Tag Archives: youtube

The American Work Force is in deep…..

This post is for people who are 54 to 72 years of age, better known as the baby boomer generation. So, if you aren’t in this age group, then just click back to Google land. That being said, I will begin my lament. The American work force is in deep doo-doo. I know, because I employ those people that are less than 54 years of age, most of them in their 20’s and lower 30’s. The sense of entitlement is off the charts. The lack of gratitude is unbelievable. Those of you that are not baby boomers are not going to be able to relate to this. We grew up in a different America. (I know that some of you are going to say, “Good, I’m glad I wasn’t born in your Victorian age) Our parents were the product of having to walk through the great depression. There was no Social Security, no welfare, no unemployment compensation. You depended on family to help get you through tough times; you didn’t look to the government for a handout.
Most of us did not live in McMansions. We lived in small bungalows or one story ranches. The house payment was something that every working family was able to pay without both parents having to work. We owned one car. We used public transportation. We had one TV in the house and we had 3 stations. That was good enough for us. You were able to be an electrician, a carpenter, a salesperson or a baker and afford a decent place to live. Health insurance was reasonable and there was the possibility of retiring from one company that you worked at all of your adult life.

I have talked to many CEO’s and they are having a hard time filling positions. People just don’t want to work. They get these kind of responses:

  • It’s too hard, I thought this job was going to be easy.
  • I want to master this job in one month like my old job.
  • Google employees get to work when they want and work from home.
  • I want unlimited time off.
  • This job is boring.
  • I want to be a YouTube sensation.

I have answers for these statements above:

  • Any job that is worth anything takes practice and repetition to be good. If you want easy, then go bag groceries, but beware, you can’t put canned goods on top of eggs.
  • If you mastered a job in one month, then it wasn’t much of a job. Any job that you can master in one month is sort of like an assembly worker putting a rivet into a fender on a car. Pick up rivet, insert in rivet gun, pop rivet in fender, repeat.
  • You have no skills that Google would want. If you want to work for Google, then you need to be a top notch coder and then if you are the best of the best at Google, MAYBE they might let you work from home every now and then.
  • If you have unlimited time off, why am I paying you to work? I tell you what, I will give you unlimited time off, it’s called “You’re fired!!”
  • Well now, isn’t that special. This job is boring. How about your last job selling phones at Verizon. Was that exciting applying customer’s payments on phone accounts that got cut off because they value having a cell phone more than buying groceries? Even being an astronaut gets boring after the 300th time. Deal with it or go find another job.
  • Everybody wants to be a YouTube sensation. Create a YouTube channel after you get off work and find your voice that others want to listen to. You need to learn to use video and audio software. You have to work everyday at producing quality content. Most good YouTubers work 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. Don’t believe me, listen to one of the top YouTubers Casey Neistat.

I’m not saying that everyone that I have hired is a lazy, entitled prick or prickett. I’m saying that most of them are, or are leaning that way. I have hired 3 Asian interns over the past 2 summers and they have blown me away. They are not just on time. They arrive early, they don’t take lunch until they are at a good stopping point, they don’t take smoke breaks or potty breaks every 6.5 minutes. They type usually 90+ wpm with like 1 error and they pick up tasks so fast that I keep asking them, “Don’t you have any questions?” When I check their work, it is correct. They take criticism constructively. They don’t tell the rest of the staff, “He is so mean, he told me that I needed to improve.” Do you know why this is? It’s because their family background is more like my parents and grandparents. To do something well that you are proud of, you had to work at it. It wasn’t something that you perfected in one month. If you have noticed, many of the YouTube sensational instrument players (violin, cello, piano etc) are of Asian descent. To become good at something, you have to practice. This means you have to lay down your phone, tablet or keyboard and you have to apply yourself. Your boss is your boss, not your friend. He or she is someone that is in authority and typically they got there because they put in the time over the years, not due to nepotism.  When I used to talk face to face with my construction customers, they complained “All the Mexicans are taking our jobs.” Do you know why? They are willing to work longer and for less money than you are. They don’t insist on driving an $85K Ford F-350 or living on 5 acres with a $750,000 home. They do what our fathers and grandfathers did.

I’m all about hiring the best person for the job, that means if he or she is 3rd generation American or 1st generation Asian, it doesn’t matter. I need a job done and I’m looking for the best person to do that job. I just want to get a fair amount of work for the more than fair wage that I pay. It’s time to stop playing the entitlement card and learn from, God forbid, Baby Boomers about working hard, playing hard and feeling good about what you did before you punch out for the day.