Dear millennials . . . did no one teach you about the real world?
Boss vents his fury in job advert
IT may not have been the most diplomatic attempt to recruit staff, but it certainly echoed the views of many employers across the land.
Harry Iggulden, shocked at the calibre of applicants to be an office administrator at his theatre company, wrote a job advertisement aimed at so-called ‘millennials’ – those born around the turn of the century.
The thunderous listing began: ‘Dear Millenials [sic]. Are you just not taught anything about existing in the real world, where every penny counts?
‘Did no one teach you that the end of your studies is the beginning of your education?’
The advert for a role at Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall, south London, said it only wanted CVs from people ‘who can commit’, following a number of poor applications.
The fringe theatre company said it would pay a salary of £15-£20,000 but added: ‘We have not been impressed so far.’
It said it had been in the business for 20 years, ‘grafting, scraping’ and ‘surviving on our box office, breaking even and revelling in the success that in the real world, that is.’
Millennials have earned a reputation for shying away from labour and not being prepared for the world of work.
However, some failed to understand Mr Iggulden’s frustrations, posted on a jobs website run by the Arts Council.
Critics reacted with righteous fury on Twitter, with one branding it ‘ obnoxious’ and another saying: ‘It’s never good to advertise that you’re entitled, patronising and abusive.’
Miranda Debenham said she was interviewed for the role earlier this year.
She said: ‘The interviewer was eating breakfast, questioned whether I had got the experience I had because I am a woman and therefore the diversity hire, and emphasised that he would shout at me a lot.’
Company director Mr Iggulden, 45, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘ Obviously I was writing it with a bit of frustration, and I was a bit disappointed with the job market.
‘Since we started putting up the advert we were getting people who didn’t understand the bottom line, they think somehow there is a money tree.
‘We work awfully hard, we are a small family business. We get paid very little, we work for nothing because we work in the arts.
‘There seems to be an expectation [from young people] to earn far more than the company directors.
‘From the Twitter furore that has gone on – goodness gracious me, it was only a job advert. People seem to be ever so irate. I don’t want to antagonise them any more, they might pop. It does seem they are getting their knickers in a twist.’
The Arts Council removed the listing yesterday, saying it breached its terms by targeting a specific age.