And boomers wonder why millennials are bitter towards them..

[The Running Man]

I'm in a fairly interesting position at work. I have a broad swathe of ages working for me from 65 year olds down to 17 year olds (apprentices). I have noticed a massive generational gap in work ethics and attitudes.

50-65 - Will graft all day, every day. Generally very good sickness records with the obvious age issues. With individual exceptions there is less absence amongst this age group than the rest combined.

40-50 - Good attitude to work, get on with the job. A few obvious long-term health issues showing.

30-40 - Good attitude to work, get on with the job. Very good attendance with the exception of school holidays where there's definitely an increase in sick days (child care issues being masked?).

17-30 - Remarkable sense of entitlement. More interested in their phones than anything else. Obvious patterns to absence, particularly Mondays or after bank holidays. Generally very high sickness, seem to have colds and the flu a lot, 'stress' seems to be a major factor.


I would genuinely say that I can see where the lazy tag for the younger generation comes in, at least in our workforce. I've recently been hunting for apprentices and the current crop are...well...appalling. CVs obviously written by parents/tutors, can barely string sentences together in interviews, inability to actually answer questions. I was actually looking to hire 2 with the specific request that we got some poor buggers that had lost their positions because of COVID, nah, they lost their positions because companies used it as an excuse to get rid of the dross. My two best workers are early 60s and will break their backs for you.

Agreed , the younger gen aren't downing tools because they have considered 10 years in the future and think they won't afford a house.

They just never picked the tools up to begin with.

Recruitment is insanely difficult due to what you described.

 

[Akagi]

The problem is you're not listening, and continue to not listen.

You need to live your own life and not try copy your parents. The reality is not everyone will have a quality of life as good as their parents.

But you will live an unhappy life if you can't find contentment in your own journey.

Its not unlike looking at Instagram and thinking that will be your reality.

The world is different. Therefore you'll have to do things differently.

Talk about reading between the lines and coming up with your own completely irrelevant story.

Im living my own life, I have no intention of copying my parents and no expectation (or desire especially) to be where they are now when I am their age.

I don't follow any social media celebrities, I can't stand all that nonsense.

To be honest, my parents arent the ones who I was describing, they know things are harder now than they were. I was thinking more about my grandparents' attitudes in their 80's. But i've seen a lot of the same things parrotted by people in their 40's and 50's, just fortunately not my own parents.

 

[Freefaller]

I'm.sure pretty much 90% of the population can do 1 of the following 3.

Stay at home with parents
Rent with friends
Rent with Mrs and combine income

Who can't do any of those 3 and why?

The first place I moved into, I just rented a room in a shared house. I didn't know any of the people that lived in the house (5 bed house). What's the problem with doing that? I wanted to be in london so I realised I had no choice. I "only" paid £450 at the time all in. Lots of people can do that - but don't want to. Those that don't want to frankly can stop moaning since they're not willing to make a compromise. By doing that it allowed me to save even on my rubbish salaries (I was working 2 jobs).

 

[Freefaller]

I'm in a fairly interesting position at work. I have a broad swathe of ages working for me from 65 year olds down to 17 year olds (apprentices). I have noticed a massive generational gap in work ethics and attitudes.

50-65 - Will graft all day, every day. Generally very good sickness records with the obvious age issues. With individual exceptions there is less absence amongst this age group than the rest combined.

40-50 - Good attitude to work, get on with the job. A few obvious long-term health issues showing.

30-40 - Good attitude to work, get on with the job. Very good attendance with the exception of school holidays where there's definitely an increase in sick days (child care issues being masked?).

17-30 - Remarkable sense of entitlement. More interested in their phones than anything else. Obvious patterns to absence, particularly Mondays or after bank holidays. Generally very high sickness, seem to have colds and the flu a lot, 'stress' seems to be a major factor.


I would genuinely say that I can see where the lazy tag for the younger generation comes in, at least in our workforce. I've recently been hunting for apprentices and the current crop are...well...appalling. CVs obviously written by parents/tutors, can barely string sentences together in interviews, inability to actually answer questions. I was actually looking to hire 2 with the specific request that we got some poor buggers that had lost their positions because of COVID, nah, they lost their positions because companies used it as an excuse to get rid of the dross. My two best workers are early 60s and will break their backs for you.

I missed this - and I have to say it's fairly accurate. There is this palpable sense of entitlement and bitterness and resentment from the younger generation. I don't quite understand why, it's not as if us in our 40+ had it any easier than they do.

 

[Nitefly]

There does seem to a consistency amongst the ‘work hard and graft’ crew that ignores that the deposit required for a new house is higher than before. Attitudes aside, it is now more financially difficult to buy your first home. Rents and the general cost of living without owning a home is far higher.

So you can’t really just ignore that and say ‘‘work harder and be more diligent”. It ignores the reality.

 

[Akagi]

There does seem to a consistency amongst the ‘work hard and graft’ crew that ignores that the deposit required for a new house is higher than before. Attitudes aside, it is now more financially difficult to buy your first home. Rents and the general cost of living without owning a home is far higher.

So you can’t really just ignore that and say ‘‘work harder and be more diligent”. It ignores the reality.

Clearly people can say that, as demonstrated by this depressing thread.

 

[Nitefly]

In fact here’s an example: I bought my first home five years ago, with help from family. I’m now selling it for £100k more. The homes I am looking to buy are also £100k more, so no real windfall for me.

BUT despite being a young working professional with help, I couldn’t have bought it had I been born 5 years later.

I mean, I don’t see how people can ignore this.

 

[Fubsy]

What ****ed me off more than anything during my recent house search/viewings is the amount of 60+s that had houses they bought in the 80s for way under 50k, done next NOTHING on the place or its really poor quality work then asking full market value. Nah, you can stay in it - I ain't giving you the rest of my life paying off your 400k house that you got for 40k from the council and then I also have to stop it crumbling and smear the nicotine stains off every surface.

 

[The Running Man]

There does seem to a consistency amongst the ‘work hard and graft’ crew that ignores that the deposit required for a new house is higher than before. Attitudes aside, it is now more financially difficult to buy your first home. Rents and the general cost of living without owning a home is far higher.

So you can’t really just ignore that and say ‘‘work harder and be more diligent”. It ignores the reality.

Interest rates are extremely low. With 10% mortgage products you can buy a house with a £10k deposit.

If you cant save £10k you cant afford to buy a house because you won't have enough as contingency...

Many of my friends had interest rates of 4% plus, thats killer compared to 2% you can get now ..

 

[The Running Man]

What ****ed me off more than anything during my recent house search/viewings is the amount of 60+s that had houses they bought in the 80s for way under 50k, done next NOTHING on the place or its really poor quality work then asking full market value. Nah, you can stay in it - I ain't giving you the rest of my life paying off your 400k house that you got for 40k from the council and then I also have to stop it crumbling and smear the nicotine stains off every surface.

Then dont.

No one is forcing you to consider a 400k house if you cant afford one.

Be realistic.

 

[Nitefly]

Interest rates are extremely low. With 10% mortgage products you can buy a house with a £10k deposit.

If you cant save £10k you cant afford to buy a house because you won't have enough as contingency...

Many of my friends had interest rates of 4% plus, thats killer compared to 2% you can get now ..

The interest rate is irrelevant in the context of the point I’m making. We’re not talking about the ongoing relatively nominal differences in interest, we’re talking about the cash you need to buy in. That’s the problem.

In any case, yes there are lower interest rates..... on higher sums borrowed.

My mortgage is laughably low compared to the amount it would cost to rent, yet I’d need to stump up about £150k cash to buy it today despite being a higher rate tax payer and being able to borrow loads; wtf. I appreciate this is made less onerous by buying with a partner, but the point stands.

Edited: missing and incorrect words

 

[azazl187]

So, the house opposite me has just gone up for sale for £1.7m (disclaimer, I merely rent a flat opposite, this isn't some sort of humblebrag). Being the nosy neighbours we are, we found out that the owners (a couple aged probably early sixties) bought it 14 years ago for just shy of £800k.

Doing some simple maths means that house has increased in value by roughly £900k in those 14 years. WTF. Absolutely insane. I'm not surprised for this area, but jebus wept..

I was thinking about it further, and I actually left university 14 years ago and began my working career. I don't do badly, but do you think I earned an equivalent amount as that house did every year, for 14 years straight? The heck I did.. Perhaps I should have transformed myself into bricks and mortar and sat there doing **** all for 14 years, I would have earned more!

/pointless thread is pointless

Deal with it. It's just the way it is.

 

[Freefaller]

That isn't the main issue. The main issue is that they will happily wax on about how they did X and Y and bought Z when they were your age so why can't you do it.

They aren't grateful, and are completely oblivious about just how fortunate they were, and still are. In fact some will go further and berate the younger generation, calling them lazy, etc. They are so out of touch that it would be laughable if it weren't so hideous.

Sweeping generalisations help no one. But how do you know they are any more fortunate than you are now? Maybe they got property cheap, but the value of money was different and the skills they needed for work were different. My grandparent's generation had to deal with 2 world wars and a decimation of life, society as we know it - heck my parents were before the world wars was officially over - they had been through a nasty period of life.

Every generation has it's "golden age" and it's "dark age". We need to stop comparing one another all the time it doesn't help anyone, because we all have a different lens that we see life through - comparing doesn't help and adds resentment both ways.

 

[Akagi]

Deal with it. It's just the way it is.

What a constructive post.

 

[azazl187]

What a constructive post.

It just annoys me sometimes how people can focus on things they can do literally nothing about. It just seems like a total waste of energy and focus.

Maybe if op was to put the same passion into making some extra money on the side he could buy more than a flat

 

[The Running Man]

What a constructive post.

Maybe people in their £1.7m houses don't want shonky basement dwellers living over the road, devaluing the area. Maybe they are similarly complaining to their peer groups about these entitled next gens as we are here...

 

[Fubsy]

Then dont.

No one is forcing you to consider a 400k house if you cant afford one.

Be realistic.

That is NOT the point I was making and I'm lucky enough to be in a position to buy in that range (I have to be, living/working around here) - but rather the wealth generated by sitting on these house for 3 decades has not been invested back into the property, and the price is still high. In principal I won't offer on those places, it just feels wrong and definitely makes me feel bitter.

The divorcee house is usually the best bang for buck. With the tradesman owned places shortly after that.

I've done it once before - buying off retirees - and wished them well after they sold their place to us on a 210K profit, but to then find all the covered up issues after sale and have to pay for it? NEVER EVER AGAIN. I still don't understand how an internal back box and socket fitted outside can pass an electrical safety check, or a light switch that sparks when switched on, or the fact metal fittings were used while no earth was present, then the plumbing... I suppose the estate agents are to blame as well as we've found out, they tell you not to bother doing anything other than surface level stuff. It wouldn't sit right with me knowing I have done that to someone.

 

[Efour]

It's British attitude to housing. Housing is a huge asset not just something to live in.

It's as ingrained 8n British culture as "insert cliché here"

Somone/government needs to come along and implement a vast building scheme for 1 bedroom flats and starter homes.

 

[Akagi]

Boomers are aged 56 to 74, I think there must be at least some people in here getting offended for no reason.

 

[Stu999]

I completely agree.

People move to where the jobs are out of necessity, not where their childhood friends are living.

I live in the North West and rents are £500 a month in dodgy places in the city, that's half your salary gone if you're on min wage. Some people are just living in a different world if they think people are complaining they can't afford a mansion in Kensington on a admin salary etc.

Yep, prices are an issue across the country. Even £150K 'cheap' houses in the north are 4x - 5x average local salaries (and often higher) so still out of reach for a lot of people. Those claiming 'entitlement' just can't put themselves in the shoes of others.