PR boss hits back at Roxy Jacenko for comments on Australia’s working conditions

When Roxy Jacenko revealed the tough work ethic she likes to instil in her staff, some were not impressed. Now one female boss has hit back.

Roxy Jacenko’s tough working standards don’t sit well with everyone. For one competitor, they were extremely offensive.

A fellow female agency boss has lashed out at Sydney’s PR queen for the comments she made to news.com.au about Aussies becoming lazy.

Ms Jacenko lamented Australians should be more like the hardworking Chinese after constantly seeing employees leave a job “after five minutes”, work the minimum hours possible and call in sick Monday after a big weekend.

Her comments sparked wide reaction, much like the recent outcry over the Muffin Break boss who said Gen Ys had an “inflated” sense of self-importance and were no longer willing to do unpaid work. Natalie Brennan made headlines around the world in February over the controversial comments.

While Ms Jacenko’s comments didn’t spark quite as much uproar, they certainly made an impact in Australia’s public relations world, which has been rife with rumours for years on her business’s working conditions. She has been unapologetic about her standards which she says sets her ahead of the game and her competitors.

Roxy Jacenko said she was happy to own being a tough boss. Picture: Tim Hunter.

The Impact Agency chief executive and founder Nicole Webb hit back at Ms Jacenko, saying it’s “unfair to expect employees to reciprocate this behaviour and nor should you want them to”.

“As a manager, part of your role is to support your team so they don’t burn out,” she wrote on her agency’s website.

“An overworked employee who sleeps too little, sits too much, stresses and struggles to find balance or create boundaries in their life will only result in poor work and personal misery. “You can kiss goodbye to your clients too Roxy, that’s what happens when frazzled employees produce substandard work.”

Ms Webb said the marketing and communications industry was a leading offender when it came to clocking long hours in salaried positions with no compensation paid in time or money.

“I know that people will go to the end of the Earth for you if they have a great manager,” she said.

“A communications agency isn’t a sweatshop, Roxy. Invest in your people and take the time to create a supportive culture; productivity and great work will follow.”

Ms Webb said her agency, which she had been at the helm of for 20 years, gave staff “chill days” once a quarter so staff could have a mental break when they needed it.

Ms Jacenko started her flagship PR agency Sweaty Betty 15 years ago and its success has led the entrepreneur to start several other businesses.

In an earlier story Ms Jacenko revealed she would also ensure her well-off children, Pixie and Hunter Curtis, would get their first jobs just as any other 14-year-old.

Pixie already has her own successful bow business and she’s only seven.