Work?

It was a bit of a relief to see that even Krista over at Starbucks has a job that stresses her.

And yes, my line of work stresses me too. I love what I do, but it is any job. If when I wake up I dread walking into my office, it is going to be a bad day.

I’ve written about what I think about work before. Of the struggles of working mother. Being mindful and accepting of what is going on. About the need to be happy at work.

But I thought it might be interesting to get other points of view. So I asked my Facebook friends, Twitter friends, Sunday school friends, and random strangers for their ideas of work changes in the last decade. And let me tell you, even if you don’t take my opinions seriously, you probably have a load of laughs reading the replies.

Here is what they came up with:

There is more pressure being a young professional.

People are working longer hours.

More people work Location Independent.

You know about job insecurity because you’re expected to constantly tweak your marketable skills.

There is a lot of pressure to be productive in lieu of working hard.

Your boss might be your boss but also your boss’ boss’ boss.

You have to wait longer between raises and promotions.

Notice on my career that my income is increasing so therefore my value is going up.

HR managers aren’t relevant.

Now: you’re an information center, unofficial therapist, business adviser, creative consultant, and marketing department. Plus you’re really good at compiling data and writing reports.

Under you, employees now expect work/life balance and empowerment.

They expect pay, benefits, and time off.

The job market is worse

Having “good” connections is important.

It’s hard to find flexible jobs.

Referrals are more important to find jobs.

There is too much pressure to switch to a new job because our company might go bankrupt.

There is too much competition, there are not enough jobs.

More pressure to customize resumes.

Insensible, arbitrary deadlines and expectations.

More people are “under-employed”

Bosses are younger and they don’t know jack shit.

There are less opportunities to get into management if I didn’t have experience.

Kids need college degrees, and dad can’t just support them.

People are allowed to do less work. AND they still get paid the same amount.

There is less hiring and firing flexibility in general.

If you don’t understand technology, you are irrelevant.

It’s harder to get into a creative field.

People are more afraid of change.

Coworkers are more lazy.

Everyone is less satisfied with their previous jobs.

Coworkers are web savvy know it alls.

You have to manage your reputation.

Coworkers are gossipy.

More importantly, there’s less job security (have you ever taken Communications?)

No one talks to each other unless they absolutely have to.

Everything requires systems.

The industry sucks.

Family time is TOP priority

Companies just want cheap people.

Companies just want young workers who are cheap because they won’t fight for anything.

Women can be working moms.

Women are making more strides at work.

Everything is instant, email and texts are read within seconds.

There are more “generation gaps”

People are blunt.

Get free stuff.

People are needy.

Lot of turnover in the workplace

Young workers want flexible work schedule.

Younger workers aren’t as respectful.

Coworkers are less friendly and know each other less socially.

Coworkers are less respectful and lower moral.

Now you’re expected to be productive and reduce downtime.

There is less face to face communication.

More employees work remotely from home.

Lies are disregarded.

Some Managers still exist.

Blogs are fetchingly professional: Less quirky and personal.

Bosses’ expectations have changed.

There are more people in management positions. Every fucking company is Top Heavy with kids from fancy B-Schools.

Everything is instant communication, we live in a virtual world.

Social media makes us more scared.

People have to answer their phone/text IMs constantly.

My boss pays more attention to me.

Company loyalty doesn’t exist.

Bosses are creative types.

My boss isn’t my boss, he’s my boss’ boss.

My boss’ boss’ boss.

There isn’t much collaboration/networking.

You are expected to provide free services.

My salary is lower but getting better.

I’m more laid back, less stressed, am more tech savvy.

Kids are more successful, and have the mindset of the working world.

Jobs are harder to get and you have to be “special” to get hired.

Performance evaluations are easier because everything is now measured.

Generational divides in the workplace are becoming harder to spot.

People are more honest

People take jobs that don’t pay well because they need to get experience.

People stay in jobs because it’s expected or they’re afraid to make a change.

Everyone is underpaid.

My boss is the boss.

The boss’ boss;s boss’ boss.

The boss’ boss’ boss’ boss.

The boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss.

People are less honest and burned out than ever.

People are older.

Communication styles between workers have changed.

People are technologically challenged.

People work from home.

Complaints are less tolerated.

People aren’t as direct.

There are no parties.

There is no more “company events.”

Generational gaps are more about technology than age.

Employees are lazy

Respect for elders is gone.

According to my survey, Chuuk was, by far, the most favorable place to work. And the age group with the most good experiences was those 31-60.

I’m not sure what I think about this. I think it says a lot about people’s expectations of work. Because we have such better expectations of our futures, we expect more fulfillment from our work place.

But it also makes me sad, because it’s not so much that our expectations have changed as much as our opportunities.

Although, I was talking to my friend at work how when she first started working, all the ideas people had for their future were so different. But now, people seem to be heading in the same direction, and it’s just a matter of when they get there.

So I feel like expectations have changed, but not generally for the better. Now we expect more from our jobs, and more from ourselves.

Reading your post really made me wonder, am I sixteen or forty-one? How am I supposed to know? Gen Y’s are acting like I was all that when I was forty. And Gen X looks like a bunch of primadonnas from the sixties, thus ignoring the good parts of that generation. What a mess! Can’t we just try to keep the millenials from burning down the world, figure out how to fix the health care industry, and stop the political squabbling?

I really don’t think there are any happy medium. I’m all about age appropriate behavior, but drivers of certain age groups seem to think that they have it all figured out. In some ways, I agree.

But if people just stopped to think for a moment before “acting” (whatever personality deficient word you choose) they wouldn’t be the ones complaining. Its the ones that think they know it all, but don’t.

But in general, I don’t think there is any way to please everyone. You just have to pretend to care. 🙂