4 ms·

If you’ve seen the workforce, I would argue that employers are dealing with some of the worst employees in US History. I’m not joking. Demotivated, constantly j

If you’ve seen the workforce, I would argue that employers are dealing with some of the worst employees in US History. I’m not joking. Demotivated, constantly job to job, easily bored, poor health, poor “Work ethic,” drug use, alcoholism. Both employer and employee probably share blame for this. This might not be apparent in Silicon Valley, but it is much more real for the rest of America.

jhonof 4y ago
Worker productivity is still some of the highest it has been in US history, caring about motivation or "work ethic" is frankly silly considering that isn't what companies are optimizing for. If companies still offered pensions and kept benefits and salary comparable to competitors they wouldn't be seeing job hopping at the rate they are now. It's a free market, want better employees with a higher "work ethic" that will stick around? You will need to compete. This isn't new, my dad growing up worked in IB and would switch jobs, or use existing offers as leverage for salary benefits, once every 2-3 years, and he switched jobs multiple times in my childhood.
rexreed 4y ago
The generalization aside, if organizations are having such labor issues, what is the motivation for mistreating employees? Doesn't it just exacerbate and compound labor issues? How is any of this helpful? Just retaliatory?
- polygamous_bat 4y ago
  In my opinion the pattern looks very similar to that of an abusive parent/partner. Only rarely do such a person correct their ways once pointed out that they are being abusive, and most only ramp up their abuse to try to "silence" the complaints.
ben7799 4y ago
It's very hard to believe things are worse than they used to be. Go back to the "golden age" of manufacturing and boom times in the US post WWII. Drugs were not illegal, drunk driving was not illegal. Drinking lots was totally normal. No one thought any of it was an issue, so they likely were a lot more messed up and just didn't really care. People were taking smoke breaks constantly during the day which was certainly a drag on productivity. All the bad behavior was so normalized they didn't even think it was a problem.
- selectodude 4y ago
  Heh, “don’t buy a car built on a monday” is a saying that continues to this day because everybody showing up so hungover to their jobs.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I assumed modern factories were operated 7 days per week, considering the huge up front capital costs of all the new technologies and automation.
    - selectodude 4y ago
      It's almost certainly not true anymore, but the stories out of the Fremont Assembly plant in Oakland are legendary. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/transcript
  - ROTMetro 4y ago
    Don't get to a hospital when new medical students start doing their residencies ;)
devoutsalsa 4y ago
No one quits a job worth keeping.
- postalrat 4y ago
  Maybe in a perfect world.
yardie 4y ago
> Both employer and employee probably share blame for this. Management sets the terms and tone of the workplace and employees provide the labor. If they can only hire drug users and alcoholics with poor work ethic maybe look into why that is the case and fix that. Chances are your best employees are getting recruited away with better pay.
- Spivak 4y ago
  Also because when the parent says "drug use" they probably mean people who smoke weed. Referring, obviously, to the US moral decline along with disrespecting your parents and "gangster rap."
  - yardie 4y ago
    No, I think the parent means meth and fentanyl. It's a major problem right now in general throughout the US. It's being under-reported due to COVID but is making a major surge right now. When it affects white Americans it gets reported as a health issue, but is criminal vice when its infected black communities. But this isn't it. Workers with a clean record and can pass a drug screen have no problem finding work right now.
xenocratus 4y ago
Perhaps this is relevant: https://twitter.com/paulisci/status/1549527748950892544 https://twitter.com/paulisci/status/1549527748950892544
AlexandrB 4y ago
> constantly job to job Just to comment on this specifically, it was pretty obvious to me from a young (<18 in the late 90s) age that the era of companies taking care of their employees and maintaining benefits like pensions was over. I'm sure I'm not the only one. If you treat employees as interchangeable cogs don't be surprised when employees treat you as interchangeable in return.
- chasd00 4y ago
  > don't be surprised when employees treat you as interchangeable in return. how could it be otherwise? The concepts of "company loyalty" from the employee and "being taken care of" by the company always baffled me. Why would you think a company is going to take care of you? Why would a company expect loyalty from an employee? A deal is a deal, if either side doesn't uphold their part of the agreement then the agreement is over. I don't see how it can be otherwise.
  - thesuitonym 4y ago
    >Why would you think a company is going to take care of you? You would think that because 50 years ago it was the norm. Companies had pensions. Companies used to have cost-of-living wage increases in addition to annual performance increases. The reward for working at a company for 20 years used to be a cushy management position, less work and more pay. Now it's a coupon for $10 off at a chain restaurant. If you put yourself in that mindset, company loyalty is obvious. Find a job you like, and stick with it until retirement. But that isn't the case anymore.

jhonof 4y ago

Worker productivity is still some of the highest it has been in US history, caring about motivation or "work ethic" is frankly silly considering that isn't what companies are optimizing for. If companies still offered pensions and kept benefits and salary comparable to competitors they wouldn't be seeing job hopping at the rate they are now. It's a free market, want better employees with a higher "work ethic" that will stick around? You will need to compete. This isn't new, my dad growing up worked in IB and would switch jobs, or use existing offers as leverage for salary benefits, once every 2-3 years, and he switched jobs multiple times in my childhood.

rexreed 4y ago

The generalization aside, if organizations are having such labor issues, what is the motivation for mistreating employees? Doesn't it just exacerbate and compound labor issues? How is any of this helpful? Just retaliatory?

polygamous_bat 4y ago
In my opinion the pattern looks very similar to that of an abusive parent/partner. Only rarely do such a person correct their ways once pointed out that they are being abusive, and most only ramp up their abuse to try to "silence" the complaints.

ben7799 4y ago

It's very hard to believe things are worse than they used to be. Go back to the "golden age" of manufacturing and boom times in the US post WWII. Drugs were not illegal, drunk driving was not illegal. Drinking lots was totally normal. No one thought any of it was an issue, so they likely were a lot more messed up and just didn't really care. People were taking smoke breaks constantly during the day which was certainly a drag on productivity. All the bad behavior was so normalized they didn't even think it was a problem.

selectodude 4y ago
Heh, “don’t buy a car built on a monday” is a saying that continues to this day because everybody showing up so hungover to their jobs.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I assumed modern factories were operated 7 days per week, considering the huge up front capital costs of all the new technologies and automation.
  - selectodude 4y ago
    It's almost certainly not true anymore, but the stories out of the Fremont Assembly plant in Oakland are legendary. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/transcript
- ROTMetro 4y ago
  Don't get to a hospital when new medical students start doing their residencies ;)

devoutsalsa 4y ago

No one quits a job worth keeping.

postalrat 4y ago
Maybe in a perfect world.

yardie 4y ago

> Both employer and employee probably share blame for this. Management sets the terms and tone of the workplace and employees provide the labor. If they can only hire drug users and alcoholics with poor work ethic maybe look into why that is the case and fix that. Chances are your best employees are getting recruited away with better pay.

Spivak 4y ago
Also because when the parent says "drug use" they probably mean people who smoke weed. Referring, obviously, to the US moral decline along with disrespecting your parents and "gangster rap."
- yardie 4y ago
  No, I think the parent means meth and fentanyl. It's a major problem right now in general throughout the US. It's being under-reported due to COVID but is making a major surge right now. When it affects white Americans it gets reported as a health issue, but is criminal vice when its infected black communities. But this isn't it. Workers with a clean record and can pass a drug screen have no problem finding work right now.

xenocratus 4y ago

Perhaps this is relevant: https://twitter.com/paulisci/status/1549527748950892544 https://twitter.com/paulisci/status/1549527748950892544

AlexandrB 4y ago

> constantly job to job Just to comment on this specifically, it was pretty obvious to me from a young (<18 in the late 90s) age that the era of companies taking care of their employees and maintaining benefits like pensions was over. I'm sure I'm not the only one. If you treat employees as interchangeable cogs don't be surprised when employees treat you as interchangeable in return.

chasd00 4y ago
> don't be surprised when employees treat you as interchangeable in return. how could it be otherwise? The concepts of "company loyalty" from the employee and "being taken care of" by the company always baffled me. Why would you think a company is going to take care of you? Why would a company expect loyalty from an employee? A deal is a deal, if either side doesn't uphold their part of the agreement then the agreement is over. I don't see how it can be otherwise.
- thesuitonym 4y ago
  >Why would you think a company is going to take care of you? You would think that because 50 years ago it was the norm. Companies had pensions. Companies used to have cost-of-living wage increases in addition to annual performance increases. The reward for working at a company for 20 years used to be a cushy management position, less work and more pay. Now it's a coupon for $10 off at a chain restaurant. If you put yourself in that mindset, company loyalty is obvious. Find a job you like, and stick with it until retirement. But that isn't the case anymore.