I find that to be an interesting trend. I don't want to feel useless or redundant — although I've also seen, and felt, intense pressure to do more and more work (adding one to three full-time positions to an already busy work schedule) as donwsizing takes place, with no additional compensation, so perhaps some of what you're seeing is an acknowledgement that it's better to have a frivolous job than to have one that's so filled with stress and impossible deadlines that it makes workers physically ill or burned out in a matter of months.

I do, however, like to be left alone to do my work. I dislike hovering managers (e.g., when someone doesn't understand what my web work entails but wants to see my progress before the presentation layer has been completed, and they start giving me criticism on placement, fonts, text size, colors, etc.). If it we're in my first six months, I get there being a certain amount of constant oversight, but after years of proving myself to do high-quality work and meeting deadlines, I just want the space to work unencumbered until I'm ready with a completed draft or proof of concept to show.

Regarding training, my employer provides virtually none. Given the choice to learn something and receive certification, even if it doesn't directly benefit my job, that might be preferable to having nothing new to add to my résumé. Granted, I learn skills on my own, too, but it can be tough to sell oneself without official training seminars and certifications.

As for management, I have a very low opinion of many managers. Most, in my experience, suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect, but they sell themselves and their abilities on overconfidence, and as they advance they hire managers under them with similar personality traits. I've been fortunate in my current position (for 14 years) to have had mostly competent direct supervisors. In other departments and divisions, however, I've seen a lot of mismanagement and utter ineptitude.

Something I've noticed a lot in recent years among younger hires has been a lack of work ethic in general. I'm unsure that it's outright laziness, because they will work hard when it's something they are passionate about, but there's a troubling perception shift I've seen. When I entered the workforce about 20 years ago, fresh out of college with no prior experience, I (and all of my peers) expected to start in an entry-level position, gain experience, and work our way up. In the last few years, though, I've seen young workers with no previous experience who don't want to do any entry-level work but rather want to run projects and assume a managerial role, telling others what to do, doing none of the actual work, and taking all of the praise and recognition for themselves. Or they come in with no experience but refuse to listen to those who've been doing the job for years and know the right way to do it, how to avoid pitfalls, etc. (and continue to resist protocol even after making serious mistakes and have been reprimanded). I think this mindset applies to less than 50% of new workers, from what I've seen, but it used to be almost entirely unheard of and now it's commonplace. Less of a work ethic issue, but more of a change in personality I guess, is that a lot of new workers are incapable of taking criticism, no matter how gentle, and require constant reinforcement. A simple "thank you" or "good job" isn't enough for some, and they seem to need to be lavished with praise for even routine job duties. I'm unsure what has driven this neediness, but I think it's important that supervisors recognize it and find some healthy ways of dealing with it.

I don't know whether modern culture is broken or has let us down, but it is changing. In some ways for the better, I suppose, but what I'm seeing more of is a corporate mindset that treats all workers as fungible and isn't interested in investing and retaining quality employees, and a workforce that likewise feels no loyalty or responsibility to the employer. I don't have a solution, and it might work itself out in time — but I'm not holding my breath.

Have you seen our current president?