A SYDNEY boss has slammed his “exhausting” workers and warned they will feel his “wrath” if they don’t pick up their game in a brutally honest email.

Under the subject line “Friday observation”, the male recruitment agency boss — incorrectly referred to earlier as a woman — laid down the law. “Morning guys, quick observation that is really getting on my tits,” the email said.

“One, endless ping pong during CORE BD business hours — especially from people with no money on the board. Two, not even bothering to put a suit on or pretending to look the part (again with no money on the board).

“Three, some of you taking more sick days than Tom Hanks during the dying days of Philadelphia … again with no money on the board (and being a cost to the company and me personally).

“Five or six of you are REALLY GETTING ON MY TITS in this office — you are a cost, you are demanding and exhausting and you don’t even look like you are trying.”

He warned that an unidentified staff member would “talk to you in more detail on Monday but if five (or) six of you don’t pick up your game massively you will see your sorry asses fired and slung out the door in under three months.”

He concluded with, “Any questions give me a shout and YOU BETTER ALL UP YOUR GAME when (X) is in Thailand or you will FEEL MY WRATH and that is not pretty. So step it up some of you and do it quickly …”

After realising the email had been circulated externally, he sent a follow-up note apologising. “Hello everyone, as you know it’s not often I am wrong, but when I am I am happy to hold my hands up, and to this end I wanted to apologise for my Donald Trump-style email rant earlier today,” he wrote.

“Obviously some of you know me pretty well and know I shoot from the hip, but obviously others don’t and it seems I am becoming an online sensation for how NOT to communicate — and in hindsight I agree!

“I have had about 200 recruiters check me out on LinkedIn so I am clearly creating a lot of interest out there … Apparently my email has been circulated beyond our firm to some of our clients and competitor agencies, so I am preparing myself for some short-term infamy!

“I do value you all, but I am sure you get my sentiments in wanting you to reach your full potential, even if my delivery in this case was not at my loquacious best. Thanks guys and have a good weekend. I hope to see you all on Monday!”

In response to a series of questions from news.com.au — including why he keeps the ping pong table — he said in a statement, “The email I sent to our Sydney office was ill-considered and thoughtless — it was sent in a moment of frustration and was an error of judgment.

“[Ours] is a fast-growing company that has fostered a dynamic, informal and occasionally irreverent culture. That’s one of the reasons our turnover is so low. However, that is no excuse for the tone I used in the email — I have apologised to our team and to clients. I have learned from this and [we] as a company will learn.

“The ping pong table stays. Our employees like it and that’s what matters.”

The original email went viral after being posted on Twitter by AAP journalist Tom Rabe on Thursday, with many praising the no-nonsense approach. “Boss of the year,” tweeted Satish Pai.

“Sometimes people just need to get real,” Helen Arvanitopoulos added. “Love it. Bosses need to be harsher on some workers. There are other people out there ready and willing to do your job, and better.”

One user described it as “workplace bullying at its finest”. Carolyn Stebbing wrote, “Everything else aside, any boss who blames staff for ‘wasting their money’ is totally unfit to be an employer IMO.”