Blame it largely on the pandemic, which weakened the hold the workplace held on people’s psyches
By outward appearances, the labor market today looks much as it did before the pandemic. The unemployment rate is just as low, the share of adults in the labor force is just as high, and wages are growing at roughly the same pace after inflation.
But beneath the surface, the nature of labor has changed profoundly. Career and work aren’t nearly as central to the lives of Americans. They want more time for their families and themselves, and more flexibility about when, where and how they work.
The impact of this change can already be seen in both individual companies and the broader economy. It has led to a persistent shortage of workers, especially in jobs that seem less desirable because, for example, they require in-person work or fixed hours. That, in turn, has altered the bargaining position of employers and employees—forcing employers to adapt, not just by paying more but giving priority to quality of life in job offers.
To be sure, some of these changes arise from an exceptionally tight labor market. If unemployment rises, some of employees’ newfound leverage may evaporate.
I actually enjoy my job. I like the people and I like the environment and I get paid decently as well. From what I’ve observed personally, everybody wants a job but it seems like the general work ethic of the younger generation is very poor. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming them. I actually do not think it’s their fault, I think it’s just the way that they’ve been raised. So many iPad babies.
ipads came out in 2008. People who grew up as ipad babies are literally JUST able to start working now. Gen Z didn’t grow up with ipads instead of parents. That’s the generation coming up right now.
I think the issue is with slave wages and not being able to survive on one job. I understand that this is a rampant problem.
But I’m so glad for you that this serious problem does not apply to you.
I don’t understand why this is the prevailing sentiment here. Almost everyone here is computer savvy and more than likely most people here either work in high tech high paying industries, or at least decent paying and probably use computers somehow. So why is everyone saying you need two jobs? That might be true for the population on average but it would seem not to apply to people here.
That might be true for the population on average but it would seem not to apply to people here
I hear you, and thank you for that point.
I was thinking about the average, however, and trying to speak on their behalf.
You’re right, it doesn’t apply to me. I pay my employees decent wages.
Everyone has said this about the younger generations for as long as humans have been around.
I understand that and I used to say the same thing. That’s ridiculous, old people just don’t like the younger generation BUT I’ve seen it. I currently work at the same place that I worked at almost 20 years ago. I did the same job then that they are doing now. It is almost frightening how many kids lack common sense and basic skills. Maybe it’s always been that way but it’s something I’ve observed personally. Don’t get me wrong, I work with some extremely smart and talented teens but they are few and far between.
how many kids lack common sense and basic skills
Because the common sense and basic skills that they use every day are different, they exist in an entirely different world.
Yes they are different but they are still COMMON and BASIC. As in, they should be something that everyone possesses regardless of the world they live in. The sad thing is that so many of these kids don’t have them. It’s not their fault, I understand that. I try to share my knowledge with anyone that wants to listen
It’s this total lack of self awareness that has defined the older generations forever, as well.
No appreciation for how the world has changed for young people and the new challenges they face, overweighting the things older people have seen and done.
Don’t be part of the problem with the world.
Examples?
The employers care about neither the employee nor the quality of work. Some People learn to meet expectations and compensation. This is nothing to do with the workers and everything to do with changes in the employers.
Won’t somebody think of the shareholders!
Me while holding my firearm
Americans are being treated like shit by their bosses and are finally starting to realize that the fantasy of “anyone can be rich” they’ve been promised all their lives is a total sham. Of course they’re not working as hard.
My read on this is we are readjusting the deal, seems like a good thing. Let’s keep going. We don’t need more rich people who never need to work while there are still people who must work their whole lives just to survive.
This comment offers such great perspective that I wish more people were aware of. The problem with the youngest generation is always there same. Maybe Gen Z will remember where the rest of us have forgotten, but historically the odds are long.
Eh, I have faith that the wide availability of knowledge will lead to a better result
Plus less lead doesn’t hurt the odds.
Eh, I have faith that the wide availability of knowledge will lead to a better result
You wouldn’t want anything to happen to them Tik Toks now, would you?
Racks shotgun Republicanly
Once we get over killing each other about it, it’s gonna be great
1 in 5 Executive leaders agree with this statement…
Imagine lie so bad that even executives have hard time agreeing xD
It’s telling that the people who push this narrative are the people whose jobs pay the most money for the least amount of actual work.
Yeah but they deserve it because they are the guilded class and also fuck you.
Nobody should ever want to work, work should be the thing we work on minimising to maximise our living.
Work to live, don’t live to work.
They say blame the pandemic. I say blame the companies that bitch when people finally realize how important their time was.
People finally realized what is important and got a taste of life without constantly being overworked. Good for them. Most of modern work is totally ridiculous bullshit in the big scheme of things.
Indeed. Death is approaching us all at a pretty respectable pace, so it’s not really worth toiling your life away for next to nothing
It’s not worth it regardless of the pay.
I say blame the lack of enforcement of antitrust law for eroding the value of work.
It’s really hard to give a shit about working when doing so only barely keeps you from being homeless, meanwhile the CEO drives to work every day in his Ferrari.
make a fourth of what made five years ago but same job
think part of why people work less now is because of no incentive
pay is way down, moral is low, and bills are higher than the income
recreational drugs are being outpriced for the first time in my lifetime by food costs
Dude. For some time in my area of Canada, I could buy a gram of weed for less than a head of lettuce ($6 vs $7)
Weed salad for dinner
Economy solved
I personally was tired of working my ass off for some rich ceo douche bag so looking for something better
Can confirm
That’s a Texas sized ten-four from me too
Other people in the comments are mentioning incentives, low pay, crappy management, etc. I don’t want to work, but it’s not really about any of this, or it’s about all of this a little, sort of.
I want to do good work.
I want to make software that helps people, that does what it’s supposed to do, that is fast, non-predatory, and doesn’t succumb to endless feature creep or artificially rushed scheduling. Pay me enough to live comfortably, and I’ll do this basically on my own. I don’t even need all of these things.
I’ve found that most businesses prioritize between 0-1 of these things.
This is the real crux. Nowaday, I feel I can only do good through personal and community work. Professional work mostly involves being told to cut corners, mislead people and jack prices to grow the company infinitely.
While, frankly, I think infinite growth is one of the most damaging ideas in human history
Dumb question: how does one get into “community work”? I barely even know my neighbors
Honestly, it took hard work to get out of my comfort zone but there are likely very nice people with welcoming organizations in your area. Donating time to library maker space is my extra activity for now
You have to take the first step and get in touch with people. It’s very likely there are one or more instagram (ugh) profiles of community work around your location. Failing that, the nearest church might be a good place to ask, even if you’re not religious.
I wish I could live comfortably on self-employment instead of that being a big risk. Income isn’t guaranteed but bankruptcy over a single medical event is.
I loved 12 oz. Mouse. Thanks
You should work in government or for a university. You’ll feel like you’re contributing to a mission and nobody is backstabbing over their bonus.
I work in IT for the health sector of my local govt (not USA). The pay is decent, but it’s a constant fight against medics’ egos, lack of programmers (there are decent systems, but not enough manpower to really keep them in top shape), political interference in the form of “great ideas”, budget constraints and private contractors wanting to charge more while offering less.
Seriously go look at a university. I manage two teams of students and about to move into a director role where I will also have a team of FTEs and a developer to manage. It never gets old and people are really nice. You will also never be the smartest person in the room since half the people have a doctorate in something.
People want to meaningful contribute to their community. Work stops most of us from doing that but instead do something that pays
I used to do IT for ‘digital advertising in healthcare’. I helped fix those accursed screens that sell you shit while you wait at the doctor or hospital.
When I did my job well, it made the world worse.
This conflicts with my basic sense of humanity, y’all. It broke me, and it was like the 17th problem on my list of shit to worry about.
Capitalism offers to sell me lame drugs and garbage to fill the hole in my soul it’s created.
Yep, you said it best. Nowadays in tech your either:
Making something that preys on the little guy
Or
Make tools for already rich and powerful, which they will use to prey on the little guy lol.
That’s why lemmy is so special, it’s like (to me at least) the only place left were people believe software should benefit everyone to be good, especially the user.
So many different ways to cope with the horrifying idea that companies need us more than we need them. For this rare moment, just a sliver of time, we workers are not forced to prostrate ourselves at their feet. Instead of understanding that labor is a market and right now it’s a sellers market, they are inventing cultural changes to explain their sudden loss of fortune and power.
Millions of American workers died or became disabled due to a virus that we failed to handle responsibly. Millions more left the workforce to care for children or family members. All the while, demand for goods and services stayed strong. More work to do and fewer people to do it, gonna have to pay more for labor. It’s so fucking simple.
It’s not that I don’t care about work, it’s that I don’t care about YOU! I have other options my dude, cough up or I will find somebody who will.
This also isn’t the first time this has happened. The Black Death in the 14th century put the final nail in the coffin of serfdom and also led to the rise of the middle class. It turns out that, when a significant portion of the workforce either dies or leaves the workforce, the bargaining power of the remaining workers goes up. I don’t think it’s any surprise that we are also seeing a resurgence of unions as well. Workers have been tired of this shit for a long time, we’re just now in a position to do something about it.
You seem knowledgeable in this, can you recommend further reading on plague effect on labor & class? That’s fascinating
Not OP but I learned about this first from the show Connections with James Burke, but got a deeper understanding of it and many other ancient economic systems by reading David Graeber’s “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.”
That’s because work only exists to serve the ruling class at this point.
I’m fine with working for regular people, not for overlords.
The pandemic showed that a huge percentage of our work is literately bullshit used to keep us grinding away and not actually living life. And to keep us from dealing with the huge and glaring problems in our society.
The Puritan idea that we must slave away in order to be worthy is a lie.
One of the greatest economists, Keynes, expected us to be working 15-20 hours a week at this point because of productivity increases.
But instead of sharing in the blessing of productivity, we were forced to do an increasing amount of meaningless work and spend less time actually living, all while being shackled with debt rather than even increasing our pay.
A pretty garbage system if you ask me.
I work 9 hours a day either sitting at my desk doing nothing or sitting in meetings doing nothing. My only reprieve is that it pays decently well for the area I live in.
My time at my job could be cut in half and I’d still get just as much work done as before. So much of my life and and everyone else’s lives are being wasted doing such meaningless work.
This is why I don’t trust people who claim the jobs AI takes will be replaced, because that’s how it was in the past. It wasn’t, we never replaced those jobs, only created meaningless work. David Graeber is right.
We didn’t replace jobs with productivity gains. We absorbed them into our jobs. Consider expense reports. Used to be that you would send all your receipts to an administrative assistant and they would send you a report to approve. Now that work gets pushed down to an individual responsibility. Company thinks if we let each worker do a little more, we can get rid of this position.
It’s just incredibly apparent now that not all of us need to work anymore, by a longshot, but how can they keep the working class in its place without scarcity?
It’s not that AI is good enough to take our jobs. It’s that AI is good enough to fool hiring managers into thinking it can take our jobs.
I care about having a stable income.
And I prefer to do something not too abusive to get it.
If that’s “not caring about work”, then I guess that headline has always been true for me.
