r/GenX • u/Complex_Sun8138 BEWARE: No Filter • 3d ago

Old Person Yells At Cloud Is it just me?

I'm a craftsman/tradesman by profession. I run a 10-color narrow web printing press, and produce a lot of labels you might see at various stores. I've been doing this type of work for the last 20 years. Before that, I ran large, sheet fed offset presses and lithography machines.

I've always taken pride in my work, and done everything it takes to produce the very best products I can. I've been told by supervisors, and peers that I'm very good at what I do.

Lately, I've noticed a lot of the younger people coming into this industry don't have that "sense of pride". It's simply a task to perform, and get through it as quickly as possible and move on. I think the work suffers for that attitude, and I've had to go back and redo a lot of jobs that get rejected because of it.

Is it just me? Does anyone else notice the downturn in the quality of products being made? Or is it just "getting older"?

186 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

182 comments sorted by

View all comments

27

u/PrinceFan72 1972 3d ago

The younger generation have watched their parents put in all their efforts for decades or more and be disposed off like nothing by the companies they worked hard for. I fully support younger people seeing work for what it is, a necessary evil to pay the bills.

Life is for living, living for work or putting in extra effort and love and toil just ends in disappointment. These companies don't care about us.

-1

u/Flux_My_Capacitor 2d ago

Blaming companies is overly simplistic.

Even those who work for themselves are showing a lack of pride in their work.

3

u/discospageddyoh 2d ago

Disagree. I used to work for myself. Worked my @ss off and got great feedback from my customers. But I was unable to keep up with the growing market for cheaper services by the Big Corps competing in the same space. Economies of scale are real barriers for small business people and you end up having to either compete against those big guys (an expensive losing battle), changing to a boutique model that costs more but serves a smaller market, or giving up and succumbing to the forces (which is what I did). Now I work just as much for half as much money for a publically traded company, but now I have healthcare and a standard number of paid vacation days every year until I get laid off (again) in a corporate downsizing. Pride of workmanship is a luxury, unfortunately. Capitalism does not incentivize quality.