Never again. Ever.
Something has changed in the basic character of the American teen. They are insolent, indolent and ignorant and they don't want to change. There are exceptions I'm sure but I'm not about to try to seek them out. Even the exceptions have been degraded.
It may be the maturing of our society, it may be a decadence that comes with too much wealth, it may be the corruption by the mass media, or all of these. I wonder about the influence of the commonality of divorce. At any rate it is real and it is big and it is getting bigger. It is a sea change.
I know hundreds of other employers who feel the same way. HR managers have shifted from being an entry way into careers to gatekeepers trying to keep the shiftless out.
If you put a hundred illegal 18 year olds on my doorstep at 7:00 tomorrow morning I could get on the horn and have jobs for every one of them, sight unseen, by noon. If you put one American high school male on my doorstep I honestly don't know who I would call. The tide is that powerful.
It may just be my situation but I don't think so. I don't like it but that is the way it is. I may be operating below the skill level of Americans or outside of the mainstream but even though I am looking for the developing dynamic of the new workforce, I just don't see it.
Is that a fair comparison? On one hand you have an 18 yo that the employer won't have to pay taxes on, benefits to or workman's comp. Compare that to a legal high school student who has school studies, possibly sports and taxes must be paid on his wages.
It's easy to see why employers take the easy way out.
Instead of hiring illegals why don't the Chambers of Commerce get together and vote the politicians who make doing business difficult out? Instead, every year they support the same politicians.
Blaming America's youth for the problems created by overzealous politicians is just an excuse for not doing the right thing.
Don't forget arrogant. Great post. My former business had a reputation for excellent customer service. If I still had that business; I wouldn't even THINK of hiring anyone under 25 nowadays...
It's my opinion that we do have a problem. Our society coddles our children from the time they are born. The child advocacy groups have just about totally ruined them.
Why would you think they would listen to you, when they've not been asked to listen and alter their behaviors since birth? Then these idiots bear new children and having no moral base whatsoever, are charged with raising a firmly grounded new generation.
Having said that, my wife was a volunteer director at a large medical center in a metropolitan area. She did get some flakes to be sure, but she also got some incredibly driven and gifted kids. Some of these kids went on to be dentists, physicians and of course adapt to many other productive vocations.
I do believe their is a problem. It may be better or worse in various regions.