Young worker attitudes rotten in the state of Denmark

Danish HR leaders say spoiled young workes have bad attitudes

Danish HR leaders are getting fed up with the bad attitudes of young workers who have been spoiled by their parents, according to a report in the Cophenhagen Post.

"HR staffers are sick and tired of this kind of behaviour, and the sheer lack of respect for work. I even know of one company that simply refuses to hire anyone under 30, just to avoid the hassle," said Kim Staack Nielsen, chairman of the Danish Personnel Directors' Association, in an article originally published in the daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten,

He said his members are amazed at the number of young workers who appear indifferent during job interviews, don’t care about working hours and are unwilling to put in any extra effort at the office. HR leaders attribute the poor attitude to years of coddling by parents, teachers and mentors.

“Young people today exhibit an absolutely appalling lack of responsibility,” agreed Torkild Justesen, director of the National Management Organisation. “Our managers aren't amused in the slightest, and they've only gotten more irritated. It's really posing a problem for the Danish job market that the younger generation is so spoiled."

Justesen told the newspaper companies have to continually hire and train new workers because so many young workers won’t do a job that bores them.

Young people are generally detrimental to workplace camaraderie, because they tend to shove more tedious job duties to older, experienced colleagues, he said.

"Young people today aren't satisfied just having a job,” said Jytte Seidelin, group director for competency development at Denmark’s largest financial institution, Danske Bank.

“They come armed with a list of demands for their employer to resolve educational issues for them. And it could be a problem if an older employee feels that the younger set just can't be bothered doing the more tedious work,"

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