'No one wants to work': Boomer small businessowner complains that they can't find employees, pays $15 an hour with no benefits

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Jan 25, 2024 6:00 PM EST

You should always be suspicious of someone who says, "Nobody wants to work anymore." If you've been around ambitious, motivated young professionals, you know that this is certainly not the case. Many people value working hard, and someone rarely wants to be unemployed for an indefinite amount of time out of laziness. Even people who aren't constantly grinding still want to work!

So what's with this "nobody wants to work" complaint? It's a question usually posed by old fogies who think that everyone should be kissing their feet and begging for a job. People who run small businesses that pay employees next to nothing can't understand why young grads won't tolerate their paltry job offers when so many places offer better than minimum wage with no benefits. One of those old timers recently went viral on Reddit, and I can think of at least five good reasons why nobody wants to work for their business. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/maxzmillion . 1d Small Town Small Business Small Minds
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 02
    8:03 KNOW NEWS YOU SHOULD Like I really can't believe how hard it is to hire someone for a job. People come fill out application. Message me and say they are interested. Then they are a no show. We have interviews and talked to people but no one wants to work. c. and 24 others 100 Copy ...
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 03
    8:03 KNOW NEWS YOU SHOULD 1h Like 100 SAME! It is so frustrating! We have had people go through the entire process of getting hired, and it takes about a week to two weeks. And I be dang of they only work one day and never come back. Or they will go through the process and never show up. 1h Like yup we usually hire them that day. But they mess or are late or whatever people just don't want to work 1h Like what is the job? ●●● 2 2 b No benefits it's a small business. Starts at $15.00 work with cu
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 04
    < 8:04 KNOW ton - 1h p YOU SHOULD ● 100 ●●● Have you thought about breaking it up and hire some part time employees? There are some retired individuals and veterans that work love to have a part time job. You would also get a much more reliable work force who want to work. Older generation just have better work ethic. Just an idea. 41m Like 36m Like yes thats the idea I am trying to fine someone to take my full time job so I can go part time to start school 39m Like I highly agree with this sugg
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 05
    8:05 ARDIA NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Denise ¹h 100 No benefits it's a small business. Starts at $15.00 work with customers getting cabinets answering phones building doors helping put inventory up cabinets read tape measure and basic math ● Treasure Hills Discount cabinets 1h Like 1h Like 2 eek. Who can live off of $15 an hour at this point? Maybe a kid who lives with their family 1h Like it's a small business under 10 people that's why there's no benefits ●●● experienced sales person with an impecca
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 06
    GREF buSHOULD GREENBRIER NEWS YOU SHOULD 1h NOW What sort of value are you offering to your potential hires? Like 1h. e Master Lady Jay Jeringen. No benefits it's a small business. Starts at $15.00 work with customers getting cabinets answering phones building doors helping put inventory up cabinets read tape measure and basic math 1h Like Are there opportunities to grown and get raises? well it seems you aren't adding value to the position. This makes the job boring and unappealing. Vacation ti
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 07
    Start reporting no shows to unemployment 1h Haha 13 ED
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  • 08
    Enjoy the job hunt in a small town. So many brilliant ideas thrown around here. my favorite part is when the boomer jumped in and said to hire other retired boomers, but didn't offer to work or offer any leads on available boomers.
    via u/maxzmillion
  • 09
    iconsandbygones. 1d "no one wants to work..." They are forgetting the most important part "... For our terrible wages and benefits" Reply 42.4k
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  • 10
    Unity1232 22h "no one wants to work" one of the people actually replied that they would do it for $25/hour. they intentional ignore the second half of the statement. "No one wants to work for pay" ... ↑ 599
    via u/Unity1232
  • 11
    yupitsanalt. 22h My neighbor (boomer) was selling their business because of the whole, "no one wants to work" mythos. They were sick of trying to find people to do the jobs that they needed done. It was a small business that made fancy cheese. The jobs they needed involved mixing ingredients per instructions, checking temperatures and running simple chemical tests and moving lots of heavy items that had to be handled in a specific way. The environment was a clean room type because of the bacteri
    via u/yupitsanalt
  • 12
    No benefits. Only willing to offer minimum wage. Had to be 18 and they wanted a high school degree. They sold the business, which they built over 30 years for a discount to a younger couple who were farmers that were one of the suppliers of whatever kind of milk they were using. Neighbor signed a contract to work for 3 months to help them with the transition.
    via u/yupitsanalt
  • 13
    New owners posted that exact job for $25/hr and added fairly limited benefits. Not 100% sure what, but I think it was something like 1 week of vacation and a small match to any retirement fund. My neighbor criticized them for being foolish because that couldn't possibly solve the issue of no one wanting to work and he thought they were just going to bankrupt the business.
    via u/yupitsanalt
  • 14
    He now complains to anyone who will listen that the people who bought the business some how screwed him because they were able to quickly staff the positions they needed and start filling more orders and have grown the business over the last year. Same neighbor constantly comments how no one wants to work because they keep looking at job websites and see all these low level jobs paying like the ones they were offering and argue that because people aren't flocking to them then no one wants a job
    via u/yupitsanalt
  • 15
    Talusthebroke • 1d Alright, a few takes here: 1. That's multiple people's jobs all bundled into one. 2. If I was doing that much in most cases i would be managing the store, not entry level, with a much higher hourly, or even a salary. 3. If you have an ongoing problem of people ditching after a single day, and you automatically assume that it's because people "don't want to work* and there's nothing wrong with the work environment or management, you're a fool.
    via u/Talusthebroke
  • 16
    4. Boomer/silent generation retirees looking for "something to do", are the absolute worst and most unreliable employees I ever had to work with as a shift lead. There are exceptions (one particular guy from Armenia was brilliant, a hard worker, and had great stuff to talk about on slow days), but most examples I've seen were constantly late, lazy, slow, obnoxious or offensive to customers, and if you said a word to them about doing a bad job would have a hissy fit and tell you they didn't need
    via u/Talusthebroke
  • 17
    SevolsoDes · 1d ● I love point 3. Yes, obviously people who are looking through job listings, interviewing for jobs, and showing up for work several days "just don't want to work." I definitely spent lots of time and energy looking for opportunities to do things that I don't really want to do. ... 225
    via u/SevolsoDes
  • 18
    010 knux31781 23h ● Not just multiple people's jobs, but multiple people's jobs that require vastly different skill sets too. You can hire a receptionist or a carpenter, but good luck finding someone who can do both at the same time (and for only $15/hr). "Nobody wants to work" ... 4 135
    via u/knux31781
  • 19
    -aVOIDant- . 1d "it's a small business, I can't afford to pay my employees well or offer benefits." Sounds like they can't afford to run a business then. Reply 676
    via u/-aVOIDant-
  • 20
    RpcZ_gr7711. 1d Too true. Their original business plan likely planned for $7.25/h wages based on federal minimum wage but they'll never admit to their poor planning and instead blame guess who? The lazys that don't want to work 4147 +
    via u/RpcZ_gr7711
  • 21
    maxzmillion OP • 1d My favorite part is that this person doesn't even own the business. They claim to have been in this business for 25+ years and have worked for many cabinetry places... but now they want to hire someone to replace their full-time job so that they can go to school? Not only are they saying there is no benefits, they are saying there is no future. Reply 320 ...
    via u/maxzmillion

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