Old Folks and Young Adults in the work force

As I age I am finding it harder to relate to the younger generation. It's all of this new language with one letter for a word or a text message that I can't read. Everyone is carrying a smartphone that they check about every few minutes. It seems that verbal communication is being lost to text-ting and email, and the only eye contact you can maintain is a few minutes in between checking their phone. It is becoming apparent to me that leisure time and gaming has taken the place of commitment to employers and work ethics of old.

 I retired from my Contracting business about 10 years ago but still very active in the workforce holding down 2 part-time jobs. Most of the workers I am around are much younger, and their values and ethics are so much different than mine. I have always been one to get to work early and be ready to go when I get there. Not so with the twenty-year-old's that I work around today. I work the early graveyard shift (9:00pm to 4:00am) on the janitorial crew for a large commercial business. When I come in the other crew is in their last hour and winding down from their daily housekeeping duties.

I usually arrive to see three or more sitting outside smoking and waiting for the time to pass by so they can get there hours in and then check out and go home. Often I have seen them leave the job  and then come back an hour or more later and clock out without finishing their job. Many times the last-minute cleanup chores for them before they leave are not done and left for us on the graveyard shift. In the last 3 hours of their shift, there is no supervision and there is a lack in their job performance. I have noticed a sharp decline in the morals and work ethics of today as compared to when I was their age.

Nowadays most companies are only hiring part-time employees and reducing benefits to save money. It is the same with the company I am currently employed with. Many of the new hires are not trained and only given very basic instructions on their job duties. It's no wonder our workforce and performance has declined, if there is only limited training and supervision.

As for me I will continue in the ways I have been taught and practiced. To do the best I can and go beyond what is expected of me. It's my way of staying young and simply living life to the best of my ability.

Earl Baldwin