Entitled Millennial or Starving Ex-Employee?

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Talia Jane was recently dismissed from her job. she feels it was an unfair dismissal, but some think otherwise.

Read on and discover why this woman’s post became viral on the internet.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35636280

Discussion Questions:

  1. Who is Talia Jane and what were the problems she cited?
  2. What do you think about her and what she did?
  3. Would you support or fund “Help a Yelper EAT”? Why or why not?
  4. What was your life like when you were a fresh graduate/in your 20s?
  5. How do you display work ethic?
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5 replies on “Entitled Millennial or Starving Ex-Employee?”

1. Who is Talia Jane and what were the problems she cited?
Talia is a 25 former worker at food delivery service who was recently fired due to a scathing letter posted in a public social portal

2. What do you think about her and what she did?
She is a young woman probably at her first job but made a mistake commenting personal experiences and mentioning her job.

3. Would you support or fund “Help a Yelper EAT”? Why or why not?
No I don’t. Depending on the situation but, in general, young people starting their working life should understand that beginings are not easy. Discipline, effort and professionalism and ethics should be present on their minds at all time. They should resolve their problems by their own. Do not make others resolve your problems. If you don’t like something, do your best for changeing. If you do not earn enough money, then work harder, have two works or just move to another place where you can stay better.

4. What was your life like when you were a fresh graduate/in your 20s?.
I started working in tough jobs below my wage expectations, even below my level of education. Jobs required physical efforts, with long hours and low wages.

5. How do you display work ethic?
When I started working at my current job I agreed with internal policies including not publishing comments on behalf of my company. I must followe-up an ethic code of conduct.

Adding to question 1. )
She published several grievances about her current job, arguing that due to low rages and high rent at San Francisco, she can barely afford public transport to work. She even can heat her flat appropiately.

Your ideas were thoughtful, and you expressed yourself clearly.

This response already communicates clear ideas, but it can be improved by making the tone smoother, more organized, and less repetitive:

No I don’t. Depending on the situation but, in general, young people starting their working life should understand that beginings are not easy. Discipline, effort and professionalism and ethics should be present on their minds at all time. They should resolve their problems by their own. Do not make others resolve your problems. If you don’t like something, do your best for changeing. If you do not earn enough money, then work harder, have two works or just move to another place where you can stay better.

No, I don’t. It depends on the situation, but in general, young people who are starting their working lives should understand that beginnings are not easy. Discipline, effort, professionalism, and ethics should always be present in their minds. They should resolve their problems on their own and not expect others to solve them for them. If they do not like something, they should do their best to change it. If they do not earn enough money, then they should work harder, get a second job, or move to another place where they can live better.

Your hard work will continue to help you improve even more. Great work!

1. Who is Talia Jane and what were the problems she cited?
She is a former worker for Eat24, part of Yelp. Some of the problems she cited in her essay were the high living-cost of San Francisco and the low wages paid by the company.
2. What do you think about her and what she did?
I think thay nobody made her to go to work to San Francisco. If the salary was so low that she could not afford to live alone or turn on the heater, maybe she should have looked for a job in a more affordable place. Instead of complaining in an open letter that her managers could read, I think she should have searched for other jobs or solutions to decrease her expenses, like having a roommate or moving to another place.
3. Would you support or fund “Help a Yelper EAT”? Why or why not?
I would not. People should be able to live with the salary they earn, and I do not think that other people should fund the living costs of workers living in high living-cost areas. If companies are not willing to pay accordingly to their workers, maybe they should leave those jobs. This would lead to a lack of staff for the companies, who would need to increase the salaries to get people to work for them.
4. What was your life like when you were a fresh graduate/in your 20s?
I think it was quite similar regarding the low salary, but that is something that everybody knew, the firsts jobs were always going to be something to gain experience and we did not expect a high salary with no experience at all.
5. How do you display work ethic?
I try to do my work being compliant with my company’s policy. Regarding my colleagues, I try to help them in the same way they help me when I have some problem.

Nice work! You completed the task very well and showed great effort throughout.

The following corrections are mainly about making the sentences sound more natural and grammatically polished:

I would not. People should be able to live with the salary they earn, and I do not think that other people should fund the living costs of workers living in high living-cost areas. If companies are not willing to pay accordingly to their workers, maybe they should leave those jobs. This would lead to a lack of staff for the companies, who would need to increase the salaries to get people to work for them.

I would not. People should be able to live on the salary they earn, and I do not think that other people should fund the living costs of workers living in high-cost areas. If companies are not willing to pay their workers accordingly, maybe workers should leave those jobs. This would lead to a lack of staff for the companies, and they would need to increase salaries to attract people to work for them.

You’re making great progress — keep working hard and continue improving every day!

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