I work in a company that uses temp services. I see a lot of young unenthusiastic kids coming in the doors with no ambition but to get whatever money they get and go out and party on it for a few days til they are broke. Hell even parents I work with get their kids in to work with us and same thing....texting, and just standing around until you yell at then to get moving. A lot of them don't even have a drivers license. We are not talking about teenagers we are talking about kids in their early to mid twenties. The parents complain that their kid won't get off their ass and get any kind of job so they drag them to work with us and let it be my frickin problem. Most are still living at home, being picked up by mommy after work. Damn pathetic.
My husband's company offers an actual ticketed career paid by them! and he has the same problem. He can find any young, smart enthusiastic employees. It's like a revolving door. Phoning sick, texting (again) to their buddies, taking long lunches, disappearing, not showing up on the job sites when they should be there working, making stupid mistakes because they don't concentrate, or don't even care about doing a good job. I can go on and on. It's not like they pay minimum wadge. They start at 15 to 16 bucks an hour, with benefits, without any training background needed. A company van, gas card, and tools are also provided. And they still can't find anyone that is willing to work hard. It's not even a dirty job :/
Jobs in the trades here are plentiful, and you can start without any schooling, they train you on the spot, and possibly will have your education paid for if you prove yourself. It's definitely not from the lack of knowledge of what opportunities that are out there....they just don't want to work hard.
Trust me I've had many convos with parents on how disappointed they are with their kids. Dads have their kids working with them...painters, plumbers, etc. And the kids have no interest. I have been seeing this for years. Then I think back to when I was their age, and I was working two three jobs. I did whatever from working in a club to working on cars. I was working all the time. I didn't have mommy and daddy making me go to work with them so that I would be doing something. I even went to college. That career didn't pan out but I didn't sit on my ass waiting for something to fall into my lap.