Will today's younger generation start to grow there own

Leadership, you can lead a horse to water you cannot make then drink.
I find and my friends that have businesses have concluded finding an apprentice into any of the building or technical trades, is almost impossible. At graduate level some courses are positively discriminating in favor if men because women have better qualifications

I blame doting parents that let them get away with it

Not being able to find apprentices has nothing to do with attention spans and everything to do with the misplaced perception that being in the trades is a fall back/not smart enough for an office job

Absolutely Maw. The graduates I interview in the NHS don’t bear any resemblance to that either. My DS is almost at the end of his Masters degree in engineering and will probably go into the energy sector, DD is 20 in her final year of nursing and about to complete her registration on the frontline. Their friends are all hardworking, motivated young adults who, once this nightmare is over, will hopefully have the same opportunities as experiences open to them as previous generations. That kind of ageism from Davidh is indeed cojones.

I would not say that the majority are like that, but I think you , David and some of my family have experienced some who may be. Not, however, apprentices, those intending to go to university or graduates who generally are keen and enthusiastic to take on any work in their holidays and gap years.

Surely there are lazy, unmotivated people of all ages though?

Yes, there are.
So it is an ageist assumption.

It is a rather strange phenomenon though, but perhaps because those who have motivation and ambition are prepared to leave their comfort zone.

My small town has four large allotment areas, but there is nevertheless a seven year waiting list. No plots are ever passed on to friends and family, although some are swapped (large plot for small for example - with the council's permission) between plot holders.

One of my children has a large garden and keeps chickens (had ducks but the wily fox found a way in), another is a keen fisherman and has also just got a permit to lay three crab pots. Their brother has a small courtyard garden and manages to grow lots of salads and vegetables - and we have a very large, productive allotment that gives us ample fruit and veg to last the year round. At the moment we're harvesting potatoes, leeks and delicious purple sprouting broccoli.

As you can imagine there is a great deal of bartering that goes on when the family get together, especially in late summer.

David what do you think would be the point in a young lad trying to get on in you or your mates' firms if you lot have clearly already decided when they walked in the door that they wont succeed or progress.

Do them a favour and stop pretending to offer opportunities when all you are doing is setting them up to fail so that you and your mates can congratulate yourselves on your self fulfilling prophecies