference) literature packets because the labels and stamps were just randomly (and unattractively) slapped on.
- overcast 9y ago
  Maybe put that on your interview exam, rather than silly programming questions no one uses in real life.
- lordCarbonFiber 9y ago
  Truly the height of engineering achievement; addressing letters.
  - crpatino 9y ago
    You jest... but I have a very clear memory from 2006: "18 years of education, and I cannot figure out how to handle a fucking phone". I almost cried myself to sleep that day. Now, on the other hand, think company trainning is subpar everywhere. I did not grow up in an office, so it's not a reasonable expectation for me to be aware of what advanced functions office phones do have. And no, dumping a manual on you it's not an answer. That's why having a work culture where existing employees actively show the ropes to the new ones is a imponderable yet undervalued asset for any company.
- astura 9y ago
  It seems needlessly expensive to have engineers stamping letters as opposed to administrative assistants.
fallingfrog 9y ago
That hasn't been my experience at all. The young people I've worked with work hard, don't have overly high expectations, and are generally fun to get along with. Perhaps this is a reflection of the kind of people your company is hiring (newer hires tend to be younger) rather than young people, in general.
zwieback 9y ago
Depends where you work. At my site (hp, engineering R&D) we've hired a lot of young employees lately and I'm very impressed with their attitude and maturity. Popular current opinion had me fearing for the worst but now I think our future is in good hands. There is a shift in communication styles and processes, but even though I'm an old fart I have no hangups about trying new processes. Just don't take my email away (or my statically typed language).
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mwfunk 9y ago
People who are fresh out of school can be way overconfident, in part because they don’t know what they don’t know yet. No generational trends required, I was certainly that way in the ‘90s. So many times when I hear people complain about kids today and contrasting it with themselves at the same age, they’re comparing how they thought of themselves at the time (which is usually very different from how other people saw them), vs how they view someone else today. It’s a variant of, we judge ourselves by our motivations but we judge other people by their actions. It’s a very difficult thing to be objective about.
tjr225 9y ago
Please. Spend a week on a cruise ship surrounded by rude, fat, entitled old people. I've never been more ashamed of my fellow Americans than the time I was forced to spend a week surrounded by a typical baby boomer's idea of a vacation.
- jblow 9y ago
  Why do you think that's a "typical baby boomer's idea of a vacation"? The people you were observing were 100% pre-selected to be the type of people who would go on a cruise. It's obviously not representative of the population at large.

FrozenTuna 9y ago

I think a lot of this stems from training for job interviews. A few years ago, I was doing a gig as a consultant for a while before I realized that side of the industry wasn't for me. While on the job, I was trained (by 45+ y/o's) to walk into interviews and new jobs like I was 100% the best because that's what employers expect in today's job market. I believe its more the effect of a "Fake it 'til you make it" culture that stems from a result of lowered employment prospects as mentioned in this thread.

jbattle 9y ago

I saw the exact same thing at one of my jobs! Kids barely out of school convinced everyone over 30 was completely out of touch and unable to learn new things. After two years of working they all expected to be "architect" this and "manager" that. Of course, this was 20 years ago, which is to say - the more people change the more they stay the same

superhuzza 9y ago

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” -Socrates, ~450 BC

acheron 9y ago
Nope. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-childre... I would say this is an example of Abraham Lincoln's famous observation "you shouldn't trust quotes on the Internet", but that one predates the Internet, so you probably shouldn't trust quotes in newspapers either.
- skate22 9y ago
  I dont think the author of that comment expected people to take that one literally. I interpretted it as how the op felt older generations view younger generations.
- msla 9y ago
  The fact is, some older people have always been prejudiced towards younger people, to the point it's a cliche, and, therefore, the five millionth iteration of it isn't interesting, or valid, or true, or even much worth hearing. (... and it's especially rich to hear it coming from the Boomers... and I'm sure the more historically-aware of the Boomers thought it was quite rich to hear it coming from the Jazz Age refugees... )
- spicymaki 9y ago
  Thank you!
- slededit 9y ago
  It doesn't really invalidate his argument considering the quote was a summary of ancient writing in a student's thesis.

jvagner 9y ago

In the last two years I hired 6 college graduating seniors. None of them knew how to address an envelope... and only one thought to google for the answer. We had to throw out a ton of (customer conference) literature packets because the labels and stamps were just randomly (and unattractively) slapped on.

overcast 9y ago
Maybe put that on your interview exam, rather than silly programming questions no one uses in real life.
lordCarbonFiber 9y ago
Truly the height of engineering achievement; addressing letters.
- crpatino 9y ago
  You jest... but I have a very clear memory from 2006: "18 years of education, and I cannot figure out how to handle a fucking phone". I almost cried myself to sleep that day. Now, on the other hand, think company trainning is subpar everywhere. I did not grow up in an office, so it's not a reasonable expectation for me to be aware of what advanced functions office phones do have. And no, dumping a manual on you it's not an answer. That's why having a work culture where existing employees actively show the ropes to the new ones is a imponderable yet undervalued asset for any company.
astura 9y ago
It seems needlessly expensive to have engineers stamping letters as opposed to administrative assistants.

fallingfrog 9y ago

That hasn't been my experience at all. The young people I've worked with work hard, don't have overly high expectations, and are generally fun to get along with. Perhaps this is a reflection of the kind of people your company is hiring (newer hires tend to be younger) rather than young people, in general.

zwieback 9y ago

Depends where you work. At my site (hp, engineering R&D) we've hired a lot of young employees lately and I'm very impressed with their attitude and maturity. Popular current opinion had me fearing for the worst but now I think our future is in good hands. There is a shift in communication styles and processes, but even though I'm an old fart I have no hangups about trying new processes. Just don't take my email away (or my statically typed language).

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

mwfunk 9y ago

People who are fresh out of school can be way overconfident, in part because they don’t know what they don’t know yet. No generational trends required, I was certainly that way in the ‘90s. So many times when I hear people complain about kids today and contrasting it with themselves at the same age, they’re comparing how they thought of themselves at the time (which is usually very different from how other people saw them), vs how they view someone else today. It’s a variant of, we judge ourselves by our motivations but we judge other people by their actions. It’s a very difficult thing to be objective about.

tjr225 9y ago

Please. Spend a week on a cruise ship surrounded by rude, fat, entitled old people. I've never been more ashamed of my fellow Americans than the time I was forced to spend a week surrounded by a typical baby boomer's idea of a vacation.

jblow 9y ago
Why do you think that's a "typical baby boomer's idea of a vacation"? The people you were observing were 100% pre-selected to be the type of people who would go on a cruise. It's obviously not representative of the population at large.