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When your boss calls you 'babe'
If you’ve been called babe, buddy, or honey by your manager, this week’s Big Conversation is for you. Do you continue to put up with it or do you confront them about it? How far are you willing to test your own patience?
The Aussie Corporate & Pick & Scroll News
August 04, 2026
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Good morning AusCorp. If you’ve been called babe, buddy, or honey by your manager, this week’s Big Conversation is for you. Do you continue to put up with it or do you confront them about it? At what point does a small thing warrant escalation?
In this week’s edition, we've got a story about someone using smart glasses in the office, why Australians keep getting richer but not happier, and how NAB are replacing their office swipe cards.
THE BIG CONVERSATION
The stuff that's too small to raise and never stops.
Babe, hun, darl, buddy. Most people mean it as a friendly habit and not an insult. But why is it usually junior staff being called those names, and not the other way around? You probably wouldn't start an email to your manager with "Hey hun". We reckon it sits in the same bucket as unwanted nicknames, the interruption, or the joke at someone’s expense. None of them are a big deal on their own, but each one still gives you the ick.
Was it condescending, endearing, or is that just how they talk? Am I reading too much into it? Most of us will decide it's not worth mentioning, then a few days later it happens again. Before long, it’s living rent-free in your head. That's why these little things can be so frustrating. On their own, they're easy to brush off. But repeated often enough, they can start to feel less like friendliness and more like a reminder of where everyone sits in the workplace.
It's also difficult to raise to HR because it doesn't sound serious on its own. Saying "my manager keeps calling me buddy" can feel petty, even if it's been bothering you for weeks. But you let it slide, sensibly, every time. But the letting-slide becomes a problem. Each thing you wave through tells everyone it was fine and because nothing is ever big enough to fight, that's exactly how it becomes the way things are.
Most people think the solution is to just tell them it bothers you. But in reality, most people don't find those conversations easy. When the issue feels minor, bringing it up can feel harder than putting up with it. If speaking up would make you feel like that person in the team, and confronting them would bother you more than the nickname itself, it's also okay to let this one go. Or you can throw the cat amongst the pigeons and begin an all out campaign…
If you’re the one calling your colleagues these nicknames, keep in mind how it might come off because it may be too small for them to bring up with you but doesn’t mean it’s ok for you.
PICK & SCROLL BY THE AUSSIE CORPORATE | LAST WEEK'S TOP PICKS
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Anytime Fitness is investigating complaints after customers were signed up to memberships with forged signatures on contracts they never saw, while others were made to sign blank agreements before terms were added. LINK
CBA has agreed to move about 1.5M low-income customers to its fee-free Streamline Basic account and refund $93M in excessive fees after new ACCC conditions. LINK
Australian companies are rapidly appointing chief AI officers, with more than 2 in 5 firms already doing so and nearly 2 in 3 expected by 2027, while investors await productivity gains. LINK
Hundreds of overseas workers supporting Commonwealth Bank's chat service have lost their jobs after the bank incorporated AI into the system, according to people familiar with the work. Many of the affected workers were contractors at a call centre near Johannesburg run by South African outsourcing company Nutun. LINK
Flat White lands every week. The news doesn't. Every weekday morning at 8:00am, we send you everything that happened across Australian business and corporate news in a 2-minute read. Same team. Same voice. Just daily.
Most people forgo their fitness goals the moment work starts to get busy. EOFY, three straight weeks of client dinners, or Thursday drinks will end any routine you've built.
OneCoach is built for that. A Sydney-based coach handles the planning and holds you to it on the weeks you'd otherwise skip.
THE INSIDE TRACK
THREAD OF THE WEEK - r/AUSCORP
Started a new job recently in insurance.
I noticed a couple of days ago one of the other new starts bought a pair of Meta Glasses. Noticed he would occasionally wear them around the office, but never while at his desk (which is next to mine).
Today I noticed he randomly put them on briefly and then started scrolling through his CRM and after a few minutes, he took them off again.
It seemed awfully suspicious and I would hate to raise a complaint to management, over something I would have difficulty proving. I know they have seen him wearing glasses occasionally but I don't think they are aware that they are smart glasses capable of audio/video recording.
Would love some feedback on how to approach this.
Ask your cyber security team if they have a policy on meta glasses or screen recorders first. If they do, then you can raise it with your manager.
THE BRAINS TRUST | FT. AMP ECONOSIGHT
Australians are materially better off than they were 25 or 50 years ago, yet happiness has been falling. Australia ranks 15th in the 2026 World Happiness Report. The US sits at 23rd. Both have seen real incomes rise steadily over decades while survey measures of life satisfaction have moved in the opposite direction.
You can blame a few things. Expectations keep rising faster than our incomes can keep up with them. Housing keeps getting less affordable. And social media, the more people use it, the less happy they tend to be. Younger people in English-speaking countries look to be the least happy group right now, and their anxiety and depression are tied to how much they're on these platforms.
Source: World Happiness Report, ABS, AMP
Once a country earns roughly US$50,000 per person, extra income adds very little to happiness. Switzerland earns nearly double what New Zealand does, yet the two score about the same on wellbeing. Some say we should aim to achieve a measure more like National Happiness.
“This would mean… taxing or banning excessive work; re-distributing more income and wealth, reducing the focus on competition and rivalry; spending more money on public goods such as parks; refocussing on community; limiting advertising to information to avoid creating demand for stuff we don’t need; and regulating access to social media.”
The freedom to make your own life choices is itself a big part of what makes people happy, so holding back individual achievement to enforce shared contentment, risks killing the very thing you're chasing.
OFF THE CLOCK
WATCHING
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the return of the mid-tier Marvel movie
It's a bold move to subtitle your Spider-Man movie Brand New Day, then spend most of the run time fixated on the previous films. LINK
WEARING
The Arc'teryx pop-up outlet in Sydney
They’ve got a solid range in store right now with high-performance jackets, pants, bags, and shoes, and it's open for at least a few months. LINK
GOING
A pawfect national pet day: Australia’s biggest cat and dog festival is back
The Festival's highly popular Breed Showcase will once again feature a stunning collection of pedigreed, rare and companion cats, giving visitors the opportunity to meet breeders. LINK
READING
Previous winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James lead Booker prize longlist
Chair of judges Mary Beard said each of the13 books in contention for the £50,000 award ‘takes the reader to new places’. LINK
EATING
Australian supermarket parmesan taste test
In a blind test of 13 parmesan and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, Nicholas Jordan determines which wedge has the edge over its competitors. LINK
AUSCORP EVENTS
AusCorp Pilates x One Playground | Sydney | August 2026 | SOLD OUT
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AusCorp Singles Event | Sydney | Coming Soon 👀
ODD PICKS FROM LAST WEEK
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Is washing your face with bar soap effective? LINK
Black sesame for grey hair: does it actually work? LINK
An AI safety firm had several models run competing simulated vending machines for a year with no human oversight. LINK
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