Is everyday work today a “pony farm”?

Andrea Nahles, head of the employment agency, has criticized the hiring of young professionals. "Work is not a pony farm," said the former federal chairwoman of the SPD. There she hits a point. Many young people want flexible working hours, a meaningful job and pets in the office.

Sure, that's how the market forces are: A few applicants meet many vacancies. This drives up the price of labor – not only financially, but also ideally. The consequences cannot be ignored: a generation of spoiled workers is growing up, some of whom know how to dictate insane conditions. No four-day week? No yoga during lunch break? Then they go to the competition.

Worse still, there is sometimes a lack of the existential pressure of having to work. After all, many of the supposed top performers of tomorrow come from the affluent families of today. Taking part in climate protests instead of studying or working can, if necessary, be financed with family wealth. The young generation can often afford this attitude, but our economy cannot.

The author was born in 1995 and feels compelled to stab his generation in the back.

Work is not a pony farm? This statement can actually only come from an office worker who has never worked in a paddock. Contrary to the metaphor, people work hard there and get their hands dirty.

If the head of the employment agency, Andrea Nahles, has not yet recognized that something fundamental has changed on the job market, then that is worrying. Instead of dismissing today's expectations of young professionals as effeminate complaining at a high level, one should ask oneself where one's own mistakes and omissions lie. It is normal and understandable that generations X and Y no longer want to work in the same company for 50 years, but instead insist on having a say and flexible working models in view of constant availability and increasing work intensification.

Two million jobs are open, and if you can't offer your employees enough, they have to deal with the fact that they look elsewhere. Incidentally, Nahles' SPD could also do a lot to ensure that young workers in particular feel treated more fairly: for example, ensure that more of the net remains from the gross.

The author appreciates the home office option.