Has anyone read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron"? I see some interesting parallels between the ridiculously uncompetitive society pictured there and this broadcast. Satire and science fiction have a lot to teach us!

It's time to retire over here. I don't want to deal with the game playing and politics any more.

Oh boy... What to say, what to say... (But never being at a loss for words for long...)

1. Millenials had better watch out, because those 'many many jobs' are moving offshore. Mommy will be really mad when Johnny's job is no more! I am sure the boss will be very positive when Mommy calls to complain that Johnny's job went away... They will enthuse about Johnny's lack of work ethic, and help her understand that Xiu will actually DO the work, that she speaks and writes excellent, articulate English and doesn't require a consultant to help her feel better about herself.

2. Being able to use a cell phone does not make a kid 'tech saavy'. But I hear it all the time from parents who think 'Johnny' is a computer genius because he can plug in an Apple and bring up the system.

3. The 'more jobs than people' situation will change, and is changing. People are being brought in from the Asian rim (and they are good), India (and they GET good) and other places. Smart. Hard working. Millenials are going to find themselves 'self actualized' out of a job.

4. As to 80 hour a week jobs? For real jobs? Nonsense. I have one, I write computer programs and when I am not writing programs (like right now), I am not billing my customer. It is hard for me to get in 50 hours a week of actual 'work'. Those guys at the office? They pal around, go to lunch, play ping-pong and and self-actualize, and they are there for 12 hours a day some days. (But never on weekends!). They are always talking about their '80 hour weeks'. However, they don't get my hourly rate (far from it) and what is more, they never will. My sort of job is moving offshore - and theirs? It has. I am currently directing a technical team in Beijing - smart, YOUNG, Chinese 'kids', that do what they are told, take it on the chin when they screw up (rare) and are thrilled to have the job. It will not be long before the ping-pong table is sent packing along with those kids who need that fix to get through the day.

But seriously (OK, I WAS being serious) this is the down side to all that liberal nonsense in the schools. That is what has created this crisis. And, make no mistake it IS a crisis. All students are NOT honor students. Wise-up. Oops. Too late!

I have hired some incredibly good people out of college. But even for most computer engineering programs, I wouldn't give you 3 cents for most of the graduates. (Real engineering is different. We do NOT want our bridges to fall down. If you can't pass the PE exam, you don't get to build bridges.)

Twenty-six is the new 16, and college is the new high school. All very true, but Chinese and Korean students are not afraid of hard work. In some areas, particularly in technology, they are already swamping us...

I agree with eveything that Cap'n Jan said.
The global workforce is the future.
The saddest thing to me is that these *kids* who have never been taught to learn from their own mistakes, will keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
I almost feel like shouting at them "Grow up, Now."

Oh and the "lack of summer jobs" is because of all the older people who have taken those jobs just to have health care benefits. Employment among teens and those in their early 20s is at the lowest levels since the depression.

OK, you got me going, Donna. My dentures are clacking away here at the Captain's table.

What do you mean that us older people have 'taken' all those Summer jobs? Are they just laying around the ground like Easter Eggs and we pushed in and "took them" away from all the poor little innocents?

No doubt the employers would 'prefer' one of those self-actualized morons who need 4 hours off a day for their: Yoga class, 2-hour-lunch-with-friends and shopping spree to get just the right togs for that Yoga class. (Employers just need to understand that these things are far more IMPORTANT than a mere job.) But all us older 'thugs' commandeered all those jobs that would be so much better done by the youth of America. All the employers are just wringing their hands!

Yeah. That must be it.

Look, dammit. Jobs are hired labor, I don't care WHAT job it is. Whether for a not-for-profit tax-evading rip-off machine or a retail shopping mall, or a software 'engineering' company or hired delivery captain. When you take a job you are exchanging a portion of your life for money, Devil's bargain that it might be.

I think we need to be careful buying into anything that seems to stereotype any group. We elders don't like it applied to us nor should we allow the media to shape our opinions about the millenials because it is more colorful and provocative to do so. What I'm saying is that I know many young people of this generation and they are literate, interested and interesting. They work hard AND they value their relationships.

Yes, our kids grew up with lots of rewards and such. We parents taught different lessons, however. We believed in Carl Rogers philosophy of unconditional positive regard, but we also set firm boundaries, gave our kids chores, and spent lots of family time hiking, talking, and hanging out together. We made sure they knew that reward should be given for accomplishment, even though school and sports might be giving a different impression.

And our kids ( who are millenials) have flourished. They work hard and have good relationships. And ditto most of my friends' children. And if work enviroments are more fun or flexible, I see no harm in that. Gone are the days when you stayed in a job forever. While employees are not necessarily loyal to a company the converse is also true. Just because you do a good job and show up faithfully does not guarantee you a job.

These days, flexibilty and creativity are primary job skills no matter which field one is in.

One last story about parental responsibility as pertains to kids living at home after college. We always knew our son would be fearful of being out on his own after school, more because he was unsure of himself than any other reason. So we prepared ourselves for when he asked to come home to live after graduation. When he did ask, we enthused that we'd love to have him come home. Of course, he'd have to pay rent and share utilities. And as three adults living together, we'd share household duties and vote on parties etc.

He hung up and called back a couple hours later with a plan to move in with a friend, and a job interview. Two weeks later he called home excited after two weeks of substitute teaching, saying "Wow. I can really do this!"

Now we'd have loved to have him home, but it would not have been best for him. If he was moving home because it worked better in a plan he had, great. If it was because he was unsure, we needed to give him the very best we had to offer him.

So I have to say that based on my personal experience with so many young people - my kids, their friends, my friends' kids - I am really excited about this generation. Are they different from us? You bet! Were we different than our folks? Absolutely. And that was a good thing.

I'm happy to report that my born in 1990 daughter who is graduating in a week, 6th in her class of 500, with a gpa of 5.2 is NOTHING like the "milenials" described. She watched this video spot with me and recognizes the type but is extremely proud that she is nothing like these contemporaries. (Despire a father who wanted to coddle her) Happily she realized her mother's (my) approach was rather more useful and even, more satisfying.

My daughter insisted on working after school and last summer at a local grocery store (over the objections of her father who said she did not need to do this.)

It was an excellent experience in the "real world". She saw which employees were pulling their weight and which ones had the goal of nothing more than performing the minimal amount of work possible as to not get fired.

I was nothing like the "helicopter" and the "You are wonderful ALL THE TIME Mr. Rogers" parents described (although my husband might have tried to be, I was a bigger influence)

I have insisted that my children strive for self-sufficiency from the very beginning (I have a memory of handing my 16 month old daughter a cloth and having her clean up a sippy cup spill) and I would not accept temper tantrums and refused to participate in false accolades and prizes in school and sports.

I might have just been lucky with my kids, but I don't think so.

I saw this trend happening back in the day when they were in preschool and I was appalled at the other parent's behavior and adjusted my parenting style accordingly.

I wish you could meet my graduating daughter. Smart, outspoken, independent but compassionate and extremely empathetic. I am pleased and proud to see her come into the workplace and the world, I just hope there are more like her out there.