America is Losing Its Work Ethic; No Wonder Work Ethic is Waning. Colleges Leave Students Unprepared

America is losing its work ethic:

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday, in so doing, recognizing that hard work is an essential part of the American dream.

Today, an increasing number of young Americans dream of only working enough to get by, if at all. In 2021, 36% of men ages 18 to 24 were still living at home, not a hopeful sign for Generation Z taking personal responsibility.

Help wanted signs are everywhere. But fewer and fewer are stepping up to the plate.

The Labor Force Participation Rate – the percentage of able-bodied workers who are either employed or looking for work — is at a near 25-year low. The LFPR has gone from 67.3% in early 2000 to 62.6% in May of this year.

That means over 37% of able-bodied Americans — who are neither students, retired, nor caring for children at home — have voluntarily dropped out of the workforce. That’s millions of potential workers who, for whatever reason, have chosen a life of idleness.

The left encourages indolence with handouts and by cultivating an entitlement mentality.

Pennsylvania State Representative Roni Green – a Democrat, as if you couldn’t guess — has announced that she’ll introduce legislation for a 32-hour work week for employers of more than 500, without a reduction in pay.

This is the same as taking money out of the pockets of employers and putting it in the pockets of employees. But when did legalized theft ever stop the party of plunder?

Under President Biden, whose administration is committed to expanding the dole, the welfare state has metastasized.

Food Stamp enrollment is at a historic high, with 41.2 million currently participating – 12.5% of the total population and 4.5 million more than at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Besides the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps by another name), there’s unemployment insurance, Medicaid, housing vouchers, child-care payments and energy subsidies. Most are needs-based, thus disincentivizing work. —>READ MORE HERE

No wonder work ethic is waning. Colleges leave students unprepared:

I confess that I never watch those shows where the showbiz glitterati give awards to each other, but I know they overlooked the most compelling performance of recent years. That came in the 2017 internet classic “A Millennial Job Interview” in which a talented young woman played Amy, a 20-something job applicant who personified hilariously a host of traits now widely prevalent among that age group.

Asked whether her claimed proficiency in technology includes tools such as Excel or PowerPoint, Amy reveals that no, she meant Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat — “You know, the big ones.” She blithely assures the interviewer she can meet all the company’s research requests by asking Siri.

She is dumbfounded by his announcement that the work day starts at 8 a.m. “I don’t understand. Like, 8 in the morning? That kind of doesn’t work for me,” she says, because she is up texting her boyfriend in Paris until all hours, and doesn’t even get to Starbucks until 10, so 10:45 would be her ideal starting time. When the employer politely tells her that no job offer will be coming, she is shocked at his “hostility,” his lack of “validation” that makes her feel “not very safe,” and demands to see someone from the HR department about taking a “mental health day.”

Humor aside, job openings are even more plentiful today (about 10 million) than when the video was made (6.4 million), including for 20-somethings — a group that now includes the tail end of Millennials and members of Gen Z.

Lack of a traditional education won’t stop them. Employers for years have been seeing that the college diplomas they had assumed were evidence of readiness for adult job responsibilities were unreliable. More and more have dropped the application requirement of a bachelor’s degree. Enlightened state governments, such as Maryland’s under Republican Gov. Larry Hogan before he was term-limited out of office this year, have largely eliminated such prerequisites in hiring state employees. Increasingly, some demonstration of relevant job skills is valued over a sheepskin that might connote little real academic training or job readiness. —>READ MORE HERE

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