Saturday 25 June 2022 05:39 PM Boomers hit back at younger millennial staff: Gen Z Gen Y: Great Resignation trends now

A generational feud has erupted on social media after a business guru said 'old-style Boomer managers' are causing younger staff to leave their jobs.

Corporate coach Kathy McKenzie told Daily Mail Australia this week the No. 1 thing young workers despise is unnecessarily being told what to do by their older bosses.

She added that the issue is even more magnified when Baby Boomers share obvious directions with younger staff - particularly women.

But Boomers have hit back at 'lazy' Millennials, Gen Y and Z, complaining about their working conditions, claiming their generations are just 'weak babies' who have no clue about the real world and often produce 'substandard' work.

The social media furore comes as droves of disaffected staff are leaving en masse and triggering staff shortages across some of Australia's most crucial industries including the healthcare sector - with thousands of nurses fleeing on the heels of the pandemic.

The rest of the globe has seen a similar jobs crisis unfold post-Covid, with the phenomenon dubbed the great 'Great Resignation'.

'Youngsters are leaving the workplace because they'd rather sit home on Centrelink payments than doing an actual job,' Dianne, 66, commented as furious discussion broke out over the issue online.

'I've worked with young managers and ones who are well over retirement age. Being a f***wit is actually a defect which is found across the age spectrum.

'If your boss is lacking in this quality, you'll be miserable at work regardless of his/ her age bracket.

'Blaming an entire generation for your woes is easier than taking responsibility for poor choices. It's also spineless and lacking in substance.'

Another said: 'So are these whiny, weak babies that quit their jobs moving back in with mummy and daddy? How are they supporting themselves?'

A third wrote: 'One day this generation will be in charge. We're all doomed.'  

Robert said getting direction from bosses is a normal part of any job.

'How dare the baby boomer bosses dictate to the workers re how to do their job?' he posted sarcastically.

 We have reared a generation of selfish wimps - Janet

Others commented that the complaints of 'me, myself & I' generations are 'a bit rich' coming from a group of people who go out of their way to be offended and then post 'themselves crying on social media' about it.

'Millennials are selfish, self centred, don't understand teamwork or responsibility to coworkers or company,' one person said. 'The trouble is that they are also so arrogant and entitled that they won't recognise or admit to any of these traits.'

Another wrote: 'Most youngsters wouldn't actually know what hard work/pressure is.'

'We have reared a generation of selfish wimps,' Janet said.

A massive cultural divide is creating instability and high-turnover in various sectors throughout Australia.

Ms McKenzie, who founded the business coaching start-up Fire Up, says younger workers don't have to put up with their bosses 'making demands' anymore and are looking to work for employers that know how to foster their talents.

'In the 80s and 90s, if someone was telling you something that you already knew, you just sucked it up. Now that just doesn't fly anymore. Especially for younger women,' she said.

'When someone starts mansplaining, they know they don't actually have to put up with that like they did 10 or 15 years ago.

'Millennials and the new workforce now also really understand what coaching and mentorship is. So if their boomer bosses don't have that skill they just find it really frustrating and will likely leave.'

But older generations disagree and say maybe if the 'generation of know-it-alls'  actually listened to their boomer bosses they might be happier about your job.

'That's what is wrong with the younger generations. They pick and choose what they want to do,' Christine wrote.

'But all those other meaningless tasks also need to be done - that's why they were hired and are being paid.'

Another person had a more philosophical view of the intergenerational conflict.

'Since time began the young generation puts the generation ahead down, until the young end up the the next mob of fools... Life goes fast,' the person wrote.