Roxy Jacenko slams Australian workers as ‘lazy and entitled’

‘We need to end the 9 to 5 mentality’: PR queen Roxy Jacenko says young Aussies are ‘lazy and entitled’ and could learn from Chinese workers who never switch off

  • The millionaire PR guru said Australia has a cultural problem of laziness  
  • She said too many young people are unwilling to start out at the bottom 
  • Jacenko insisted that Australians should follow Chinese work ethic 

Hard worker: Roxy Jacenko has criticised Australian workers for being ‘lazy and entitled’

Roxy Jacenko has criticised Australian workers for being ‘lazy and entitled’ and said the country should look to China for inspiration.

The millionaire PR guru said Australia has a cultural problem where workers preference work-life balance over success.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia on Monday morning, she said too many people have a ‘nine to five mentality’ and young people in particular are unwilling to work hard. 

The 38-year-old, who founded her PR firm Sweaty Betty aged 24, has set up a new company called 18 Communications to help brands target Chinese consumers via social media. 

Jacenko, notorious for answering emails at all hours, said she was told during an interview with Business Circle magazine that she is ‘like a Chinese worker.’  

‘The journalist told me she has interviewed several Aussies and that so many of us have a nine-to-five mentality,’ Jacenko said.

‘In China they tend not to have that mentality. My emails to Chinese partners are answered instantly at all hours of the day. That’s how it should be.

The PR guru and mother-of-two added: ‘Work like balance is wonderful but unrealistic. If I had that all perfect then I would not be where I am today.

‘I work seven days a week because I want to exceed expectations – good enough is not good enough for me.’

Jacenko, notorious for answering emails at all hours of the day, said she was told during an interview with Business Circle magazine that she is 'like a Chinese worker'. Pictured: Jacenko with the journalist who interviewed her

Jacenko, notorious for answering emails at all hours of the day, said she was told during an interview with Business Circle magazine that she is ‘like a Chinese worker’. Pictured: Jacenko with the journalist who interviewed her

Jacenko (right) who founded her PR firm Sweaty Betty aged 24, has set up a new company called 18 Communications to help brands target the Chinese consumer via social media

Jacenko (right) who founded her PR firm Sweaty Betty aged 24, has set up a new company called 18 Communications to help brands target the Chinese consumer via social media

Jacenko, who appeared on the Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2013 and now owns several PR businesses, said many young workers are ‘mollycoddled’ and expect too much when they enter the working world.

‘Every Australian business owner will tell you that we have a problem at the moment with young people refusing to work hard,’ Jacenko told Daily Mail Australia.

‘They work for you for six months then they’re off because they think the grass is greener.

‘They’re not willing to put in the hard work – you don’t see people staying in the same job for five years like you used to. I think it’s a big problem.’ 

Roxy Jacenko attends the UnREAL Australian Premiere Party on February 23, 2018

Roxy Jacenko attends the UnREAL Australian Premiere Party on February 23, 2018

She said that a CV looks suspect if a person has changed jobs after only a few months.

‘In PR our customers want stability and it starts with the company’s employees,’ she said.

‘Young people expect to be on 100k and refuse to do menial tasks – but you have to learn from the bottom up, you have to do the mail and file documents. You’re not going to walk in and be an executive.’ 

Jacenko started her career as a receptionist for clothing company Diesel. 

‘I didn’t love my job but I stayed there for four years so I could learn and get better – you can’t learn anything in six months,’ she said.

‘Before that I worked at McDonald’s from the age of 14 and I’m going to make my children get jobs to teach them the value of hard work.’

She said something should change at school level to encourage children to work hard.

‘It needs to start from a career advisory perspective – perhaps 16-year-olds should do two days of work experience per week over six months.

‘They need more experience of the working world and part-time work needs to be encouraged.’   

Despite Australia’s famed culture of work-life balance, the country came 11th in the IMF’s GDP per capita rankings in 2018 – while China did not make the top 50.      

Jacenko (pictured with Business Circle magazine) started her career as a receptionist for clothing company Diesel

Jacenko (pictured with Business Circle magazine) started her career as a receptionist for clothing company Diesel

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk