Farm and fish plant work "a slap in the face". I beg to differ.

I have always resisted the urge to join many of my generation in criticizing millennials or Generation X or Z young people for being lazy, pampered, or feeling entitled.  This because I never felt the criticism is warranted. It is unfortunate that some parents go overboard trying to shield their kids from disappointment or failure, and making sure they get a participation medal just for showing up.  This does precious little to prepare them for the real world. 

There is that, but from what I see young people entering the workforce have it tougher than my generation did. The world is more competitive, the opportunities are fewer, and economic pressures are in many cases greater. 

From what I observe, the new generation works hard but also has put a priority on a healthy work-life balance, something I and many of my peers failed miserably at. It also appears to me younger people have, in a general sense, a more finely tuned social conscience than many of us did. So, to quote a rock star of my generation “the kids are alright”. Mind you Roger Daltry was singing about 60s and 70s kids, but the point remains.

All this said, I couldn’t help but see red when I saw on the front page of Friday’s Daily Gleaner a story in which the Executive Director of the New Brunswick Student Alliance called the suggestion students could find summer work on farms and in fish plants a “slap in the face”.  Say what? Yes, you heard that right. The Executive Director of the largest student organization in the province, KJ Conyers-Steede, is apparently outraged that Premier Blaine Higgs would suggest that students take jobs usually done by temporary foreign workers, who this year aren’t being allowed into the province because of Covid-19. 

Photo credit: macleans.ca

Whether this policy is the first stumble by Premier Higgs in what has otherwise been an excellent coronavirus response is debatable. I can see his point that with 30,000 students looking for summer jobs, this should be a no-brainer. But I get the farm and fish plant owner’s argument as well, that students could never do it to the same efficiency because they don’t have the skills or the work ethic. It’s no secret that the immigrant workers have been doing this work for years in the province because New Brunswickers, for the most part, won’t do it. 

Photo credit: National Post

But that aside, back to the suggestion that students take these jobs is a “slap in the face”. Why is that? Do today’s students see pulling carrots or gutting fish somehow beneath them? The aforementioned Mr. Conyers-Steede is quoted as such: “Summer is the time when you utilize your skill sets and build up experiential learning and then you have a Premier and government saying “I don’t care about your experiential learning opportunities, go work at a fish plant”.

At the risk of being dismissed with an “OK Boomer”, when I was in college I worked three jobs to be able to afford to stay there. I would have loved it if those jobs constituted “experiential learning” which in my case would have been working in something connected to journalism, but only a couple of my fellow students managed to swing that. I, on the other hand, washed dishes at a banquet hall, scrubbed steel plates in a fabrication shop, and drove a bulldozer plowing corn onto a conveyer belt for the Jolly Green Giant. The thought that any of those jobs were beneath me didn’t cross my mind for one second. Rather, I appreciated having them. They meant I could continue my studies. 

I can’t imagine today’s students have that different a mindset. I could be wrong but I can’t believe they are all in synch with their student representative’s view that being offered a so-called menial job constitutes a slap in the face. 

Photo credit: dom-security.com

For those who are don’t need the money, great, good for you. Or if you are lucky enough to land a job related to your field of study or to determine if it’s a field you want to pursue as a career, good for you too, fill your boots. But for others, the real field offers value as well. 

There’s the money of course, but it’s also an opportunity to get out of your bubble and gain an appreciation for the hard work that goes into that food you have been taking for granted all these years. And an appreciation of how hard some people have to work may give you something to reflect on down the road, when that day comes when the job you went to school for might seem overwhelming. Call it a little earned perspective or a reality check. Doing this work could also help in landing that dream job later. When I was in the hiring business, and I saw manual labour included on an applicant’s resume, that would tell me a couple of things. First that this person isn’t afraid of hard work, and second, that he or she isn’t afraid to venture outside their comfort zone. That could be the difference in a close competition. Just saying.

In his characterization of the offer of farm or fish plant work as a slap in the face, the Student Alliance spokesperson did students a great disservice as he re-enforced the stereotype that students are afraid of and unwilling to do hard manual labour. My assumption is that this is not the case for the majority, or at least not for some, but it’s only my assumption. It’ll be interesting to see how all of this plays out. The applications for these jobs I believe were posted today.

Thanks for reading. A reminder that as always, shares are appreciated.