ABC chair Ita Buttrose has come out swinging at Millenials, suggesting young workers lack resilience in the workplace and “almost need hugging” for encouragement and reassurance.
Buttrose made the comments under Chatham House Rule to the Australia-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. However, sources who dialled into the meeting revealed Buttrose’s comments to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
The ABC chair was asked to reflect on what makes a good leader, and while she criticised the current political leaders, she said the biggest change and challenge was the makeup of the current workforce – in particular, Millenials.
“What does change is the expectations of staff, that’s where the change occurs,” Buttrose said. “The younger workers like more transparency.”
Buttrose said when she was a young journalist, not hearing from her bosses was a good thing because “no news means good news”.
She said in contrast, “today’s younger workers […] need much more reassurance and they need to be thanked, which is something many companies don’t do.
“They’re very keen on being thanked and they almost need hugging – that’s before COVID of course, we can’t hug anymore – but they almost need hugging.
As would be expected, Millenials aren’t very happy with the ABC chair, taking to Twitter to air their thoughts.
https://twitter.com/AmyThunig/status/1286078417444564992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286078417444564992%7Ctwgr%5E393535353b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pedestrian.tv%2Fnews%2Fita-buttrose-needs-hugging%2F
https://twitter.com/joshgnosis/status/1286089614004953088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286089614004953088%7Ctwgr%5E393535353b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pedestrian.tv%2Fnews%2Fita-buttrose-needs-hugging%2F
https://twitter.com/mouseroaring/status/1286092196525948928
https://twitter.com/mckinnon_a/status/1286077863796420609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286077863796420609%7Ctwgr%5E393535353b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pedestrian.tv%2Fnews%2Fita-buttrose-needs-hugging%2F
