Young Aussie worker's tears sparks 'entitled' generational debate: 'You can't do that'

An Australian woman has issued a warning to older managers after witnessing two younger workers break down in tears while on the job. Sunshine Coast business owner Rachel Lynch recounted two instances where staff had been yelled at when they made simple errors at work.

Lynch said older managers need to learn how to better support Gen-Z workers who are "more fragile", with a HR expert telling Yahoo Finance interactions like these were sparking “the end of ambition” for the next generation of Aussie workers. But, does there need to be some backlash for underperformance?

The instance that sparked the discussion started when an unconfident young girl took Lynch's order for a baguette and 15 minutes later she revealed she didn't remember it.

"She goes inside and tells her boss she’s already forgotten the order that she’s taken outside and then the door closes, like that's going to help... and then he starts yelling at her saying ‘you can’t just keep forgetting orders, you can’t do this’. He's yelling, she’s panicking obviously, she starts crying," she said.

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She said the manager was right to be frustrated and wasn't overly aggressive, but the confrontation was enough to tip the Gen Z worker over the edge, leaving him confused as to how to solve the issue.

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The second incident occurred a few months ago when a “young kid” was crying and almost hyperventilating after making a mistake and being told off by their manager “loud enough that everyone in the restaurant can hear”.

“It’s just like this intense relationship between older managers and business owners and their younger staff. You’re hiring young staff because you don’t want to pay much, I get that, business is tough," Lynch said.

"But you need to learn how to work with younger people especially different generations. Gen Z is more soft, they’re more fragile, they want to work more collaboratively.

"You can't just yell at them, that doesn't help them."

Lynch noted everyone handles criticism differently, and an approach that may work for some could leave Gen-Z workers "heartbroken".

“When a Boomer yelled at a Boomer they’d pull up their socks and get on with it and be like, 'I'll show them, I'll work the hardest I've ever worked'," she said.

Young workers 'don't see benefits' of hard work

Aaron McEwan, VP of research and advisory at Gartner, agreed a more sensitive approach was needed for Gen-Z workers who expect more "empathetic" leaders.

“For a lot of older workers who were brought up in a period where mental health wasn't spoken about, there was lots of stigma attached to it that makes them uncomfortable," he told Yahoo Finance.

“Gen Z is going to be one of the largest populations within our workforce, so older managers and leaders need to get used to that.”

But, McEwan said younger Aussies were also being unfairly labelled as being “flighty” or “not willing to put in the hard yards”.

“That was the same thing that we said about Millennials. Same thing that was said to Gen X. Younger employees are often in a stage of their careers where they haven't really worked out what they want to be when they grow up.”

He said it was important to consider that younger people are struggling in the cost-of-living crisis and that working harder wouldn't necessarily guarantee them the rewards previous generations reaped, like being able to afford a home.

"They may be sitting there going, ‘well, I'm being paid $25 an hour. Why would I work harder? Why would I go above and beyond what's expected of me if it's unlikely to lead to these things?’," McEwan said.

“I think it would be almost confounding for a Baby Boomer to say ‘why wouldn't you work hard? Look at where it got me’. Younger employees are going, ‘If I work hard, I'm not even going to get close to that'.”

Lynch's video sparked fierce debate, with some claiming the "entitled" younger generation needed to learn how to navigate confrontation, while others said the manager's approach was poor.

"They’re both in the wrong, business practice shouldn’t be to remember everything and you should never yell at employees," one wrote.

"That’s got nothing to do with Boomers, Gen X and Z. That’s just an employee not cutting it," a woman said.

"This is why kids need to be taught how to fail, resilience is nearly absent in Gen-Z. They will need it in coming years," another added.