One
of Australia's richest men has apologized after he said that unemployment
should jump to remind arrogant workers of their place.
"We need to see the pain
in the economy," Tim Gurner had said.
But Mr Gurner said later
that he "deeply" regretted the comments, which sparked a global
backlash.
He has previously made
headlines by suggesting young people cannot afford homes because they spend too
much on avocado toast.
Video of his comments has gone viral, attracting
over 23 million views and strong criticism online.
Speaking during a property
summit this week, the 41-year-old said the Covid-19 pandemic had changed
employees' attitudes and work ethics for the worse - singling out builders as
an example.
The
gym-owner-turned-real-estate-mogul claimed that the shift is hitting productivity
in the sector, which - combined with tougher regulations - is fuelling
Australia's housing shortage.
He proposed the country's
current unemployment rate of 3.7% should rise by 40-50% to reduce
"arrogance in the employment market". That would see more than
200,000 people lose their jobs.
"There's been a
systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have
them," Mr Gurner said.
"We need to remind
people they work for the employer, not the other way around."
But later, Mr. Gurner said
in a post on LinkedIn that he had "made some
remarks about unemployment and productivity in Australia that I deeply regret
and were wrong".
He said there were
"important conversations to have in this environment of high inflation,
pricing pressures on housing and rentals due to a lack of supply, and another cost of living issues".
He said his comments were
"deeply insensitive" to employees, tradespeople, and families
"across Australia" who are affected by cost of living pressures and
job losses.
Mr. Gurner added that he
appreciated that the loss of a job "has a profound impact" on workers
"and I sincerely regret that my words did not convey empathy for those in
that situation".
Backlash
Mr Gurner's backtrack on
his remarks comes at a time when many companies are tussling with staff over
issues such as remote work and pay.
Shifting attitudes toward
employment is also a matter of widespread discussion on social media,
giving rise to hashtags like "quiet quitting",
a term meant to capture the decision to stop going above and beyond for bosses;
and "lazy-girl jobs", which refers to well paying, flexible positions
that offer greater work-life balance.
Mr Gurner's earlier
comments, which were shared by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) which
hosted the summit, drew criticism on social media platforms like X (formerly
Twitter), TikTok, and LinkedIn.
They were also condemned by
Australian MPs from across the political divide. Labor MP Jerome Laxale said
they were "comments you'd associate with a cartoon supervillain",
while Liberal MP Keith Wolahan said they "could not be more out of
touch".
"The loss of a job is
not a number. It sees people on the streets and dependent upon food
banks," Mr Wolahan told the AFR.
US lawmaker Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez also criticized the property mogul.
"Reminder that major
CEOs have skyrocketed their own pay so much that the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay
is now at some of the highest levels ever recorded," she wrote on X.
But others - like Minerals
Council of Australia chairman Andrew Michelmore - had defended him.
"Employees have got
used to earning the same amount of money but not putting in the same
hours," Mr Michelmore told the AFR.
Mr Gurner is the chief
executive and founder of Gurner Group and has an estimated worth of A$929
million (£479m; $598m).
He has previously spoken
about how loans from his grandfather and former boss helped him get his start
as a business owner.
Mr Gurner also previously
made controversial comments criticizing young home buyers for their spending
habits, saying in 2017 that when he was saving for his first home, he
"wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each".
It turned out that in
London at the time, buyers would have needed to forego 24,499 avocado toasts.
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