A friend of mine recently retired from his job at a large manufacturing firm. He said that in his last few years at the plant he hated to hire anyone under the age of 30 and when he did they usually didn't last long. The reason? The GenY’ers entering the workforce have a sense of entitlement, that the company “owes” them a job and they, the employee, can dictate their work hours, the job rules and what tasks they will or won't do. He has said that they think nothing of telling their boss that they will NOT work overtime under any circumstance, will not work evenings or weekends. They could care less whether the company meets its production goals and they routinely ignore rules, dress codes etc. When they are called out on an infraction or poor performance they cop an attitude of, “Who are you to criticize me?!?”
I agree with your characterixation of younger folk as slackers. We have all seen it. From the aricle:
"...However, most of these discussions are based on perceptions and anecdote rather than hard data,..."
Well, anecdotal evidence is still evidence. We all know what we see with our own eyes, and that is this: The character, values, and work ethic is noticeably poorer in younger people, as a demographic, than in older people. Sure, There are lots of hard-working kids out there, but as a percent, it is lower than my generation, and WAY lower than my elders.
I have said before and still believe that if we are going to have a Civil War in this country we had better do it sooner or later, as these slacker kids are going to be less than useless when TSHTF: "What, you want me to be an ammo bearer? No way dude; I signed up to be a fighter pilot. This is bunk, man, where's the bong?"