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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have summer associates at my law firm and I remind them when they talk to partners face to face, don't have their phone in their hands, and when they go out to lunch with attorneys don't put their phone on the table. One was like "yes of course" and he's 29, and the other was like "Oh damn, really? Why? But can I text while I'm in my office? Like, alone?" and she's 25. It'll be interesting to see who we extend offers to. [/quote]

I mean the 29 yr old likely has had an actual job before going to law school whereas the 25 year old obviously went straight from undergrad to law school. Of course the 25 yr old is less aware of some of those unwritten rules of etiquette. That has nothing to do with generational differences and everything to do with experience. I bet in a few years, that 25 yr old will respond differently to that question.

But to OP, young people are often less formal than older generations, this has been a trend for... ever maybe? We've been moving to less formal styles of communication and dress for at least the last 130 years. When men started showing up to job interview without hats in the 60s, all the old men complained about their rudeness. When people started referring to more senior people at work by their first names instead of "Mr." or "Ms./Mrs.", many older people found this to be an affront (my DH had a senior director who remained "Mr. X" until his retirement a few years ago, the only holdover from that era). Things change. Some of what you now view as "lacking social skills" may be the default in 20 years, and if you are still working, everyone in your office will look at your behavior as embarrassingly old fashioned.[/quote]

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