These days, everyone seems upset with young employees.

“They don’t work hard.”
“They want work-life balance.”
“They ask too many questions.”
“They leave companies too quickly.”

Yes, they ask questions.

“What exactly do you want me to do?”
“Why are we doing it?”
“What is more important?”
“Will this be my job, or will I also get five other jobs because I finished this one?”

Very unreasonable behaviour.

In many companies, a manager gives a vague task and says, “Take ownership.” When the person asks what the result should be, they are told they lack initiative.

If the manager does not know what result is needed, how is the employee supposed to take ownership of it? Telepathy is still not part of the joining kit.

This starts much earlier. In school, we teach children to give the right answer. Don’t make mistakes. Don’t question too much. Get marks.

Then they join a company. Follow the process. Meet the target. Don’t upset anyone. Get a good rating.

After years of teaching them to follow instructions, we suddenly ask: “Why don’t you think independently?”

We want fresh thinking. As long as it agrees with ours.

I have seen young engineers come with good ideas. They want to improve something. They want to solve a real problem.

Then their idea gets approved.

Which means they now have to implement it, explain it in three meetings, keep doing their old work, and answer why it is not finished yet.

Good idea. Bad luck.

If the idea fails, the engineer gets blamed. The manager who approved it also gets blamed. Soon everybody learns the safest option: do your assigned work, keep quiet, and do not create trouble.

After that, we call them unambitious.

The same people are also called disloyal when they leave for better pay, better work or a better manager. Companies hire when they need people and fire when they do not. That is called business.

But when an employee does the same thing, apparently the values have fallen.

I do not think this generation is weak. I think they are more practical. They want clear work, fair pay, some freedom and a life outside office. This is not a shocking demand.

I have seen young people do very good work when they are given a real problem, room to think and support when things go wrong.

Maybe instead of blaming them, we should make work worth caring about.