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A young woman has slammed a corporate accounting firm after it released the minimum pay rates for graduates – a rate she claims is forcing millennials away from big businesses.
Deloitte Australia opened its pay black box on August 3 revealing the company’s paygrades for its auditing and consulting divisions.
The minimum rate for a 2023 graduate in consulting started at $67,000 while graduates in the audit and assurance division received $63,000.
The figures were released as part of a strategy to lure graduates and skilled professionals – a move which she has dubbed as a ‘public relations (PR) disaster’.
The young Aussie woman, known on social media as ‘gowokegobrokeaus’, said graduate salaries on offer at the big four accountancy firms did not match the role.
‘In an absolute PR disaster Deloitte released their paygrades,’ Gowokegobrokeaus said in a TikTok Video on Aug 7.
‘So graduates apparently earn around $65,000 a year which is a fine graduate salary for a normal job but working at a big four consulting firm is not a normal job.’
Gowokegobrokeaus said young Australians are leaving big businesses as they are forced to ‘devout their life’ working 12 to 14 hours a day on a minimum wage.
‘It’s an absolute joke. It’s modern day slavery,’ she said.
‘They bill these graduates out at $200, $300 an hour and how much do they pay them, $20 an hour? Tell me, how it makes sense?’
‘This is why I hate big business and why people are flocking away from large corporations in record numbers because they’ve realise they are getting absolutely rorted.’
TikToker Gowokegobrokeaus (pictured) said Deloitte’s move to release the pay packages a graduate receives at the firm was a ‘PR disaster’ and demonstrates ‘modern day slavery’ as young millennials are expected to work 12-to-14 hours a day for minimum wage
Deloitte’s minimum wage for skilled graduates paled in comparison to pay rates in other industries including traffic control.
Traffic controller Tahera Raedd revealed she makes more than $2,000 a week working as a lollipop lady directing traffic at construction sites in Sydney.
The young woman offered a breakdown of her weekly earnings in a TikTok video captioned ‘your sign to be a traffic controller’.
All up, Ms Raedd claimed she made $2,015 for just under 40 hours of work in a week including a $600 pay cheque for a 13 hour shift.
Tahera Raedd (pictured) said she made more than $2,000 in a week working as a lollipop lady directing traffic at construction sites in Sydney
Deloitte Australia chief executive Adam Powick said the company used the wider industry as a benchmark for pay rate packages.
‘We believe that openness and transparency are key to building the trust of our people and also of our profession externally,’ Mr Powick told The Australian Financial Review.
‘We regularly monitor market pay information through the year and conduct a formal annual review of a number of diverse benchmarking data sets to ensure that our salaries remain competitive with the market.’
Some TikTok users disagreed with Gowokewobrokaus’ comments and argued having a big four – Deloitte, Ernest and Young, KPMG and PriceWaterHouseCoopers – on a resume was worth the hard work.
‘It’s not the be all and end all but is powerful for the resume. Most people hear big 4 are impressed,’ one user commented.
‘Oh please! when you leave Deloitte you can get any job you apply. They train their employees extremely well,’ another user wrote.
‘You should be thanking Deloitte for allowing young people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, learn the value of hard work and gain valuable experience at a prestigious company,’ a third chimed.
Other users disagreed and said working conditions and long hours was not worth the minimum wage salary.
‘I’ve seen first hand how hard these accounting firms work their people to the BONE! 16-18 hr shifts in peak times,’ one user wrote.
‘I was literally working 90+ hour weeks, got sick from overworking. Big 4 is not worth it AT ALL. The pay is better at less demanding jobs,’ another commented.
It’s not the first time a feud has erupted on social media between different generations of workers.
Corporate coach Kathy McKenzie previously told Daily Mail Australia the number one thing young workers despise is unnecessarily being told what to do by their older bosses.
She added that the issue is even more magnified when Baby Boomers share obvious directions with younger staff.
Earlier in the year boomers hit back at ‘lazy’ Millennials, Gen Y and Z, complaining about working conditions, calling the generation ‘weak babies’ who have no clue about the real world.
‘Youngsters are leaving the workplace because they’d rather sit home on Centrelink payments than doing an actual job,’ Dianne, 66, commented as a furious discussion broke out over the issue online.
Another said: ‘So are these whiny, weak babies that quit their jobs moving back in with mummy and daddy? How are they supporting themselves?’
‘Millennials are selfish, self centered, don’t understand teamwork or responsibility to coworkers or company,’ one person said. ‘The trouble is that they are also so arrogant and entitled that they won’t recognise or admit to any of these traits,’ one baby boomer said.
Another wrote: ‘Most youngsters wouldn’t actually know what hard work/pressure is.’
‘We have reared a generation of selfish wimps,’ Janet said.
Deloitte has been contacted for comment.