Poor Work Ethic Running Rampant in America

Recently, the White House boasted about what was perceived to be very good numbers in terms of unemployment in the United States. Statistically, it fell to 3.4%, which is the lowest since 1969. Sounds good right? Well, that depends on how you actually count those numbers.

The American worker, especially in those that fit the Generation Z group and those a bit outside of it up to around 30 or even their mid-30s in some case, seem to have a major problem in terms of work ethic. This has become even more evident and possibly increased by Covid-era incentives to sit home and not work.

The lack of people out there looking for jobs artificially decreases the unemployment rate. It doesn’t count those out of work and not looking which right now is millions of people. How they can afford to live like that, I’m not sure but I can say Covid incentives probably played a role. If we really want to measure employment in America, we should take a look at how many job opening are going unfulfilled.

Everywhere I go it seems like business are hiring. Some are even advertising wages well in excess of what would be expected for unskilled labor. In some case, they are offering sing-on bonuses! Yet, they still can’t seem to fill the jobs. Why is this? The answer is really quite simple.

It is a combination of a sense of entitlement and being brought up soft, with kid gloves. These people now feel like their time is worth more than everyone else’s. They expect their schedule to be exactly what they want. They expect no repercussions for lateness and absences. They except managers to coddle them instead of dealing with them like adults when they make mistakes or intentionally defy authority. And the scary part is, some workplaces are so hard up for bodies that they will put up with almost anything.

The truth is, this is probably one of the easiest times in the history of America to get a job. It used to be people had to complete for position. How, it’s employers competing for workers. While this is good for workers in some ways, there can be too much of a good thing. That’s what is happening right now. This has allowed workers to quit at the drop of a hat over the stupidest things. They know that other places are so desperate for bodies they won’t care about their flighty work histories.

I’ve seen this play out in many locations but perhaps the one I am most familiar with is the workplace of my mother. Since she has been there the turnover rate has been unbelievable. From middle-aged people who worked one day and never came back because it was too hard to young people who would rather work less hours than more when they were offered, the rate is shocking and sad.

Once in a while you get someone who comes along that is driven and hard-working and wants to do the job right but this seems to be exception.

News flash – work is not supposed to be fun, it’s work. And most people don’t find their jobs ideal. But that’s part of being an adult, being grownup. You deal with it.

When we have people who would rather spend their day sitting in their parent’s basement playing video games and watching TikToc videos all day than doing something productive, we have a major problem. For those who are young and old alike contributing to this work ethic epidemic, grow up and act like an adult. We can’t continue under these conditions.