I run a company. A fun place. A creative place. I also hire interns and pay them. While I'm lucky enough to have found people who are eager to do their jobs and do them well, lately (i.e. the last five years) I've had an extraordinary amount of difficulty hiring people in their early twenties.
I've asked myself if it's me or my company, but even my other employees are perplexed. My friends who also own businesses have reported the same thing. Kids who either don't show up for interviews (and don't bother to let you know, one way or another), have absolutely, positively no work ethic or motivation when you do hire them, and then just disappear without even a "Thanks for the opportunity but this is not for me." Just don't show up one day. That happened today. We were concerned, until someone in our office said their Facebook posts showed they were still alive.
And it's happened so many times before in the last five years I can predict it usually (not this time, however. I really thought she was enjoying herself).
My generation would NEVER act the way many in this one seems to, and I'm not that old.
As a result, I've been reading up on this and seem to cull from all of this that millennials need to be nurtured more, need to be catered to more, need to make our job their own in more ways than our generation expected from our employers. I'm told we have to change our work environment to please them and align ourselves with their rhythms more than our own.
But what about my deadlines? What about a complete lack of ownership in the work that's given to them (and we do try to keep our interns and employees motivated, entertained, and compensated. It's the software industry. It's actually fun). What about simply showing up on time and proving you give a damn when everybody around you, including your employer, is trying to make you feel welcome, trying to offer our advice and time to train, and give you work that interests you?
As I've said, I have people who are great and would never act entitled, inconsiderate, or lazy. But most of them are not millennials. And I know there are good one's out there, but it's just becoming a pattern. Is it me, or do I sense a trend here? And if so, when will it change?