Posted on: Sunday, April 18, 2004
Age gap reshaping approaches to job
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By David Schepp
(Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News
Many employers agree that there's been a fundamental shift in the American economy that has changed the attitudes of workers and employers.
"The truth is that there really is no loyalty on either side," said Pamela Weisberg, executive director of Tomorrow's Workplace in Spring Valley, N.Y.
And there's no guarantee that the next generation will do better than the previous one, she said. With a rapid rise in the cost of living and stagnant wages for entry-level positions, today's young workers aren't likely to quickly achieve the same standard of living their parents have.
"Kids (are) staying home longer, they're not taking as much responsibility as they should, and they don't feel that work ethic is as important as it was to prior generations," Weisberg said.
Susan Rutledge, director of communications at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Suffern, N.Y., doesn't buy that the American work ethic isn't what it used to be. One difference, she noted, was the number of hours workers are putting in.
"I know nobody who works a 9-to-5 job anymore," Rutledge said. "I know people that work 50, 60 hours a week, and that's the norm."
Companies no longer consider workers, regardless of whether they are hourly laborers or senior executives, the most critical component in a company's success, said Al Samuels, president and chief executive of the Rockland (N.Y.) Business Association.
"Back in my day, the last thing you did was to get rid of somebody who was contributing to the success of the company," he said.
But companies lose expertise with high employee turnover. John Gilroy of RJ-Staffing in Nanuet, N.Y., said it is a phenomenon that is also expensive to employers, as the toll on business to continually hire and train workers is hefty.
However, Michele Phillips, executive vice president for the Rockland Business Women's Network, said she is optimistic that there are ways to get employees to work toward a common goal.
"Everybody wakes up in the morning (wanting) to do a good job," Phillips said. "Nobody wakes up and says, 'I'm going to mess up my life today.' "
