Employer Calls Out Helicopter Parents in Viral Video: ‘Stop Doing This’

Matt Baumgartner, Upstate New York farmer, restaurateur, and reality star of the Amazon Prime series June Farms, just went viral for an unexpected reason: doling out some tough-to-hear parenting advice.

“I just got another call from another parent asking if we are hiring at the farm. You guys gotta stop doing that. It is embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for you,” he says in an Instagram video, posted earlier this month, with over 21,000 views and over 16,000 likes.

“How dumb is your kid that they can’t apply for a job themselves?” Baumgartner, who has no kids, continues. “Tell your kid to f***ing get off the couch, put down Mortal Kombat 30 or whatever, and tell them to apply themselves.”

Reaction to the video was swift and merciless, with people largely supporting his message, criticizing such parents, and sharing their own Gen Z stories.

“Thank you for saying this!! Drove me crazy when I was in business!!!” noted one commenter, with another adding, “I work at a farm hiring and if the child doesn’t come in I don’t hire them.”

One person said, “If they can’t apply they definitely are going to struggle working on the farm — that is hard work!”

Several people added comments about parents going even further — by attending actual job interviews with their kids.

“I can’t tell you how many parents insisted on sitting in on the summer camp counselor interviews I held. Then, they answered all the questions for them,” one person wrote, while one added, “We had a father come to a job interview with his 19 year old daughter.” Another chimed in with, “AMEN!!! It’s now not uncommon that parents are going to job interviews with their college graduate. (HR person here. I wish I was making this up.)”

It’s shocking but true, according to a the Resume Templates survey of 1,000 Gen Z job seekers ages 18 to 23 that was released in February. It found that over half — 51% — of Gen Z adults recently had a parent accompany them to a job interview.

In addition, 75% of recent Gen Z job seekers said a parent submitted their job applications, 65% said their parent completed at least one candidate test for them, and two in three employed Gen Zers said a parent had communicated with their manager to discuss scheduling, promotions, or workplace accommodations.

“Parental involvement in early-career job searches isn’t uncommon,” said Resume Templates chief career strategist Julia Toothacre in a press release at the time. “Most high schools don’t teach career readiness skills, and while colleges have career offices, those resources are often underused, especially in the early years. In that gap, parents often step in to provide support.”

But, she added, “Many parents are crossing the line from support into over-involvement.” And that doesn’t help anyone, with another recent study finding that being over-involved in your young adult’s life may negatively impact their ability to launch — specifically when it comes to their early careers.

It’s certainly something Baumgartner would agree with, as he told parents in his fed-up video, “You are doing them such a disservice.”