To think that gen Z is completely disengaged in service industry

[Hocuspoc]

...and to just stop hoping I will get any value for my money.
No offense, generalisation is never good, but just this last week:

• Clarks, shopping for toddler shoes, usually there is this older lady there who knows exactly what are the bestsellers, what works for little ones depending on age size etc... anyway - nowhere to be found, the floor is cover by two youngsters. Neither approached to help, on their phones, I had to chase the girl around to notice us (empty shop) so I can get DS foot measured. She measured him 2 sizes up (took us some time to establish that) but long story short - every answer is 'I don't know' and shrugs. Started explaining school shoes - I reminded her he is 2. Didn't know what is discounted, what is in stock, one can only dream of some initiative like trying a similar style to confirm a size and than order...

Anyway - completely clueless, borderline rude and no indication that she cares or sees herself working there longer than a month.

Then, the other day... Entering a train station, my usual platform closed, I asked the young bloke operating the gates about it - he was literally shocked he is being asked anything, looked like I woke him up from daydreaming. Also glancing at his phone.

I will stop here, but same everywhere. No cutlery pre-set or brought with your food, rolling eyes for asking for a coffee in a proper mug because it is to stay in, I can go on forever.

Just rudeness everywhere, no professionalism, no taking pride in your work, just abysmal...

Yes, I think it is really sad actually, because doing your best at something and doing a good job is beneficial for self esteem. With the MH crisis in younger people we hear about, I wonder if this is a factor?

I do also think that you can see the difference between places that provide decent training and those that dont.

but do you think that's maybe because they're over 30 rather than their generation?

It just makes me laugh because 10 years ago people were doing all this complaining and handwringing about millennials - terrible people skills, obsessed with phones, don't care about going above and beyond in work, waste money on stupid crap rather than saving up for a house, etc.

Now Gen Z are the new young adults suddenly us millennials are "hard working, willing to learn, immaculate," etc.

So two possibilities - either we are that bad but Gen Z are even worse so are making millennials look good in comparison, or we grew up and started giving more of a shit about work (probably commensurate with having greater responsibilities outside work and getting promotions or jobs we were actually interested in, with better pay), and they will too.

Maybe they'd rather be working or studying in Europe but had that opportunity taken away from them mainly by the same older generation moaning about them now...

Minimum effort for minimum wage?

Why would anyone take pride in performing a zero-hours retail job for a huge chain?

My first job in retail, I was sent on a one week course for sales and product knowledge, then when I was a receptionist I got training on how to answer a phone. On the face of it, it seems over the top but it actually armed me with confidence and knowledge and I genuinely wanted to do a good job. Both jobs has shit pay and apart from the occasional rude customer I really enjoyed them.

The sort of jobs you're talking about will NEVER get gen Z a mortgage and will likely come with crap working conditions, zero hour contracts. They can't even afford to move out and rent.

This is the crux of it.

My experience too @SequinsandSoleros, we should stop generalising and being so bloody mean, them kids are alright. We have - at last - got a cohort of apprentices at my place and they’ve shook the cobwebs and taken a load off us.

It's really not

Well, turned out me too - am also more knowledgeable about their product than this employee (and all I had used was a pair of eyes glancing at their shelves for a couple of minutes).
I am really not a difficult customer, nor I ask for people to fawn over me (like someone has just put it) - quite the contrary, I am more than happy to be left alone to browse, but if I do need help - e.g. someone to bring a (one!) pair of shoes for my little one to try out it is quite disappointing when that's too much to ask.

Funnily enough I had a recent experience in Clarks. Staff on phone, chatting, not being proactive when I brought my small child into the child's section and started looking at shoes...answered don't know to everything, also measured her feet wrong and sold me a pair of wide fit shoes.

I know there's popcorn gifs and people saying what's the point, but I also just think it's so incredibly lame for young people to be on their phones all day at work. Urgh. I actually was pleased to see a couple of people working at the ticket gates at Charing Cross the other day reading a newspaper!!

Because some people have pride in themselves and what they do and have a work ethic?

''@legoplaybook · Today 22:23

Minimum effort for minimum wage?''

I think ultimately that's the reason.

So many retail jobs come with low wages, little training or opportunities to progress.

Working for a faceless big chain to make shareholders richer is hardly going to motivate young people...

I see that so much on MN, it's minimum wage so why should they bother. Well because we all have to start somewhere and we give everything our best

The issue is they aren't going anywhere, wages are crap.

I blame the parents though!

Does a work ethic get you anywhere though? Just so some customer you'll probably never see again will feel all warm and fuzzy? Or the business paying you minimum wage will make a bigger profit?

Why don't shops say no phones on the shop floor?

Untrained staff have less knowledge than someone who’s been doing it for decades. Shocker.

They do. It’s rare to see any staff with phones, often they have small devices which are work related though.

I had a retail job at 17 which I loved & was good at. I knew all the stock etc & my pay was higher than it would be now.

Put me back on a shop floor earning less than what I did as a teenager with little prospects & you can bet my work ethic has left me!

It seems you are confusing experienced with inexperienced rather than disengagement

I agree, OP. And the worst thing is that they genuinely don't care. There seems to be a lot of ambivalence and lack of care or ambition, and zero going an extra mile from what I can see.

every generation thinks this, that the newest gen are lazy or whatever. in reality every generation has a mix of shitty workers, good workers, unenthusiastic, mega go getters etc. I work with gen z a lot, it’s as much a mix as with any other.

I haven't noticed this at all. I was just talking about gen z servers after going out for a meal and drinks this weekend, but in a completely different way.

I couldn't believe how attentive they were, the really seemed to care about doing a good job (when I was young and working in hospitality I was usually too hungover to care about what my customers wanted).

One guy knelt down next to the table to sincerely apologise for not having the drink I'd ordered as if he were delivering serious bad news, and another apologised profusely for our very short wait.

A student working in the bar we went to spent ages making a cocktail we asked for. It wasn't on the menu and she'd never heard of it, but said if we didn't mind waiting, she was sure she could find a tutorial on her phone.

I did have the slowest ever server when I went for coffee last week, but he said he was new and just seemed reeeeaaallly keen to get each step meticulously right.

I disagree. Most younger people I come across in shops and cafes are generally energetic, polite and doing their jobs to the best of their ability. It's often the older ones who are too busy talking nonsense to the customers on the supermarket tills to be efficient or struggle with the technology. Give me a 17 year old over a 57 year old on my till any day.

And its not just young people looking at their phones. I'm the older end of Gen X and I'm on my phone during work hours, you just can't see me doing it because I'm not stacking shelves or making coffees.

Not at all the case here - South Wales. In the last week, I've interacted with young workers on trains, in bars, supermarket, corner shop - all lovely, sociable and professional.

I bet if you go back a decade or two on mumsnet you'll find people complaining about young workers in shops, and we can't blame gen Z for that.

Sure, you'll get shops that are poorly managed, disengaged workers, the odd hungover or miserable teenager. That's always happened, though.