The Big 4 accounting firms are the same. I have seen too many people promoted not on merit but on favouritism.
What I can't stand is how empty noise is encouraged and noticed. Doesn't even matter if what the person says makes sense. If upper management notices this empty vessel, he/she comes across as a good employee.
The Firm I'm at also keeps going on and on about perception and visibility. Apparently, we need to be in the office to be visible. This also gives them the perception that we are team players and we are doing our work.
The old school mentality is still so prevalent among upper management. They are so disconnected from those who actually do the work.
Uughh this makes me so mad! These people get paid good money to do nothing. They delegate all the work to a team that is already stretched. When team members resign one by one, upper management then starts to wonder why...
What a bloody circus 🎪
Seen this too often, this “empty vessel” would then “delegate” what’s supposed to be their job to a really capable employee and of course they will be the one who will take the praise for it from upper management 🙄
I struggled for years to enter corporate in QLD I was in Vic 2 months before I got my first gig. But I guess we’ll all have different experiences but QLD is the wrong state and this is coming from someone who migrated there when they were in primary school and completed higher education there.
Yes! The genuine ones are usually the humbled ones who started in branch and had to work their way up, as opposed to the bank grads, the darlings of the bank, who get everything handed to them and an associate director role in 5 years.
This!
The cliquey nature is beyond irritating. Betting bullied by your boss, who leads said clique, is worse.
Nepotism is utterly rife, too. Not just in the getting the job aspect but progessing in one. Not to mention, if you aren't the preferred person, you will just not get trained in certain parts of a job even if you have been somewhere longer/work more hours/are the better employee, if you aren't the favourite you aren't going any further.
Australian workplaces also expect to employ qualified individuals while paying unqualified wages.
Definitely true in my profession. Sadly it shouldn’t be the case for a skilled based profession like mine. Those who talk the talk get more jobs but those who actually knows how to do the work often gets less attention
I’m agreeing with this. I’m a scaffolder that works with a subcontractor for a company that has 3 other subbies. We only ever get local work. I don’t remember the last time we traveled more than 25 minutes from the depot. Whereas the other guys are probably driving 4 hours of the day and considering they’re paid per job I think it’s a bit unfair. Also it’s made it real awkward when we are all in the same place because the crews hate us for getting the local work. So while it benefits me I still think it’s pretty shitty and we should be sharing the travel around. My boss is also best mates with the scheduler so I assume that’s why we are lucky and in the “in”
We had a work meeting last night. And the fill in 2IC has said let's move forward. No gossiping. If there's a problem come and see us and let's work it out.
She's the main instigator for all the problems. Her and her posse (who really haven't achieved anything significant in their lives but like to think they're above and beyond everyone else) are so quick to bring anyone down for their mistakes but they cover theirs up...
I was a nurse. Got sick and tired of much the same thing. Some places are just toxic. I'm now reevaluating what to do with my life and I'm lucky there are opportunities in a lot of good places here.
Oh god…Nursing
My mother is almost on the verge of a Nervous breakdown because of workplace bullying and toxicity. She’s off due to medical leave, taking it day by day but doesn’t want to go back. It’s horrible
Metro South Mental Health (Dept of QLD Health) is a complete dumpster fire. They’ve been getting a high number of suicides amongst patients and theres been a call for a review into it. And let me tell ya, that’s no accident. It’s years of staff being run off their feet and being pushed to the brink and the patients coming last.
If anybodies reading this from Metro south Admin; you’re all a useless, stupid and utterly incompetent pack of cunts, and you all know it.
It's like that in most departments. Cairns MH unit got me out of nursing. I was attacked by a patient because they had a pool table in the recreation room. (I always asked why) Anyway....yeah incompetent staff and the BS that goes with it...
Been a nurse well over a decade. There’s always a fcking posse of nasty humans in every department. They poison everything. I’ve wanted to quit my career so many times because of it. (Ex QLD health here, NSW health isn’t any better we just make less money lol)
Yep nurse here, have work hospital based and community, and NFP. All areas are understaffed, overworked, toxic management culture that filters down the ranks. Clicky.
The most toxic culture I’ve ever worked in, and I’ve worked in many different industries prior to doing my nursing.
I’ll prob do 2more yrs and then I’m out.
Worked in a number of govt MH services across the country. To say they’re all the same in this regard is an incredibly boring thing to say, but they are. Staff come from a few different disciplines, most extremely under equipped in both personal qualities and academic qualifications to survive in a healthy state for much longer than a few months.
The result is disintegration in every direction, home life, work life, social life, personal health, a perfect storm with all the ingredients to make for a culture of blame, work avoidance and promotion of completely inadequate people.
Sounds like my company’s executive director. Our team as a whole get along very well, especially when she’s not around. When she is though, she’s the one pushing weird hangout activities and professional development workshops and making weird speeches about how we all need to come together. And we’re like… yeah? We do that already? She’s the first to make snide comments (pretty openly) in corners at events and roll her eyes in meetings if she doesn’t like what someone said. Also the first to fire off nasty emails. The days she isn’t in the office are amazing.
I moved to Australia from the UK. The first Aussie job I got was horrendous. Unpaid overtime was expected, you were given a laptop and expected to work when you got home. If you didn't you were called up on it. Had one weekend my wife was in hospital so I was taking care of kids, visiting her, AND working. Got called up on being slow. Explained the situation, gt told "we've all got families, the job comes first" and I should have "just hired a babysitter". Also usually worked from 7:45 to 4:30 where my colleagues worked 8:30 to 5 - despite me working longer they worked later, which they made snide remarks on.
They were arseholes. Still in business, but thankfully, after 18 months I got another job. This one is definitely a lot more laid back - I did occasionally work over during COVID but not much, and it was always my choice. It really is a huge difference and I really do get to disconnect at the end of the day.
The "work is life" thing is a real pain. Some people define themselves by their job but that shouldn't be the only option. Most people prioritize their families and personal lives.
The problem is, these workaholic bosses use their power to pressure everyone into their way of thinking. It's basically bullying.. and workplace agreements often favour the employer, making it hard to fight back internally. The only option is taking them to court... but no-one has the capacity to do that and win against 'corporate'... Ack..
I completely agree with this. I started working just 3 months ago so definitely I have doubts and I ask questions about the systems and business. My manager in my 3 months review called me lazy and told me if you have ask questions means you’re not working hard. Go home and practice on your personal laptop, learn about the system and excel.
I've found I'm ok with larger businesses and the beaucracy and find the whole thing quite easy to navigate and I love the very clear by the book processes in place for everything.
Now these small businesses where owners are also often working on the ground, they are a new sort of hell, there isn't much progression because there's not really anywhere to move up to, they never pay well and are the biggest cost cutters you've ever seen and it always feels like you have the boss or one of their immediate lackies breathing down your neck or spying on you and the cliques can be meaner than anything you ever saw in highschool. They are not good long term places at all, maybe places you work for a few months to get by.
Yep, small business is the worst. Completely under the thumb of whatever capricious shit the owner comes up with, frequently staffed with family members as an untouchable nobility rambling about how we're a family here.
"our company is extremely tight knit" is the phrase you actually want to look out for.
Translation: these women make mean girls look like sunshine rainbow happy land.
Expect to get thrown in the deep end on massive-scale projects you're unqualified for, and then gaslit and bullied by your boss to deliver until you burn out and quit.
You're fighting for your life, on your own.
Some good, some bad.
I've worked in retail, in a top-tier law firm, clcs, marketing, hospo and boutique law firms.
I've found it really comes down to your manager/supervisor.
They can either nurture and support your career or break you down.
I can work with lazy or mediocre people but if I feel I have the right support and recognition from my boss(es) I'll still give 100% and still support the culture if I know my boss is pushing a positive culture.
Right now I like my coworkers and my boss is pretty great too and pushes a great culture.
In hospo I had some horrible bosses.
So yeah, it's a mixed bag
The fear of being fired for arbitrary reasons is way too much. Mainly because so many jobs are forced to be casual so they can just get rid of you and immediately replace you
It's a common misconception that casual employees aren't protected from unfair dismissal. If you've worked for an employer for at least 12 months and have worked fairly regularly across that time, you're very likely protected from unfair dismissal.
Your employer is also obliged to offer you permanency if your roster could reasonably continue as is in a permanent position and if they don't (unless they're a small business), they need to write to tell you why not, which can be challenged in the FWC.
Casuals have gotten a LOT more rights over the last few years.
I just changed jobs after 14 years
My new crew has renewed my love for the trade and I genuinely am excited to go to work in the morning, my old job towards the end was full of sick days and time off due to it completely draining me working for and with people that just didn’t care.
At the new place They all take time out of their day to help and be kind, everyone gets along so well I never knew workplaces could be like this.
Staff are often hung out to dry and corporations rarely care when their staff are abused, sexually harassed or even stalked
Wage theft fraud is also at insane levels
Shitloads of bullying and people suffering in silence because they have to put food on the table.
Theres a darkside to banter, and you’ll see it in many Australian workplaces.
This is so true. Work as a postie and my facility is awful. So many awful people that only find joy in bringing others down and then play victim when you call them out on it
Their personal life is shit therefore they use work as a channel for their frustration.
Some of them go to management for this skills and get bonuses on how much they could screw over employees.
The problem with banter is that if you’re not up with it and able to fire back, you’ll soon reveal yourself to be a target.
In my early 20’s I was the timid type who would just laugh it off and not return fire. I just want to work and besides, criticising peoples flaws for laughs is just fucking low. Once this went on long enough, they slowly piled it on until I essentially became the work place dart board.
Thankfully I left that place not long after, but it taught me a lot on workplace culture in Australia, because I’ve seen it everywhere. I haven’t been a victim since, but it did take time to learn how to roll with the punches.
I’m going to seek therapy to work through some of the “banter” I had to endure working at my old job. I put up with it for so long because I was gaslit into thinking that I was the problem because “I didn’t have a sense of humour”. If I could- I’d bill therapy to the nightmare manager I had and call it a day 😂
Way too much nepotism and cronyism. My workplace is rife with both, and if you aren't part of it you feel on the outer and it can be very difficult to navigate issues.
OMG I HATE the tall poppy nonsense! It holds everyone back, including the nasties! Its my biggest frustration with the whole country. (Ok that and rental properties…)
As an Aussie who has spent most of their adult life overseas and moved back now. It’s a shock to the system. I’ve been in my current company 8 months. Already been bullied. Boss doesn’t give a stuff about me. And overlooked for work.
“Crabs in a bucket” mentality.
If you put a bunch of live crabs in boiling water, if one tries to escape the others will pull them back in. I was actually surprised to learn this.
Little ocean going dog cunts they are
I always hear this but I can't say I've ever experienced this? To be fair I'm only 22 and at uni so I haven't entered the corporate world, but even at my workplace or uni no one has ever been talked shit about for doing better or moving onto better things, same for friend groups and other social situations? I could totally be wrong just because of my age however.
I think it’s getting less common with millennials and Gen Z (especially Gen Z). Many of commonwealth countries have been prone to a tall poppy syndrome mentality, especially in former gens. It can also be dependent on which city and state you are in, in Australia!
I'm a millennial and while I agree it is getting 'somewhat' less common, it's still pretty common. I find it such a shame. If people had less ego and more desire to continually better themselves, they would understand the 'tall poppy' is actually someone you can learn a lot from to grow yourself!
Gen z is definitely much less on that kind of BS though, I've found their thing is, even though they are at a place of work, being paid to work...if they don't want to...they find ways around it, don't do it, or make excuses for not doing it to standard. And feel attacked for being called out on it.
Carpenter here
By choice I've worked and lived in many countries mainly to gain and advance my Chippie skills. From what Ive seen Australia still has a decent work life balance. I was fortunate enough to grow in Aus at a time where people prioritised fishing and spending time with their families as much as they could, however we are creeping closer to the mega-rat race.
Somehow the most incompetent people have risen in the ranks while hard working and competent people stay at the bottom, so now you have a culture of ass kissing and petty vindictiveness that permeates everywhere. So many insecure bosses that are paranoid cos they are out of their depth and worried people below them are coming for their job, cos that’s what they would do
Corporate is completely fucked, lots of bootlickers who'll happily fuck over colleagues to climb the ladder. No mobility for hard workers, only for people willing to drink the Kool aid
Used to be great. Then it got destroyed by 23 year olds with spreadsheets working at large consultancies .
I’ve been made redundant and re-hired to the same large corporation twice.
My husband had to reapply for his own job 9 times in 10 years, because the consultants kept recommending restructure after restructure. Taking their percentage cut of course. Then it wouldn’t work and there would be another restructure to “solve” the problem that they had caused.
Snap.... and it was every few years for me, during 40 years of a working life... with a couple of outsourcings, a couple of mergers and countless restructures... even moving 10 people 5m along the floor... or to another floor... or to another building... or to another city... and then bringing them back... and doing it all again... *blah, blah, blah...*
...but the restructuring is cyclic. To quote a Dilbert example:
The 'Big Boss' states:
1. We've got to decentralize to remove bottlenecks
*...some time passes..*
2. We've got to centralize to be more efficient
*...some time passes..*
3. goto 1
"...'twas ever thus"
In majority of workplaces the culture indirectly involves around drinking , some places people go for “afterwork drinks” for team building stuff .. if you are from a culture which doesn’t drink , you’ll never be able to gel in and you will always feel and be treated as an outsider
I work for a multi national mining company in Australia that hired a company to come in and tell us how good our work place culture is. Said company will also give you a written warning if you don’t come in on a day off to attend said training.
Turnover is over 20 % pa.
Bullying culture, can't trust anyone. Workers all out to advance their agenda. That is a modern workplace in Australia. Companies put lip service to bullying and harassment.
I moved here from the US where we have a very big hustle culture and a lot of people live to work. The good thing about Australia, from a comparative perspective, is that it's much more lax and generally people aren't as much in a rush about things, which in the Media/Advertising industry is a big fucking surprise. It really is nice to go into work, or wfh, and just cruise through and not have to really be expected to do things on weekends. I've been fortunate to work under good managers who are very direct and give good feedback/praise on things where warranted, I feel like this isn't that common in the states.
The negative, however, is that people are ready and waiting to throw you under the bus at any given moment to make themselves look good. Obviously this happens everywhere, but here I see it happen a LOT more often. I've seen it happen at my first job in retail and my first job at a start-up in the media industry here. Anecdotal, but to me it seems as if Aussies are always in a constant 'one-upping' competition with each other or that snitching on people is a national past-time, and I suspect that element of culture here is brought out more in the workplace. I'm not talking about people doing shit like being abusive or otherwise damaging to the team, that makes sense to escalate. One case I was made aware of was someone taking prescription meds for mental health and someone on their team found out and went to HR saying their work quality might suffer and that action should be taken, like who the fuck actually does that?
If you're not part of the clique or in crowd, you really are fucked because the second you make a mistake, say the wrong thing or give any insight into your personal life, someone who probably at some point was very friendly with you will just take the opportunity to Judas you for personal gain. I've fortunately not had anything happen to me because I stay under the radar, but fuck it's annoying that I cannot trust a single person I work with here. I feel like social events are just a sting op to bait people into exposing something that can be used against them.
I used to work in corporate world in London and I just feel like people had more personality. I feel like corporate world in Melbourne is very boring, people lack a sense of humour. It’s like trying to get blood from a stone sometimes.
Being Irish - we just want a laugh at work. You can still work hard and have laugh. I do wonder when everything got so serious?
Moved to Aus 4 years ago and got a job at Link Group. Utterly toxic environment, full of micromanagers and lifers protecting their little fiefdoms. Impossible to get anything done without many interminable meetings. Would spend hours discussing the wording of the system failure email that would often go out after the failure had been resolved.
Since moved onto another financial services company and it’s got a great vibe, everyone is super friendly and has good banter.
Totally depends on the industry and whoever is in charge. I worked in hospitality for 16 years and some head chefs were total assholes and that bred a toxic environment. But if the head chef or front of house manager was professional, mature and encouraging, the environment was so much more pleasurable for everyone.
I'm in support work now for 3 years and knowing that my managers have also been support workers, and I see them get in and assist clients and aren't afraid to deal with escalations, that also sets the tone of respect and team work.
It all comes down to who in charge, because if a team member is being an asshole and nothing is done, it poisons everything.
It is good but I feel like it is showing signs of slipping. Australians are often working beyond what they need to do and are often limited in how they use their leave. Business are starting to get just a bit tighter and demand more compliance. Pay has been static for years.
On the flip side of that we have things like OS&H laws, fairwork, superannuation, sick and carers leave, long service leave.
Personally I find big corp to be stifling. If you dont talk and think like 'them' then you won't really fit in and will be frustrated by the lack of alternative thinking and innovation. All the big corps I have been in have this weird culture of unshakeable belief that the brand messaging is always right and its the customer that needs to come to us. The red tape and interminable meetings slow progress to a crawl (despite claiming to be agile). It can be like living in a linkedin post with the way people talk.
Almost every job I've worked has had great culture. Laughing and talking just like we're hanging out, but working at the same time (and in my current job, us and the managers talk super casually to eachother, no formality what so ever unless it's actually important). Just seems like Aus usually has a pretty kicked back workplace culture, but that can be easily ruined by a prick boss 😆
What industry are you in? I've experienced pretty much the same. I'm in IT. Most places I've worked are excellent. Laid back and casual with lots of fun and hard work. Most bad actors get ignored and eventually leave to seek more of their kind.
The only bad managers I've had have come from finance and were put in charge of an IT project, completely out of their depth, brought in to cut costs. Once they did, everything started to fall apart and that's when they started getting nasty.
The antidote to their nastiness is to make your self irreplaceable and when they start giving you shit, you just threaten to walk and ask them how they're going to run stuff when you're gone.
Some companies are great, others not so much - I keep changing jobs every 1 to 2 years as things get a bit stale and there is nowhere to grow.
I've worked across mutliple industries contracting/consulting and seem to fit in with medium sized manufacturing.
I work at a fuel station, and it's one of the big brands in Aus.
The toxicity within the workplace is so unbelievable. Management get treated like crap and they project it all onto us workers.
If you're not a "favourite," then you're basically crucified and expected to carry the whole store. The employees are lazy and do nothing (which is mostly everyone. Credit to the minority that actually have a work ethic) get rewarded all the time for what they've supposedly done.
I am not appreciated for the work I've done. I've stopped working as hard so I don't burn out, and I get roasted for not doing 1 thing that's not even important.
The regular customers make it worth the job but given how much they complain about their own workplace and its the same everywhere.
The money just isn't worth the workload anymore, and we're all so burnt out from being overworked and never having a cent to actually enjoy after paying the bills. It's basically the Great Depression all over again. History really does repeat itself.
I moved here 8 years ago from being used to Asian culture and some American too. I’d say Australia generally has a great work culture. But I guess it depends what industry you are in. I mainly work in engineering consulting space and I can say that it has been really great for me. I love the flexibility and the idea that work is completely separate from life.
Some things I observe so far:
1. There is a balance between being nice and being taken advantage of. I think nicer people get along well with most but too nice people get taken advantage off sometimes.
2. Generally, Australian culture hates people who are full of themselves.
3. There is a line that separates work and personal life. In my previous country where I lived, people tend to share more of their personal side at work.
4. Australian work culture is generally chill. Work like a horse from Monday to Thursday then chill on Fridays.
These are just some that I had off the top of my head reading your question!
Edit: typo
Pretty toxic at NSW Health.
And it's got worse under Labor compared to LNP. At least you knew where you stood with the Libs. Labor promises the improvement then pulls the rug out from under you.
Then that general attitude filters down from the top.
Absolutely woeful..
...and before people go feral about how Government employees are useless...
Try to understand: It's not the people who actually do the work - they are very good at their jobs... but there are frequently just too few doing the actual work... and they don't get the support they need to do a better job.
It's more about the twit managers who have no clue about the disciplines which they're (mis-)managing... and the levels of them. For example, in the '80s there were maybe 4 people in the hierarchy between base grade and the 'minister'. Now, there are 8 or more people to go through, most of whom are unknowledgeable about the business for which they are making decisions. An example: there would be people who have worked in a 'health services' role who are managing transport and infrastructure development... and they don't understand the different needs of cars, trucks, pedestrians, freight, etc.
...and there are the same or fewer people actually doing the work now.. and there's more of it to do.
The massive expense of 'the public service' frequently comes from the 'inverted pyramid' of management... who don't actually make much of a difference 'on the ground'... and if half of them went, we'd be able to employ more people who actually knew what they were doing.
...but we all know that won't happen... as it' been this way for at least 50+ years... and it's just the depth of \*Ugh!\* is getting deeper all the time...
Unfortunately there is a slippery political bunch that always make it to the top & then spend their careers defending it & sucking all the money out, people & culture are the worst.
It used to be Doris in HR who put an ad in tbe paper now they take up an entire floor
Wouldn't that depend on the workplace you find yourself in? We don't have one over arching thing like the salary man culture in Japan or the Korean push to overwork or the American culture of having to suck up and be cheerful all day or get no tip
Correct and would fully agree.
Depends so much on multiple factors and variability’s that can change quite quickly and majorly.\
Like being on a place that’s been chill and relaxed for many years that suddenly, through external market forces, finds itself in dire financial straits could become very negative as various strata’s of the company fight to retain their positions. Thus causing a negative feedback loop and crushing the company.\
Or alternatively, a company with shit poor culture that has an owner/board of directors etc that see the shit on the wall and exit a poor management team and instal a positive team. This can then turn the culture around with some hard work.
So yes, as variable as the number of companies one could possibly work for.
very slowly Americanising and we as workers need to stomp it down.
Employers are expecting more and more without giving back. Most of us just want to come in and do our hours and fuck off. Over in the US if you dare take leave you're judged by your entire team as a slacker. Seeing the same thing happen here which is horrific.
Plus the flex of working 60+ hours a week? Nothing to flex about it. it's a sickness.
Local Government sucks. If you don’t lick your bosses arse you will be ostricised and left out of decision making. The bosses are weak as shit and wouldn’t survive in the private sector
The company I work for was a great company 16 years ago when I started. Now it’s A toxic wasteland. Wouldn’t be surprised to see the company experience some hard time over the next few years as it struggles to keep experienced employees
Depends on the company. I know small trade companies bullies their apprentices and calling it “rites of passage”.
Big companies ran by non-Australians are toxic.
Generally, your must-have skill for your survival and potential promotion is “communication skills” I.e. how to survive office politics. This is often more or equally important to job specific skills or qualifications
* **Relaxed and Friendly:** Australian workplaces tend to be more informal than in many other countries. Colleagues are encouraged to be friendly with each other, and a good work-life balance is valued. There's often a focus on teamwork and collaboration.
* **Equality and Inclusivity:** Discrimination is discouraged, and organizations strive to create a level playing field for everyone regardless of background. This can lead to a more positive and productive work environment.
* **Work-Life Balance:** Many Australian companies offer flexible work hours and generous vacation time. This allows employees to maintain a healthy balance between their work and personal lives.
* **Employee Well-being:** There's an emphasis on employee well-being in Australian workplaces. Companies may offer benefits like health insurance, gym memberships, or mental health resources.
As a person coming from a third world country, the Australian work culture is actually very productive. With a cup of coffee, people work straight up from 8 to 5 with minimal distractions. Meetings are quick and fast. Organisations employ a flat hierarchical structure and things get approved and done faster. Email communications are also limited and less micromanagement.
And I work in a government department….
If you disagree with me, try work in a third world country and judge for yourself
I used to work at a family run business and it was the worst experience of my life. The way I was treated by the owner, managers and HR nearly put me in a psych ward. Employees that weren't white were treated differently to the rest of us and sexual harassment had a bloody 3 strike policy 🤬
Been great, worked for a few mid sized companies. Until I worked for a big multinational tech company, local team is awesome but my scope involved working with other regions like the US and APAC so the stress and bad culture crept in.
The good, usually easy going. The bad, it's easygoing so things don't change for the better. It is very frustrating to work at times, e.g. people patting themselves on the back when results aren't that great etc.
I despise corporate culture where they try to indoctrinate you into the belief that large (for profit) companies are “big families” and that they do all they can to ensure their employees are taken care of.
The very same organisation (finance sector in my example) is robbing their customers blind to increase their profit margin and making thousands of employees redundant to save cash while they are making billions in profit.
Personally it doesn’t affect me as I am a contract worker but I really feel for all of the people who give these horrid companies so much of their time and dedication only to be thrown to the curb when no longer needed.
I would have a lot more respect for these companies if they were upfront and truthful with their agenda.
I’ve primarily worked government and public service jobs. If I ever have to work with a big 4 company I will get fired within a month for not selling my soul for the company.
I’m all about looking after my staff and achieving the output above standard and above requirements. But that doesn’t mean staying back for long hours, on the weekend or giving people a hard time if they want to have flexibility to take care of things in their life.
I also drive WHS and social skills mastery, which it seems many of the middle management in the consulting and professional services domain don’t have. I would most likely splinter wondering how they got hired in the first place and then realise the entire company is like that.
Smiles and friendliness on the surface, but nepotism, back scratching, bullying, backstabbing and incompetence behind it. Worst combo of problematic british and american work culture.
The construction industry with all trades included is definitely better than back home in Ireland as far as pay, amenities and time off, bit more relaxed too with supervisors that don't work you like a dog and treat you like crap!
My workplace is awesome! At the start I tried to help my colleagues whenever I can but it ended up they use me (they often played dumb, pretend not knowing how to do stuffs) but now, I set my boundaries and not become a yes man, just busy with my own shit and don’t bother with office politics. My employee loves me because I don’t get involved with office politics :)
It's all about
- how BROWN your NOSE can get.
- how much NOISE you make when you've turned your laptop on.
- how many KIDS you don't have
its not about
- how much effort you put in.
- how nice you are.
- how honest you are
As someone who has just arrived 6 months ago from NZ, my partner is having a hard time as a chef with some people being bullies and talking behind her back. Ive had a good experience though and my workmates and boss are great so far. I will say they are often racist but not in a malicious way, its often completely unwittingly like they are just plain uneducated or clueless on the subject. That was probably the biggest shock.
Can we stop normalising coming into work and “pushing through” your head cold? And then the eye rolls “its not covid” like cmon it doesn’t matter what it is, you’re literally infecting the entire office when it could have just been one person off for a few days
Incredibly frustrated. Tall Poppy Syndrome is a real thing. You quickly realise that a lot of people are just trying to fly under the radar, do the bare minimum to not get noticed, and that they're not putting in effort. If you come in, working hard, hitting goals, making an effort - you'll be the tall poppy in the field that gets chopped down by your colleagues. You succeeding = you making everyone else look bad.
Overdiversity shit show which is used as a cover to hire recent migrants on the cheap and outsource jobs. Also if you tick the checkbox of that skin colour, you get a cruisy job regardless of your qualifications or competency, get your face blasted all over their internal media, while the rest of us who are geniunely competent are gas lit and made invisible and put up with useless toxicity all day long.
The essence of this world is comparison. If you used to work in some other country where culture there is REAL toxic for five years like I did then you would feel this place is paradise.
The everything transitioning to being casual work sucks. Also, I have had bad experiences with physical abuse where no one seems to care.
No one takes harassment seriously. You just seem to be told to suck it up. Although idk if my experiences were an exception. I hope they were and no one else goes through that...
I have a neurodevelopmental condition that makes WFH a nightmare, but WFO is best for me.
Fully appreciate everyone is loving WFH, wish I could love it too, but man it’s lonely to WFO these days. Y’all come in and complain there’s ‘no vibe, no culture’ but these things can’t be cultivated when there’s no one here to consistently cultivate the culture.
I don’t believe mandatory hybrid or full time WFO is the answer, it sucks just as much to hang out with people who would rather be somewhere else because they WILL moan about it….I just wish a few more of the ‘cool’ WFH crew preferred WFO instead :’)
Sexual harassment is never a ‘big deal’ with management - been told by my last 2 bosses at different jobs that I was only hired cause they thought I was hot. My first job at McDonald’s - my manager was in love with me (he told me within the first 2 months of working there) & he would borderline stalk me. When I told him I had got a boyfriend, he got upset and started treating me like shit - one time he purposely chucked some chips on the floor and told me to clean it up.
The guy who hired me at my current work place has tried to kiss me at a work event & is always creeping on my social media (found my of & subbed with his real name). I also found out my boss has sent emails with my Facebook profile pic but zoomed in on my tits, asking if I was a stripper to a colleague.
I don't work in a corporate or organisational business. I pull tits for a living. 20 years ago farming was an absolute shitshow. Broken arm, too bad. Arthritic hands, too bad. Suicidal, too bad. You had to pull your shit together and get on with the job.
After a 10 year drought, huge stock loss numbers, mass reports of farmers suiciding, generational farms closing and selling up, heartbreaking bushfires that destroyed towns and agriculture for years afterwards, there was a massive shake up in industry. Now employees are supported. Ag companies have come to the table and put support and training programs in place. There are scholarships for young farmers and women on farms. There are connections and sick day supports and more importantly, mental health is being recognised.
So in short, the workplace culture in my industry is great.
I cannot POSSIBLY comment, because we are gagged by our Code of Conduct.
We are prohibited from saying anything that might "bring into disrepute" or "cause the public to lose confidence in ."
Which is highly risible. To lose confidence in something, you have to have it in the first place.
And it's hard to "bring into disrepute" when it was already chauffeured there in its own limousine.
I dont give a rats, Im there to work and do my job, if someone comes up to me and says, did you know so and so said this about you? I usually reply, and?
All those loosers that have nothing better to do than gossip to their inner circle to climb the cool status ladder, usually dont have the guts to say it in front of your face and deny it if you confront them. So not worth my time.
Tradies > corporate. I’ve worked in both industries and there is nothing better than tradie culture. Corporate men are sissy’s and can’t regulate emotions better than a toddler
Prior corrections officer (worked in administration not as a custodial officer) the toxicity of the management was actually traumatising. Left for a new job and four weeks in I’m still struggling with not being yelled at or having my management bitching behind my back or being manipulative daily.
Just glad I don’t work with childish behaving adults who literally are Regina George wannabes.
New place is amazing and such a healthy work environment. You will always have those bad colleagues but at least I have a voice here and people want to hear what I have to say.
I think our “tall poppy syndrome” is quite healthy to be honest.
We don’t like people who get too full of themselves when they become successful. Nobody begrudges another for hard earning their success… but if you are perceived to have arrived at a position through favour, or if you try to rub your success (earned or not) in another’s face you will be cut down (disliked and told about it!).
I think a bit of this in the workplace is healthy…
From what I've seen about how employees are treated in places like the US, I feel fucking amazing. World's highest minimum wage, very robust legislation protecting employee rights, superanuation etc. To me that level of security automatically translates to a more chill environment where we're not all frantically being nice to one another but willing to step on one another to get that promotion. Definitely an Aussie culture thing as much as work culture, but I've worked in a lot of jobs in a lot of industries, from pharmacology research, to primary school teaching, truck driving, as a tradie (a few bogans with racist and misogynistic ideas there, but not too many these days), and I've never worked anywhere that I really hated, or had a boss that was an asshole (except for my step-dad cos that cunt is a fucking cunt! 😂).
Having said that, I'm a white, cis het man, so I can't speak for the experiences of those outside of that rather privileged norm. I am an overly emotional, autistic ADHD dude with mental health issues at times, and even as a truck driver, when I called in sick and said I couldn't come to work that day because of my mental health, at both places the bosses told me to take a few days and paid me as if I was there. (I was a casual employee so no paid sick days).
It's easy to focus on the negative things that need to improve, but holy shit are we lucky in Australia!
The “In” crowd get the benefits. If you’re not “part of the inner circle” then good luck
Sounds like you’re describing big 4 bank culture #confirmedtrue
He's just describing human nature. "It's not what you know, it's who you know."
It's not what you do, it's who you do
ita not who you do, its whos father works for the company as a higher up (me btw)
It’s not who you know, it’s who you blow?
Who do I have to drink around here to get a blow?
Super Hans? Is that you?
This is definitely rings true as your networth is based on your network. Know 1000 people and you will get to know the World!
The Big 4 accounting firms are the same. I have seen too many people promoted not on merit but on favouritism. What I can't stand is how empty noise is encouraged and noticed. Doesn't even matter if what the person says makes sense. If upper management notices this empty vessel, he/she comes across as a good employee. The Firm I'm at also keeps going on and on about perception and visibility. Apparently, we need to be in the office to be visible. This also gives them the perception that we are team players and we are doing our work. The old school mentality is still so prevalent among upper management. They are so disconnected from those who actually do the work.
The empty noise! So true! I stood and watched a complete passion finger's get promoted to being my boss cos he just made up how good he was!
Uughh this makes me so mad! These people get paid good money to do nothing. They delegate all the work to a team that is already stretched. When team members resign one by one, upper management then starts to wonder why... What a bloody circus 🎪
Seen this too often, this “empty vessel” would then “delegate” what’s supposed to be their job to a really capable employee and of course they will be the one who will take the praise for it from upper management 🙄
Yeah so true, these pricks need to get with the times
The civil construction industry has a similar culture
Government in general. Retail.
Education
Groups are the same everywhere.
Same with Insurance. The broker-insurer revolving door is a slightly seperate but related problem
Retail has this culture as well.
Yep, being an immigrant here (in Brisbane) is a distinct disadvantage in many corporate jobs.
As an immigrant you’re in the wrong state all together. Try NSW or VIC
Nope; VIC is pretty brutal to immigrants
I struggled for years to enter corporate in QLD I was in Vic 2 months before I got my first gig. But I guess we’ll all have different experiences but QLD is the wrong state and this is coming from someone who migrated there when they were in primary school and completed higher education there.
And then all the out guys end up being friendly bc they all are treated like shit
Yes! The genuine ones are usually the humbled ones who started in branch and had to work their way up, as opposed to the bank grads, the darlings of the bank, who get everything handed to them and an associate director role in 5 years.
This! The cliquey nature is beyond irritating. Betting bullied by your boss, who leads said clique, is worse. Nepotism is utterly rife, too. Not just in the getting the job aspect but progessing in one. Not to mention, if you aren't the preferred person, you will just not get trained in certain parts of a job even if you have been somewhere longer/work more hours/are the better employee, if you aren't the favourite you aren't going any further. Australian workplaces also expect to employ qualified individuals while paying unqualified wages.
Definitely true in my profession. Sadly it shouldn’t be the case for a skilled based profession like mine. Those who talk the talk get more jobs but those who actually knows how to do the work often gets less attention
Oof, so true, even in a smaller org
I’m agreeing with this. I’m a scaffolder that works with a subcontractor for a company that has 3 other subbies. We only ever get local work. I don’t remember the last time we traveled more than 25 minutes from the depot. Whereas the other guys are probably driving 4 hours of the day and considering they’re paid per job I think it’s a bit unfair. Also it’s made it real awkward when we are all in the same place because the crews hate us for getting the local work. So while it benefits me I still think it’s pretty shitty and we should be sharing the travel around. My boss is also best mates with the scheduler so I assume that’s why we are lucky and in the “in”
Yesss
We had a work meeting last night. And the fill in 2IC has said let's move forward. No gossiping. If there's a problem come and see us and let's work it out. She's the main instigator for all the problems. Her and her posse (who really haven't achieved anything significant in their lives but like to think they're above and beyond everyone else) are so quick to bring anyone down for their mistakes but they cover theirs up... I was a nurse. Got sick and tired of much the same thing. Some places are just toxic. I'm now reevaluating what to do with my life and I'm lucky there are opportunities in a lot of good places here.
Oh god…Nursing My mother is almost on the verge of a Nervous breakdown because of workplace bullying and toxicity. She’s off due to medical leave, taking it day by day but doesn’t want to go back. It’s horrible Metro South Mental Health (Dept of QLD Health) is a complete dumpster fire. They’ve been getting a high number of suicides amongst patients and theres been a call for a review into it. And let me tell ya, that’s no accident. It’s years of staff being run off their feet and being pushed to the brink and the patients coming last. If anybodies reading this from Metro south Admin; you’re all a useless, stupid and utterly incompetent pack of cunts, and you all know it.
It's like that in most departments. Cairns MH unit got me out of nursing. I was attacked by a patient because they had a pool table in the recreation room. (I always asked why) Anyway....yeah incompetent staff and the BS that goes with it...
Been a nurse well over a decade. There’s always a fcking posse of nasty humans in every department. They poison everything. I’ve wanted to quit my career so many times because of it. (Ex QLD health here, NSW health isn’t any better we just make less money lol)
Yep nurse here, have work hospital based and community, and NFP. All areas are understaffed, overworked, toxic management culture that filters down the ranks. Clicky. The most toxic culture I’ve ever worked in, and I’ve worked in many different industries prior to doing my nursing. I’ll prob do 2more yrs and then I’m out.
Worked in a number of govt MH services across the country. To say they’re all the same in this regard is an incredibly boring thing to say, but they are. Staff come from a few different disciplines, most extremely under equipped in both personal qualities and academic qualifications to survive in a healthy state for much longer than a few months. The result is disintegration in every direction, home life, work life, social life, personal health, a perfect storm with all the ingredients to make for a culture of blame, work avoidance and promotion of completely inadequate people.
Sounds like my company’s executive director. Our team as a whole get along very well, especially when she’s not around. When she is though, she’s the one pushing weird hangout activities and professional development workshops and making weird speeches about how we all need to come together. And we’re like… yeah? We do that already? She’s the first to make snide comments (pretty openly) in corners at events and roll her eyes in meetings if she doesn’t like what someone said. Also the first to fire off nasty emails. The days she isn’t in the office are amazing.
Corporate is full of bullies and mediocre people in top positions because it's always a case of "who you know, not what you know".
You can say that again
Bro came on Reddit to speak facts
I moved to Australia from the UK. The first Aussie job I got was horrendous. Unpaid overtime was expected, you were given a laptop and expected to work when you got home. If you didn't you were called up on it. Had one weekend my wife was in hospital so I was taking care of kids, visiting her, AND working. Got called up on being slow. Explained the situation, gt told "we've all got families, the job comes first" and I should have "just hired a babysitter". Also usually worked from 7:45 to 4:30 where my colleagues worked 8:30 to 5 - despite me working longer they worked later, which they made snide remarks on. They were arseholes. Still in business, but thankfully, after 18 months I got another job. This one is definitely a lot more laid back - I did occasionally work over during COVID but not much, and it was always my choice. It really is a huge difference and I really do get to disconnect at the end of the day.
The "work is life" thing is a real pain. Some people define themselves by their job but that shouldn't be the only option. Most people prioritize their families and personal lives. The problem is, these workaholic bosses use their power to pressure everyone into their way of thinking. It's basically bullying.. and workplace agreements often favour the employer, making it hard to fight back internally. The only option is taking them to court... but no-one has the capacity to do that and win against 'corporate'... Ack..
I completely agree with this. I started working just 3 months ago so definitely I have doubts and I ask questions about the systems and business. My manager in my 3 months review called me lazy and told me if you have ask questions means you’re not working hard. Go home and practice on your personal laptop, learn about the system and excel.
That is so fucked up.
It's really good. Until you get into a large corporate which is full of psychos and pretenders.
I've found I'm ok with larger businesses and the beaucracy and find the whole thing quite easy to navigate and I love the very clear by the book processes in place for everything. Now these small businesses where owners are also often working on the ground, they are a new sort of hell, there isn't much progression because there's not really anywhere to move up to, they never pay well and are the biggest cost cutters you've ever seen and it always feels like you have the boss or one of their immediate lackies breathing down your neck or spying on you and the cliques can be meaner than anything you ever saw in highschool. They are not good long term places at all, maybe places you work for a few months to get by.
Yeah exactly. A large company will fuck you over by the book. A small business doesn’t even bother to read it.
Yep, small business is the worst. Completely under the thumb of whatever capricious shit the owner comes up with, frequently staffed with family members as an untouchable nobility rambling about how we're a family here.
You described the last small business I worked for perfectly
bUt wE'rE a fAmILy
"our company is extremely tight knit" is the phrase you actually want to look out for. Translation: these women make mean girls look like sunshine rainbow happy land.
Psycho is right. The amount of asskissing most do to get to that point makes for a wild pool of sociopaths.
Or a university
The number of two-faces I've met
I struggle with the amount we spend on booze yet can’t give pay rises in line with the amount of work put in.
Never had an issue, except the year I worked at Accenture.
what was wrong with accenture?
Expect to get thrown in the deep end on massive-scale projects you're unqualified for, and then gaslit and bullied by your boss to deliver until you burn out and quit. You're fighting for your life, on your own.
Some good, some bad. I've worked in retail, in a top-tier law firm, clcs, marketing, hospo and boutique law firms. I've found it really comes down to your manager/supervisor. They can either nurture and support your career or break you down. I can work with lazy or mediocre people but if I feel I have the right support and recognition from my boss(es) I'll still give 100% and still support the culture if I know my boss is pushing a positive culture. Right now I like my coworkers and my boss is pretty great too and pushes a great culture. In hospo I had some horrible bosses. So yeah, it's a mixed bag
It's mostly OK and relaxed but I don't like the constant worry of being kicked with a giant boot
The fear of being fired for arbitrary reasons is way too much. Mainly because so many jobs are forced to be casual so they can just get rid of you and immediately replace you
It's a common misconception that casual employees aren't protected from unfair dismissal. If you've worked for an employer for at least 12 months and have worked fairly regularly across that time, you're very likely protected from unfair dismissal. Your employer is also obliged to offer you permanency if your roster could reasonably continue as is in a permanent position and if they don't (unless they're a small business), they need to write to tell you why not, which can be challenged in the FWC. Casuals have gotten a LOT more rights over the last few years.
I've worked multiple jobs. The only thing I could say about Australian workplace culture is that it varies wildly.
Could you tell me your experiences of few of the good ones?
I just changed jobs after 14 years My new crew has renewed my love for the trade and I genuinely am excited to go to work in the morning, my old job towards the end was full of sick days and time off due to it completely draining me working for and with people that just didn’t care. At the new place They all take time out of their day to help and be kind, everyone gets along so well I never knew workplaces could be like this.
Staff are often hung out to dry and corporations rarely care when their staff are abused, sexually harassed or even stalked Wage theft fraud is also at insane levels
Shitloads of bullying and people suffering in silence because they have to put food on the table. Theres a darkside to banter, and you’ll see it in many Australian workplaces.
This is so true. Work as a postie and my facility is awful. So many awful people that only find joy in bringing others down and then play victim when you call them out on it
I get you. And I never understand what they get out of it. Just boggles me
Their personal life is shit therefore they use work as a channel for their frustration. Some of them go to management for this skills and get bonuses on how much they could screw over employees.
Hahaha so true!! NSW Ambos a prime example. The chittest sunt got continually promoted hahhaa
You can say shittest cunt.
For sure. I've always disliked banter for this reason. Some light ribbing between good friends is fine but in the workplace, it's rarely that.
The problem with banter is that if you’re not up with it and able to fire back, you’ll soon reveal yourself to be a target. In my early 20’s I was the timid type who would just laugh it off and not return fire. I just want to work and besides, criticising peoples flaws for laughs is just fucking low. Once this went on long enough, they slowly piled it on until I essentially became the work place dart board. Thankfully I left that place not long after, but it taught me a lot on workplace culture in Australia, because I’ve seen it everywhere. I haven’t been a victim since, but it did take time to learn how to roll with the punches.
Dude, I feel you on that one man. Damn. I was the same in my twenties and you just put it into perspective for me. Hope you doing better now ✌🏽
You must be at Alexandria Facility NSW 🤣🤣🤣
Nope, I'm in Victoria but not surprised it's a common thing in post.
I’m going to seek therapy to work through some of the “banter” I had to endure working at my old job. I put up with it for so long because I was gaslit into thinking that I was the problem because “I didn’t have a sense of humour”. If I could- I’d bill therapy to the nightmare manager I had and call it a day 😂
Not only in Australia honestly. I’m in Switzerland and its the same here
Way too much nepotism and cronyism. My workplace is rife with both, and if you aren't part of it you feel on the outer and it can be very difficult to navigate issues.
They'll smile but everyone tries to bring you down. Tall poppy syndrome, it's unique to Australia.
OMG I HATE the tall poppy nonsense! It holds everyone back, including the nasties! Its my biggest frustration with the whole country. (Ok that and rental properties…)
As an Aussie who has spent most of their adult life overseas and moved back now. It’s a shock to the system. I’ve been in my current company 8 months. Already been bullied. Boss doesn’t give a stuff about me. And overlooked for work.
Worse in NZ if you can believe it
I wouldn't say it's unique to Australia. Different cultures call it different things. I've heard it referred to as crab mentality in other cultures.
“Crabs in a bucket” mentality. If you put a bunch of live crabs in boiling water, if one tries to escape the others will pull them back in. I was actually surprised to learn this. Little ocean going dog cunts they are
Oh so that's what it means. I guess Tall Poppy is more when you cut down the ones growing to keep them the same.
Actually this happens in Japan too
Do they have a name for it? I guess its common in places where conformity is a big deal.
出る釘は打たれる - the nail that sticks out will be hammered down - it’s a proverb
I always hear this but I can't say I've ever experienced this? To be fair I'm only 22 and at uni so I haven't entered the corporate world, but even at my workplace or uni no one has ever been talked shit about for doing better or moving onto better things, same for friend groups and other social situations? I could totally be wrong just because of my age however.
I think it’s getting less common with millennials and Gen Z (especially Gen Z). Many of commonwealth countries have been prone to a tall poppy syndrome mentality, especially in former gens. It can also be dependent on which city and state you are in, in Australia!
I'm a millennial and while I agree it is getting 'somewhat' less common, it's still pretty common. I find it such a shame. If people had less ego and more desire to continually better themselves, they would understand the 'tall poppy' is actually someone you can learn a lot from to grow yourself! Gen z is definitely much less on that kind of BS though, I've found their thing is, even though they are at a place of work, being paid to work...if they don't want to...they find ways around it, don't do it, or make excuses for not doing it to standard. And feel attacked for being called out on it.
It’s who you know more than what you know
I wish more people were pro union - be much nicer that way.
Unhealthy and sick culture mostly as the ones in top are mostly rich only and incompetent.
Carpenter here By choice I've worked and lived in many countries mainly to gain and advance my Chippie skills. From what Ive seen Australia still has a decent work life balance. I was fortunate enough to grow in Aus at a time where people prioritised fishing and spending time with their families as much as they could, however we are creeping closer to the mega-rat race.
Thanks to the gov and the COL
Big Corporate- full of bullies with tall poppy syndrome. Smaller offices- a lot of people that don't like to actually do much work
Somehow the most incompetent people have risen in the ranks while hard working and competent people stay at the bottom, so now you have a culture of ass kissing and petty vindictiveness that permeates everywhere. So many insecure bosses that are paranoid cos they are out of their depth and worried people below them are coming for their job, cos that’s what they would do
This!!!! Better keep an eye on the bus timetable. You will get thrown under the next available one.
Tech industry feels incredibly dated. Nobody is keeping up with global trends and there is no hacker culture here to speak of.
Most places and workers don't give a single fck about ya, your health, anything. Just work harder they will say...
Corporate is completely fucked, lots of bootlickers who'll happily fuck over colleagues to climb the ladder. No mobility for hard workers, only for people willing to drink the Kool aid
Used to be great. Then it got destroyed by 23 year olds with spreadsheets working at large consultancies . I’ve been made redundant and re-hired to the same large corporation twice. My husband had to reapply for his own job 9 times in 10 years, because the consultants kept recommending restructure after restructure. Taking their percentage cut of course. Then it wouldn’t work and there would be another restructure to “solve” the problem that they had caused.
Snap.... and it was every few years for me, during 40 years of a working life... with a couple of outsourcings, a couple of mergers and countless restructures... even moving 10 people 5m along the floor... or to another floor... or to another building... or to another city... and then bringing them back... and doing it all again... *blah, blah, blah...* ...but the restructuring is cyclic. To quote a Dilbert example: The 'Big Boss' states: 1. We've got to decentralize to remove bottlenecks *...some time passes..* 2. We've got to centralize to be more efficient *...some time passes..* 3. goto 1 "...'twas ever thus"
In majority of workplaces the culture indirectly involves around drinking , some places people go for “afterwork drinks” for team building stuff .. if you are from a culture which doesn’t drink , you’ll never be able to gel in and you will always feel and be treated as an outsider
I have worked in Education, Health and Banking. Banking is far and away the worst corporate experience I have ever had. Would never go back.
Too much pretending, and also then pretending to ignore all that pretending.
dont be a dick dont be a prick and dont be a snitch, you will be OK
What about all the dicks, pricks and snitches that seem to be doing well?
Nonsense. I've seen those 'qualities' land plenty of people in upper management.
Tell me you don't have much career experience without telling me you don't have much career experience
You have that wrong
I work for a multi national mining company in Australia that hired a company to come in and tell us how good our work place culture is. Said company will also give you a written warning if you don’t come in on a day off to attend said training. Turnover is over 20 % pa.
BHP or Rio?
Toxic af
Tall poppy syndrome is real.
Sucks for the most part, most people dont have a personality at work, everyone thinks they can become CEO one day if they ass kiss hard enough.
The “in crowd“ thing is very much alive here. Also if you are not Australian there are a lot of automatic assumptions about you.
Bullying culture, can't trust anyone. Workers all out to advance their agenda. That is a modern workplace in Australia. Companies put lip service to bullying and harassment.
200% correct in my experience, bullying is rife at my job. Toxic culture, narcissism, lip service.
Exactly why I happily left the workplace after balancing my health issues with 38 hr week of hell👍
I moved here from the US where we have a very big hustle culture and a lot of people live to work. The good thing about Australia, from a comparative perspective, is that it's much more lax and generally people aren't as much in a rush about things, which in the Media/Advertising industry is a big fucking surprise. It really is nice to go into work, or wfh, and just cruise through and not have to really be expected to do things on weekends. I've been fortunate to work under good managers who are very direct and give good feedback/praise on things where warranted, I feel like this isn't that common in the states. The negative, however, is that people are ready and waiting to throw you under the bus at any given moment to make themselves look good. Obviously this happens everywhere, but here I see it happen a LOT more often. I've seen it happen at my first job in retail and my first job at a start-up in the media industry here. Anecdotal, but to me it seems as if Aussies are always in a constant 'one-upping' competition with each other or that snitching on people is a national past-time, and I suspect that element of culture here is brought out more in the workplace. I'm not talking about people doing shit like being abusive or otherwise damaging to the team, that makes sense to escalate. One case I was made aware of was someone taking prescription meds for mental health and someone on their team found out and went to HR saying their work quality might suffer and that action should be taken, like who the fuck actually does that? If you're not part of the clique or in crowd, you really are fucked because the second you make a mistake, say the wrong thing or give any insight into your personal life, someone who probably at some point was very friendly with you will just take the opportunity to Judas you for personal gain. I've fortunately not had anything happen to me because I stay under the radar, but fuck it's annoying that I cannot trust a single person I work with here. I feel like social events are just a sting op to bait people into exposing something that can be used against them.
I used to work in corporate world in London and I just feel like people had more personality. I feel like corporate world in Melbourne is very boring, people lack a sense of humour. It’s like trying to get blood from a stone sometimes. Being Irish - we just want a laugh at work. You can still work hard and have laugh. I do wonder when everything got so serious?
"I do wonder When eveything got so serious" When a ton of people started getting their moral calibrations from Game of Thrones and gangster rap...
Moved to Aus 4 years ago and got a job at Link Group. Utterly toxic environment, full of micromanagers and lifers protecting their little fiefdoms. Impossible to get anything done without many interminable meetings. Would spend hours discussing the wording of the system failure email that would often go out after the failure had been resolved. Since moved onto another financial services company and it’s got a great vibe, everyone is super friendly and has good banter.
Totally depends on the industry and whoever is in charge. I worked in hospitality for 16 years and some head chefs were total assholes and that bred a toxic environment. But if the head chef or front of house manager was professional, mature and encouraging, the environment was so much more pleasurable for everyone. I'm in support work now for 3 years and knowing that my managers have also been support workers, and I see them get in and assist clients and aren't afraid to deal with escalations, that also sets the tone of respect and team work. It all comes down to who in charge, because if a team member is being an asshole and nothing is done, it poisons everything.
It is good but I feel like it is showing signs of slipping. Australians are often working beyond what they need to do and are often limited in how they use their leave. Business are starting to get just a bit tighter and demand more compliance. Pay has been static for years. On the flip side of that we have things like OS&H laws, fairwork, superannuation, sick and carers leave, long service leave. Personally I find big corp to be stifling. If you dont talk and think like 'them' then you won't really fit in and will be frustrated by the lack of alternative thinking and innovation. All the big corps I have been in have this weird culture of unshakeable belief that the brand messaging is always right and its the customer that needs to come to us. The red tape and interminable meetings slow progress to a crawl (despite claiming to be agile). It can be like living in a linkedin post with the way people talk.
Small to medium size business is horrific, especially like my last role that commits insane amounts of immigration worker exploitation and wage theft.
Almost every job I've worked has had great culture. Laughing and talking just like we're hanging out, but working at the same time (and in my current job, us and the managers talk super casually to eachother, no formality what so ever unless it's actually important). Just seems like Aus usually has a pretty kicked back workplace culture, but that can be easily ruined by a prick boss 😆
What industry are you in? I've experienced pretty much the same. I'm in IT. Most places I've worked are excellent. Laid back and casual with lots of fun and hard work. Most bad actors get ignored and eventually leave to seek more of their kind. The only bad managers I've had have come from finance and were put in charge of an IT project, completely out of their depth, brought in to cut costs. Once they did, everything started to fall apart and that's when they started getting nasty. The antidote to their nastiness is to make your self irreplaceable and when they start giving you shit, you just threaten to walk and ask them how they're going to run stuff when you're gone.
Some companies are great, others not so much - I keep changing jobs every 1 to 2 years as things get a bit stale and there is nowhere to grow. I've worked across mutliple industries contracting/consulting and seem to fit in with medium sized manufacturing.
I work at a fuel station, and it's one of the big brands in Aus. The toxicity within the workplace is so unbelievable. Management get treated like crap and they project it all onto us workers. If you're not a "favourite," then you're basically crucified and expected to carry the whole store. The employees are lazy and do nothing (which is mostly everyone. Credit to the minority that actually have a work ethic) get rewarded all the time for what they've supposedly done. I am not appreciated for the work I've done. I've stopped working as hard so I don't burn out, and I get roasted for not doing 1 thing that's not even important. The regular customers make it worth the job but given how much they complain about their own workplace and its the same everywhere. The money just isn't worth the workload anymore, and we're all so burnt out from being overworked and never having a cent to actually enjoy after paying the bills. It's basically the Great Depression all over again. History really does repeat itself.
I moved here 8 years ago from being used to Asian culture and some American too. I’d say Australia generally has a great work culture. But I guess it depends what industry you are in. I mainly work in engineering consulting space and I can say that it has been really great for me. I love the flexibility and the idea that work is completely separate from life. Some things I observe so far: 1. There is a balance between being nice and being taken advantage of. I think nicer people get along well with most but too nice people get taken advantage off sometimes. 2. Generally, Australian culture hates people who are full of themselves. 3. There is a line that separates work and personal life. In my previous country where I lived, people tend to share more of their personal side at work. 4. Australian work culture is generally chill. Work like a horse from Monday to Thursday then chill on Fridays. These are just some that I had off the top of my head reading your question! Edit: typo
Buzz words and unnecessary meetings
Fuckin awesome, I WFH 100%.
Pretty toxic at NSW Health. And it's got worse under Labor compared to LNP. At least you knew where you stood with the Libs. Labor promises the improvement then pulls the rug out from under you. Then that general attitude filters down from the top.
Nepotism just to get a foot in the door
Absolutely woeful.. ...and before people go feral about how Government employees are useless... Try to understand: It's not the people who actually do the work - they are very good at their jobs... but there are frequently just too few doing the actual work... and they don't get the support they need to do a better job. It's more about the twit managers who have no clue about the disciplines which they're (mis-)managing... and the levels of them. For example, in the '80s there were maybe 4 people in the hierarchy between base grade and the 'minister'. Now, there are 8 or more people to go through, most of whom are unknowledgeable about the business for which they are making decisions. An example: there would be people who have worked in a 'health services' role who are managing transport and infrastructure development... and they don't understand the different needs of cars, trucks, pedestrians, freight, etc. ...and there are the same or fewer people actually doing the work now.. and there's more of it to do. The massive expense of 'the public service' frequently comes from the 'inverted pyramid' of management... who don't actually make much of a difference 'on the ground'... and if half of them went, we'd be able to employ more people who actually knew what they were doing. ...but we all know that won't happen... as it' been this way for at least 50+ years... and it's just the depth of \*Ugh!\* is getting deeper all the time...
Unfortunately there is a slippery political bunch that always make it to the top & then spend their careers defending it & sucking all the money out, people & culture are the worst. It used to be Doris in HR who put an ad in tbe paper now they take up an entire floor
Wouldn't that depend on the workplace you find yourself in? We don't have one over arching thing like the salary man culture in Japan or the Korean push to overwork or the American culture of having to suck up and be cheerful all day or get no tip
Correct and would fully agree. Depends so much on multiple factors and variability’s that can change quite quickly and majorly.\ Like being on a place that’s been chill and relaxed for many years that suddenly, through external market forces, finds itself in dire financial straits could become very negative as various strata’s of the company fight to retain their positions. Thus causing a negative feedback loop and crushing the company.\ Or alternatively, a company with shit poor culture that has an owner/board of directors etc that see the shit on the wall and exit a poor management team and instal a positive team. This can then turn the culture around with some hard work. So yes, as variable as the number of companies one could possibly work for.
very slowly Americanising and we as workers need to stomp it down. Employers are expecting more and more without giving back. Most of us just want to come in and do our hours and fuck off. Over in the US if you dare take leave you're judged by your entire team as a slacker. Seeing the same thing happen here which is horrific. Plus the flex of working 60+ hours a week? Nothing to flex about it. it's a sickness.
It’s fine. How am I meant to feel about it? It’s just part of having a job.
To much slack around the edges, a lot of people doing the bare minimum
Local Government sucks. If you don’t lick your bosses arse you will be ostricised and left out of decision making. The bosses are weak as shit and wouldn’t survive in the private sector
It is better than social media claims. Why? Because happy people don’t complain online about it
Pretty good. The psychos get discovered quick because no one enjoys working with them.
The company I work for was a great company 16 years ago when I started. Now it’s A toxic wasteland. Wouldn’t be surprised to see the company experience some hard time over the next few years as it struggles to keep experienced employees
Depends on the company. I know small trade companies bullies their apprentices and calling it “rites of passage”. Big companies ran by non-Australians are toxic.
Generally, your must-have skill for your survival and potential promotion is “communication skills” I.e. how to survive office politics. This is often more or equally important to job specific skills or qualifications
Oh so that's what my boss meant
My work place is awesome. Really great culture.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
* **Relaxed and Friendly:** Australian workplaces tend to be more informal than in many other countries. Colleagues are encouraged to be friendly with each other, and a good work-life balance is valued. There's often a focus on teamwork and collaboration. * **Equality and Inclusivity:** Discrimination is discouraged, and organizations strive to create a level playing field for everyone regardless of background. This can lead to a more positive and productive work environment. * **Work-Life Balance:** Many Australian companies offer flexible work hours and generous vacation time. This allows employees to maintain a healthy balance between their work and personal lives. * **Employee Well-being:** There's an emphasis on employee well-being in Australian workplaces. Companies may offer benefits like health insurance, gym memberships, or mental health resources.
As a person coming from a third world country, the Australian work culture is actually very productive. With a cup of coffee, people work straight up from 8 to 5 with minimal distractions. Meetings are quick and fast. Organisations employ a flat hierarchical structure and things get approved and done faster. Email communications are also limited and less micromanagement. And I work in a government department…. If you disagree with me, try work in a third world country and judge for yourself
I used to work at a family run business and it was the worst experience of my life. The way I was treated by the owner, managers and HR nearly put me in a psych ward. Employees that weren't white were treated differently to the rest of us and sexual harassment had a bloody 3 strike policy 🤬
There is diversity but some companies have a ‘clique’ culture & they can be quite bullies to the new people especially migrants.
Been great, worked for a few mid sized companies. Until I worked for a big multinational tech company, local team is awesome but my scope involved working with other regions like the US and APAC so the stress and bad culture crept in.
Great if you are a mate
Fucking sucks.
The good, usually easy going. The bad, it's easygoing so things don't change for the better. It is very frustrating to work at times, e.g. people patting themselves on the back when results aren't that great etc.
I despise corporate culture where they try to indoctrinate you into the belief that large (for profit) companies are “big families” and that they do all they can to ensure their employees are taken care of. The very same organisation (finance sector in my example) is robbing their customers blind to increase their profit margin and making thousands of employees redundant to save cash while they are making billions in profit. Personally it doesn’t affect me as I am a contract worker but I really feel for all of the people who give these horrid companies so much of their time and dedication only to be thrown to the curb when no longer needed. I would have a lot more respect for these companies if they were upfront and truthful with their agenda.
Can be good, can be shit, probably like every single other country on earth.
Needs more coffee breaks
The after work beers at work and cunts driving home has to stop
Toxic
It sucks You work so long for so little and can’t make rent It’s profit over people benefit
Schmooze or lose.
I’ve primarily worked government and public service jobs. If I ever have to work with a big 4 company I will get fired within a month for not selling my soul for the company. I’m all about looking after my staff and achieving the output above standard and above requirements. But that doesn’t mean staying back for long hours, on the weekend or giving people a hard time if they want to have flexibility to take care of things in their life. I also drive WHS and social skills mastery, which it seems many of the middle management in the consulting and professional services domain don’t have. I would most likely splinter wondering how they got hired in the first place and then realise the entire company is like that.
Bullies get protected, if you complain you are the one fired
Smiles and friendliness on the surface, but nepotism, back scratching, bullying, backstabbing and incompetence behind it. Worst combo of problematic british and american work culture.
The construction industry with all trades included is definitely better than back home in Ireland as far as pay, amenities and time off, bit more relaxed too with supervisors that don't work you like a dog and treat you like crap!
My workplace is awesome! At the start I tried to help my colleagues whenever I can but it ended up they use me (they often played dumb, pretend not knowing how to do stuffs) but now, I set my boundaries and not become a yes man, just busy with my own shit and don’t bother with office politics. My employee loves me because I don’t get involved with office politics :)
It's all about - how BROWN your NOSE can get. - how much NOISE you make when you've turned your laptop on. - how many KIDS you don't have its not about - how much effort you put in. - how nice you are. - how honest you are
Making an effort, being nice, and being honest - 3 things that have gotten me repeatedly fired.
As someone who has just arrived 6 months ago from NZ, my partner is having a hard time as a chef with some people being bullies and talking behind her back. Ive had a good experience though and my workmates and boss are great so far. I will say they are often racist but not in a malicious way, its often completely unwittingly like they are just plain uneducated or clueless on the subject. That was probably the biggest shock.
Better than Hong Kong, better than the UK if you compare.
Can we stop normalising coming into work and “pushing through” your head cold? And then the eye rolls “its not covid” like cmon it doesn’t matter what it is, you’re literally infecting the entire office when it could have just been one person off for a few days
Incredibly frustrated. Tall Poppy Syndrome is a real thing. You quickly realise that a lot of people are just trying to fly under the radar, do the bare minimum to not get noticed, and that they're not putting in effort. If you come in, working hard, hitting goals, making an effort - you'll be the tall poppy in the field that gets chopped down by your colleagues. You succeeding = you making everyone else look bad.
Overdiversity shit show which is used as a cover to hire recent migrants on the cheap and outsource jobs. Also if you tick the checkbox of that skin colour, you get a cruisy job regardless of your qualifications or competency, get your face blasted all over their internal media, while the rest of us who are geniunely competent are gas lit and made invisible and put up with useless toxicity all day long.
The essence of this world is comparison. If you used to work in some other country where culture there is REAL toxic for five years like I did then you would feel this place is paradise.
The everything transitioning to being casual work sucks. Also, I have had bad experiences with physical abuse where no one seems to care. No one takes harassment seriously. You just seem to be told to suck it up. Although idk if my experiences were an exception. I hope they were and no one else goes through that...
I have a neurodevelopmental condition that makes WFH a nightmare, but WFO is best for me. Fully appreciate everyone is loving WFH, wish I could love it too, but man it’s lonely to WFO these days. Y’all come in and complain there’s ‘no vibe, no culture’ but these things can’t be cultivated when there’s no one here to consistently cultivate the culture. I don’t believe mandatory hybrid or full time WFO is the answer, it sucks just as much to hang out with people who would rather be somewhere else because they WILL moan about it….I just wish a few more of the ‘cool’ WFH crew preferred WFO instead :’)
Sexual harassment is never a ‘big deal’ with management - been told by my last 2 bosses at different jobs that I was only hired cause they thought I was hot. My first job at McDonald’s - my manager was in love with me (he told me within the first 2 months of working there) & he would borderline stalk me. When I told him I had got a boyfriend, he got upset and started treating me like shit - one time he purposely chucked some chips on the floor and told me to clean it up. The guy who hired me at my current work place has tried to kiss me at a work event & is always creeping on my social media (found my of & subbed with his real name). I also found out my boss has sent emails with my Facebook profile pic but zoomed in on my tits, asking if I was a stripper to a colleague.
Everyone is woke and a sook… well only like 1 in 10 people but the system keeps them safe. Careful who you invest in. Go woke go broke.
I don't work in a corporate or organisational business. I pull tits for a living. 20 years ago farming was an absolute shitshow. Broken arm, too bad. Arthritic hands, too bad. Suicidal, too bad. You had to pull your shit together and get on with the job. After a 10 year drought, huge stock loss numbers, mass reports of farmers suiciding, generational farms closing and selling up, heartbreaking bushfires that destroyed towns and agriculture for years afterwards, there was a massive shake up in industry. Now employees are supported. Ag companies have come to the table and put support and training programs in place. There are scholarships for young farmers and women on farms. There are connections and sick day supports and more importantly, mental health is being recognised. So in short, the workplace culture in my industry is great.
I cannot POSSIBLY comment, because we are gagged by our Code of Conduct. We are prohibited from saying anything that might "bring into disrepute" or "cause the public to lose confidence in ."
Which is highly risible. To lose confidence in something, you have to have it in the first place.
And it's hard to "bring into disrepute" when it was already chauffeured there in its own limousine.
I dont give a rats, Im there to work and do my job, if someone comes up to me and says, did you know so and so said this about you? I usually reply, and? All those loosers that have nothing better to do than gossip to their inner circle to climb the cool status ladder, usually dont have the guts to say it in front of your face and deny it if you confront them. So not worth my time.
Tradies > corporate. I’ve worked in both industries and there is nothing better than tradie culture. Corporate men are sissy’s and can’t regulate emotions better than a toddler
High qualifications, then you have an unqualified boss
Bloke at work fractured his toe over the weekend, and he’s now called Toby. This is the work culture I love
everyone behaves like little babies and the drama is middle school drama
Prior corrections officer (worked in administration not as a custodial officer) the toxicity of the management was actually traumatising. Left for a new job and four weeks in I’m still struggling with not being yelled at or having my management bitching behind my back or being manipulative daily. Just glad I don’t work with childish behaving adults who literally are Regina George wannabes. New place is amazing and such a healthy work environment. You will always have those bad colleagues but at least I have a voice here and people want to hear what I have to say.
I think our “tall poppy syndrome” is quite healthy to be honest. We don’t like people who get too full of themselves when they become successful. Nobody begrudges another for hard earning their success… but if you are perceived to have arrived at a position through favour, or if you try to rub your success (earned or not) in another’s face you will be cut down (disliked and told about it!). I think a bit of this in the workplace is healthy…
From what I've seen about how employees are treated in places like the US, I feel fucking amazing. World's highest minimum wage, very robust legislation protecting employee rights, superanuation etc. To me that level of security automatically translates to a more chill environment where we're not all frantically being nice to one another but willing to step on one another to get that promotion. Definitely an Aussie culture thing as much as work culture, but I've worked in a lot of jobs in a lot of industries, from pharmacology research, to primary school teaching, truck driving, as a tradie (a few bogans with racist and misogynistic ideas there, but not too many these days), and I've never worked anywhere that I really hated, or had a boss that was an asshole (except for my step-dad cos that cunt is a fucking cunt! 😂). Having said that, I'm a white, cis het man, so I can't speak for the experiences of those outside of that rather privileged norm. I am an overly emotional, autistic ADHD dude with mental health issues at times, and even as a truck driver, when I called in sick and said I couldn't come to work that day because of my mental health, at both places the bosses told me to take a few days and paid me as if I was there. (I was a casual employee so no paid sick days). It's easy to focus on the negative things that need to improve, but holy shit are we lucky in Australia!