I’ve watched my share of entitled, whiny brats complaining about having to work a job. It’s rough to see, and it implies some less than great parenting, and some HORRID schooling. I don’t think that it’s the majority of kids/young adults, though. But there is definitely a question as to whether people WANT to work anymore.
So the bottom line is that no, no one wants to work 60 hours for 40 hours of pay, or be at work more than home, or spend home time doing work stuff. No one wants to be laid off or fired via an email, or even worse, a text. That’s correct. But the reality is that sometimes, we do HAVE to work 60 hours, regardless of the pay. Sometimes we see the office more than home, because it’s the right thing to do either for your company or your family.
I recently saw an ad on FaceBook asking for people to go to work at a local company. They were desperate for people, they said. The offered $12/hour for skilled employees. Skilled. They had a laundry list of tasks (not standard stuff, either) that each employee would have to be able to do.
If I can get work at McDonald’s for $19/hour, why in heaven’s name would I want to do a SKILLED job for $12/hour?
That’s a bit part of a real problem. The idea that companies want to hire people with university degrees (real ones, not glamorized participation trophy ones) who owe thousands of dollars in school loans, for less than they could make working retail, is just awful. That’s not how companies get employees.
They’ve taken away the perks. I have watched the teacher in my life go from having what we all referred to as “Cadillac insurance” to taking the best insurance offered and still having a $8000 out of pocket pay and not even half of prescriptions. That’s what’s now being called Cadillac insurance. It’s ridiculous.
I’m seeing companies take away paid lunches, paid holidays, paid anything. There are no more Christmas parties or even something as pitiful as a card on your birthday. In fact, a lot of companies are choosing not to have any full time employees at all. After all, why should they? Full time employees have to be given insurance if the company has more than 50 employees. There’s no incentive at all for them to hire full time folks. That leaves people, honest and hardworking people, scrambling to find second or third jobs to be able to afford basic stuff.
I don’t know how we fix this. We could mandate that any company that has full time hours (Walmart, McDonald’s, etc) must hire full time employees to a certain percentage, but I hate mandates. I don’t want to force them to do it because otherwise they fold. I want them to know that doing the right thing means their business gets better. How do we do that? I have no idea.
On the left, of course, mandates are all the rage. They want to make companies do certain things, without taking into account that what works for one company may not work for another. They also lose sight of the fact that companies forced to do things they don’t want to will eventually figure out legal ways around it. They have people for that.
America has also outsourced so much of its work! I have friends who run one of the largest historic tent making companies in the world. They had to email all their customers last week to explain that they can’t get canvas, and therefore can’t take anymore orders for 2026, and maybe not for 2027 either. They have the WORK. People want tents, they’re willing to pay for them, and they’re eager. But if you have no canvas, you can’t make tents.
They used to get their canvas from the Ukraine, because it was cheaper and frankly better made. Slowly, stuff in America became crappy. Why buy crap when you can get better abroad? Well, now we have tariffs, which I still agree with in general, so that canvas out of country is no longer cheaper. That SHOULD mean we get someone here to make canvas, but that’s not happening. And if it was, it would just be spinning up right now, and quality product would not be shipping in time for customers who want tents NOW.
This is, of course, the downside to tariffs. Yes, it can encourage Americans to make and use American goods, and I believe that should be happening. But during this transition period? We’re killing small American companies, the companies Trump wanted to save. At this rate, by the time we’re able to make our own stuff again, we won’t HAVE any small companies left. We’ll be relegated to Wallyworld and its ilk, which bothers me.
There are so many problems with work right now, even in places where folks WANT to work, and badly.
Entirely too long of a comment warning… There are a lot of things going on here.
BLUF: No one owes you anything. You need to earn it.
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First of all, you’re absolutely correct. No one wants to work. If it was something you wanted to do, it would be called a hobby, and you would pay to do it.
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Next, yes, your boss is going to ask you to take time away from the things you like to do.
You are in business for yourself. You are selling your experience, time, and skills to your employer. No different than running a small business. If you started up a food truck, you would be away from your family and working way too many hours. What is really different?
Which leads me to…
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You are the only person responsible for ensuring you earn what you think you deserve. If you are laboring away at a job for 60 hours a week, and not making what you think you should be making… get a new job. One that is paying you what you deserve. And… if you cannot find that job, maybe your current job is the one to keep. The average person has zero idea of what their skills and experience are worth on the free market. (Yes, that is tough to find out, but AI can assist massively in that kind of search.)
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Perks: I have a simple solution, but it will never see the light of day.
Fringe benefits were created so companies could attract and retain employees without increasing payroll. At a minimum, your salary comes with a minimum 6.2% Social Security tax placed directly onto the employer. Pay the employee a bit less, but toss in some perks and it benefits both parties. However, that practice has grown to be such a major part of the work environment that is is expected, no demanded of by the workers. If any government imposed mandate were to happen, it would be no company can offer fringe benefits to any employee. Want time off, it is without pay, but knowing that upfront, you can plan for it. Same with insurance, you get to choose the level you want, or none at all, but carry the full burden of costs.
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Now… you specifically mention healthcare insurance. Cadillac plans have become middle-of-the-road plans for a reason. It is the same reason why employers are not hiring full time employees. Government mandates. Specifically, Obamacare. Not only is that what happens when Government mandates stuff (why consider the consequences? People want cheaper healthcare! And, they want it now!) It is also what happens when you allow the insurance companies to write the law. I could write 1000-1500 words on how awful the ACA was for the health industry in the USA, but that is another topic.
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Outsourcing work to foreign nations. I am not surprised it happens at all. A company incurs somewhere around 50% overhead costs for every employee. If you are earning $100K a year, it is costing your employer more than $150K. Yes, there are things like workspace costs, electric, training, downtime, etc… but the bulk of that additional $50K is benefits and taxes. If I pay you less, I can keep my product competitively priced and remain in business. Which leads to the root cause of the reason for outsourcing, employee demands. People with zero experience demanding a $15/hr starting wage? Get real, not happening. People with 10 years experience and a degree (or two) demanding six weeks vacation and medical insurance that includes dental and vision coverage. Again, pricing themselves out of a job.
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If it costs the employer more to employ that individual than they bring to the company, they do not want them. But, currently the attitude of the job seeker is the opposite of I want to work and earn those perks, they demand them upfront. A company cannot run in the black if they met those demands, so they go overseas and get the supplies or products at a labor cost that results in profit.
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Is there a fix? Yeah. A major depression, bread lines, etc… Society as a whole needs to learn lesson number one. No one owes you anything, you need to earn it.
Of course you’re right. Though at one time, ten years with a company DID earn you vacation (maybe not six weeks, but maybe 3 or even 4) and dental/vision. Loyalty meant something. Today, loyalty really doesn’t, and I put that one right onto the employers. People generally don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers. And so many people right now are BAD managers.
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Totally agree on the Obamacare thing. I’m struggling with social security. It was meant as a backup, something to boost your income after retirement, but it’s become THE retirement money… and it isn’t living up to what it was originally planned to do. It’s going to fail at some point, probably relatively soon because our birth rates are declining. There won’t be as many young ones to provide for the older who need the funds. Once it’s underwater, it’ll get dumped. Not a problem if you plan for it, but it really does suck that basically an entire generation’s money is going down the toilet with a giant slurp, and isn’t really helping anyone. That means they’re paying out with an expectation of getting that same help when they retire… knowing damn well it isn’t going to be there for them. So they know they’re being forced (at gunpoint, because any tax stuff done through the government is, essentially, done at gunpoint) to hand their money over for no reason at all. No wonder the youngest are irritated at that. I know I am.
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And I hate to break it to you, but starting wages at McD’s and Wendy’s around here ranges between $12 and $15/hour. STARTING wages. For high schoolers walking in the door with no idea how to work a fryolater. So yeah, it IS happening, and it IS real. And I don’t live in a terribly high income area. We’re middlin’ at best.
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There are job seekers who understand the system, are doing their best, and still getting screwed. I’ll be honest, I don’t care much for the ones whinging about not being able to afford their soy latte. But I do care a lot about the kids who are knuckling down, working hard, doing all the stuff we’ve told them to do… and who are still getting the short end of the stick. I’d say it’s not fair, but LIFE isn’t fair, so that isn’t the right thing to say. I’m sad for them. I don’t want them to go through that. I’ve tried to tell our kids, hold onto your cash, because the way financial cycles go, you’re heading into a big depression. Be prepared. I think they’ve heard. I worry they haven’t.
$12-15 starting wages at fast food joints? Not surprising. Want to keep your business running, you gotta get workers in there. There is a reason why automation and self service kiosks are showing up more and more often. The problem is not wages going up because of the market, it is when the government gets involved and forces an unrealistic wage. But, when the President shows up on TV and says the minimum wage should be $15, well… the young and unskilled want to see it happen, so they start demanding it.
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As to loyalty, it is a both sides are to blame situation. Yes, absolutely horrible managers, but employees contribute to that culture as well. If people in general realized you are in business for yourself, and you are selling your time and skills to the highest bidder, and your employer realized they are the customer for those skills and time… perhaps a bit more loyalty and caring about what the other party thinks will happen. Then again, unicorns might fly out of my butt before breakfast tomorrow. Tough to say which will happen first.
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Social Security will fail. Like any other entitlement program, the takers will always start outnumbering the contributors resulting in deficits and failure. I am approaching retirement age, and SS is not part of my calculations. If I get it, fantastic, that is an additional slug of funds for fun, but if not, I am good. But, I know I am in the minority there. And, the politicians response? Do nothing but borrow and increase the debt. Why? Because they want to get re-elected. There is a reason why I oppose any government entitlement programs, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, etc… The net result is always the same, increased debt.
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Right now, it is election time, and I am listening to ads. The ones from the left are almost always the same. Cuts to Medicaid are going to cost some poor woman, working three jobs to take care of her disabled son, more money. So, vote for the Democrat because the population at large should be forced to pay more in taxes so some stranger can get cheaper health insurance. In what world should I be forced to pay for someone else’s medical care? How is enslaving me in that manner right? Which is the same problem with every government entitlement program ever created. Suddenly, it becomes OK for people to demand those who work pay for the expenses of those who “cannot afford” it.
“Sometimes we see the office more than home, because it’s the right thing to do either for your company or your family.”
This narrowly misses a major point, which is that caring for your family is a major motivator for a lot of men (there’s all the data for instance showing married men/fathers out earn unmarried/childless men by a good deal), and that given that there’s a lot of people unmarried in recent generations, who haven’t kids, its not a surprise to see them less motivated in the trying-to-make-money world.
I get that. But I think it’s shifted slightly. There are some people, penis not required, who really consider paying the bills and keeping a house over the family’s head, to be a major motivator. While there is definitely a place for the family that has a male working outside the home, and a woman raising the children… there are also places for two parents working (once kids are in school), for a stay at home dad (if mom has more earning potential, or there’s some other reason for it to be that way), or for a blended family (either older generations helping to care for younger ones, OR poly families where there’s more than one bread earner, and still someone home with the kids, for those who choose to live that way).
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Gonna be frank… among those under 50, I am not seeing a lot of men motivated by caring for their families. Frankly, I’m not seeing nearly so many MEN as I ought. *sigh*
“Gonna be frank… among those under 50, I am not seeing a lot of men motivated by caring for their families. Frankly, I’m not seeing nearly so many MEN as I ought. *sigh*”
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I wonder why that is happening??? Here are a few thoughts.
“A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”
“Get in touch with your feminine side.”
Metrosexual
SNAP/Welfare/EBT (replaces the husband with the government)
Trump will drag you back to the 50s! (ZOMG! The HORRORS!!! What was so bad about the 50s?)
Women need to be CEOs and Presidents, equality starts from the top! (I will believe women are really interesting in equality, instead of control, when they start demanding equal representation as welders, heavy equipment operators, and other dirty jobs.)
Toxic masculinity.
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The point is, men have been told over the last four to five decades that they are not needed. I am sure it was not the intent of the woman’s lib movement, but it was an unintended consequence. Men have been informed they are not wanted. Women have also been trained to think being a housewife, caring for the children, and keeping the house is somehow below them. IF they do not have a “career” somehow they are inferior. Because, raising your children is not a full time job, or something…
There are *some* issues with the 50s. I love having life set up so a woman can choose to stay home. But I do not believe in *demanding* that she do so, and that is something that happened in the 50s. Working out of the house was not a choice many women could make. We couldn’t hold a credit card or open a bank account without a husband’s signature. The list goes on.
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I don’t want equality with men. I want the freedom to make whatever choices I feel I must, and partners who support that choice (along with the consequences of that choice, btw… if I choose poorly, that’s my own damn thing and I am not asking to be rescued from it). If I want to work, I should be able to. I should be able to get a bank account, etc, as I do now (and NOT as it was in the 50s). There are things about today that are much better than they were back then.
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Yes, we need to fix a lot of things. Totally agree. Among those things, we have to have men who act AS MEN, and women who act as women. But we need to do it in a new way. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle… nor should there be.
>Among those under 50, I am not seeing a lot of men motivated by caring for their families.
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My point is that, among those under 50, I am not seeing a lot of men with families to be motivated by. Among those men under 50 with families to lead and care for, I see plenty of motivation.
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Maybe what we need to do is put more men in positions with wives and children who depend on them, and we will find many of them will rise to the challenge.