Muffin Break GM Natalie Brennan has apologised for comments she made in which she said that Millennials were ‘entitled’ for not wanting to work for free.
“The recent article does not reflect my values or those of Foodco,” Brennan said in a statement published on the Muffin Break Facebook page on Monday morning. “Every day for the last 25 years I've worked with young people who are motivated, passionate and hardworking. This is as true today as it was when I started my career.
“I don't expect anyone to work unpaid and Foodco Group policy is, and has always been, that all employees including interns, employed either directly or through our brands are paid according to relevant awards.
“The unpaid work I referred to was supervised programs run through schools, TAFEs or universities, which provide valuable gained experience to people before they enter the workforce full-time. I want to apologise for any misunderstanding or upset caused by my comments.”
Brennan drew criticism for her comments made in an interview last week, when she said that there was “nobody walking in my door asking for an internship, work experience or unpaid work, nobody.”
“You don't see it anymore. Before that people would be knocking on your door all the time, you couldn't keep up with how many people wanted to be working. In fact I'd run programmes because there were so many coming in.
“In essence they're working for free, but I can tell you every single person who has knocked on my door for an internship or work experience has ended up with a job. Every single person, because they back themselves.”
