My friend, Pam, was thrilled when her teenage daughter landed a job. As an HR person herself, though, she was surprised when her daughter’s new manager called to speak with her. After all, it wasn’t Pam’s new job–it was her daughter’s
Well, the reason for the manager’s phone call can be summed up in two words: Helicopter moms.
To keep reading, click here: This is how you get a 36 year old living in your basement
“To keep reading click here” has no link.
First of all, thanks for the article which made me chuckle. I have been that employer dealing with teen and young adults who have been given focus in life that certain jobs are beneath their efforts except to be on a resume as community service. Available to work is so limited because everything else is more important which means they can’t work key days that the business needs and there’s just so many people that can be scheduled on the slowest days of the week. Even though the hiring process was all online, I would take at least 15-20 minutes on the first day of work to emphasize key points including time off requests and call outs plus review the disciplinary process ( oral, written and final notice). It was hard to do when you have a store manager who was frightened by the wealthy community “threats” to cause a problem if their child’s lack of work performance was being disciplined. I had to get creative and use the rules given me. A problem employee would get the warnings in their file and they would get the minimum hours allowed (12) only. If they wanted more, I had plenty available on the days and hours they didn’t want to work ( their important social time), which eventually made them work or quit by their choice, depending on whether they really needed the cash earned and liked doing the job. Nothing is worse than an employee who hates the job, no matter the age.
My own children learned from watching my example—if you need the money, you make the job work bearable and create opportunities to earn more. Take all available shifts that you are able to work as long as you can. Eventually you will get the hours you want on a regular basis without having to worry about losing the earnings. Unfortunately it also means you deal with lazy coworkers who don’t care because they have outside income. If you have a good management team they will appreciate good workers
This isn’t just an employment problem, it’s a huge whole life problem with millennials. Look at how many of them are still living at home, even when they have full-time jobs and could afford an apartment with roommates.
The rant on millennials misses the point of this article. I agree with the article that helicopter parenting can be a problem but who are the parents? (Hint – it’s not millennials.) I’m an older millennial and I’m 34. Unless I had a child in my teens or early twenties (and I didn’t), I don’t even have a child old enough to be in the workforce. Parents are the problem in helicopter parenting, not the child. It’s up to the parent to teach the child on how to handle his or her problems on his/her own, not step in and do it for them.
With that said, I also get tired of blaming generations for every problem we face as a society. The rising cost of living has outpaced pay increases for awhile now and people are entering the workforce with more debt than ever. The average student now has $30,000 in debt when they leave college. The easy answer is to say ‘don’t go to go college’ but so many jobs now require that piece of paper, even entry level jobs that don’t require any advanced skills gained by attending college. So students come out of college saddled with $30,000 in debt and are expected to take jobs that pay $11-$12 an hour. When you do the math, even with roommates, it doesn’t add up.
Maybe if the price of housing and school hadn’t exploded in the past 30 years while wages stayed basically the same, I’d be able to afford to move out. As it stands though, I can choose between living with 2 roommates, or living at home and possibly retiring before I die.
The click here does not work not for me anyway
I agree that “helicopter parents” are a problem. However, teenage employees all to often are subjected to sexual — and other — abuse during their first, part-time, jobs. Obviously, it’s wrong for a parent to unnecessarily intervene between their child and the employer, but — on the other hand — it would be irresponsibly foolhardy to totally stay away. You can learn a lot by dropping by occasionally, making a purchase, casually chatting up the employee waiting on you (never go to your child’s counter for service) and observing.
My parents weren’t really helicopter-parents. I had had 1 or 2 petit mal seizures by the time I was 6. I was on phenobarb for about 6 or 8 years. No more seizures. After that, she was done. My parents didn’t coddle me when I got jobs. When my first non-babysitting boss decided to split my shift so that I could only work 2 hours at a time, and had to come back after 3 or 4 hours to work another 2 hours, we decided that minimum wage minus what you ate wasn’t worth it! Other than that, they didn’t interfere. It is imperative to learn to stand on your own 2 feet while you are young. That way, no one can tell you that you can’t in a believable manner.
I don’t ever click here to read anything guess you going to have to sell your s*** somewhere else
So, you just woke up and found yourself here? 🙂
I just read this article, and I have to say that it made me chuckle. I have 2 employees, sisters, whose mom is this mom! These girls are homeschooled, which is bad enough. But mom doesn’t let them do anything on their own. The mom came to the interview and answered most of the questions for her daughters. When I did get answers out of the girls, their mom would interrupt and add to those answers. I hired the girls in the hopes of them getting away from mom long enough to get some experience away from her. It didn’t work. Mom came to orientation and helped them fill out their paperwork. Mom calls the store manager and complains for her girls. Mom calls me to ask questions about things she thinks are not fair. These are smart girls with a lot of potential, that will never get anywhere in life because mom won’t let them. 🙁