Muffin Break general manager Natalie Brennan has been forced to apologise after comments she made about unpaid work and Milennials went viral.

Both Ms Brennan and the Foodco-owned franchise chain were at the receiving end of an online backlash after Ms Brennan said in an interview that young people were no longer willing to do work experience, internships or unpaid work to advance their careers.

“The recent article does not reflect my values or those of Foodco,” Ms Brennan said in a statement published on the Muffin Break Facebook page, according to news.com.au.

“Every day for the past 25 years I’ve worked with young people who are motivated, passionate and hardworking. This is as true today as it was when I started my career.

“I don’t expect anyone to work unpaid and Foodco Group policy is, and always has been, that all employees including interns, employed either directly or through our brands, are paid according to relevant awards.

“The unpaid work I referred to was supervised programs run through schools, TAFEs or universities, which provide valuable gained experience to people before they enter the work-force full-time. I want to apologise for any misunderstanding or upset caused by my comments.”

In the original interview with news.com.au, Ms Brennan stated, “There’s just nobody walking in my door asking for an internship, work experience or unpaid work anymore”.

“You don’t see it anymore. Before that people would be knocking on your door all the time, you couldn’t keep up with how many people wanted to be working. In fact I’d run programs because there were so many coming in.

“In essence they’re working for free, but I can tell you every single person who has knocked on my door for an internship or work experience has ended up with a job. Every singly person, because they back themselves.”