RESTAURATEUR SKEWERS ‘ENTITLED’ MILLENNIALS

HALIFAX • A Halifax-area restaurant owner has sparked a social-media uproar by complaining that a “frustrating new generation” of employees with a poor work ethic helped kill her business.

A Facebook post Tuesday by Kim Stacey, owner of the now-defunct Emma’s Eatery, in Eastern Passage, cited several reasons for the closure. But what attracted the most attention was her criticism of what she described as the entitled attitude of young staff members.

In her post, Stacey complained that during the nine years the eatery was open, young employees demanded to be “paid dearly” for working shifts that did not interfere with their social activities and cellphone use.

She also lamented that the workers she hired — regardless of age — often said they couldn’t work because they were “too stressed out” or couldn’t handle constructive criticism. “So they quit instead of learning work ethic.”

Stacey, who was also the restaurant’s chef, could not be reached for comment.

At one point in the heated online debate, Stacey stressed that not all of her employees had been duds, saying some were “highly disciplined and committed for many years.”

Amid the hundreds of passionate responses, Stacey is simultaneously condemned for slandering an entire generation and celebrated for telling it as it is.

In response to one Facebook critic, the chef goes on to complain about young, socially active adults who still live at home and expect their employers to act like parents by putting “their business priorities below the (employee’s) extracurricular activities.

“School comes first and, in many cases, family,” Stacey wrote on her page.

“However, when ... the employer has to sacrifice their own personal lives to accommodate sports or entertainment activities, and when documented job requirements are not performed because of cellphone distractions and texts ... that becomes a problem.”

More than a few on Facebook took Stacey to task for her views, arguing she has only herself to blame for making bad choices when hiring.

“That was your own poor judgment and in no way reflects an entire cohort of people,” said one woman.

However, Stacey’s incendiary views also elicited much support.

“You’re so right about my generation, Kim,” said one post. “It disgusts me where the world is heading. Kids these days have no concept of work ethic. They want it all and they want it now and on their terms. Not all, but far too many.”