Earlier this week, property developer and rich lister, Tim Gurner, put his hand up to become the most hated CEO in Australia when he told The AFR Property Summit that he wants unemployment to rise 40% to 50%, and for wages to fall, so that Australian workers are grateful for having a job:
“I think the problem we have had is that people decided they didn’t want to work much anymore through COVID and that has had a massive issue on productivity”.
“Tradies have definitely pulled back on productivity. They have been paid a lot to do not too much in the last few years and we need that to change”.
“We need to see unemployment rise. Unemployment has to jump 40% to 50% in my view”.
“We need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around”.
“There has been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around”.
“So, it’s a dynamic that has to change. We’ve gotta kill that attitude, and that has to come through hurting the economy, which is what the whole global, world, is trying to do”.
“Governments around the world are trying to increase unemployment to get that to some sort of normality and we’re seeing it”.
“I think every employer now is seeing it. I mean there is definitely massive layoffs going off”.
“People may not be talking about it, but people are definitely laying people off and we’re starting to see less arrogance in the employment market. And that has to continue because that will cascade across the cost balance”.
Gurner’s statement came amid the sharpest fall in real wages on record at the same time as company profits and CEO pay boomed over the pandemic, in part due to generous taxpayer handouts:
Amid a furious public backlash over corporate greed, which resonated across the globe, Tim Gurner has released the below apology:
“At the AFR Property Summit this week I made some remarks about unemployment and productivity in Australia that I deeply regret and were wrong”.
“There are clearly important conversations to have in this environment of high inflation, pricing pressures on housing and rentals due to a lack of supply, and other cost of living issues”.
“My comments were deeply insensitive to employees, tradies and families across Australia who are affected by these cost-of-living pressures and job losses”.
“I want to be clear: I do appreciate that when someone loses their job it has a profound impact on them and their families and I sincerely regret that my words did not convey empathy for those in that situation”.
In short, Mr Gurner still thinks workers are lazy and arrogant but now feels for them when they get the arse.
Louis Christopher summed up the situation beautifully on Twitter:
Like I said last time, talent attraction and retention might be a problem for Tim going forward.
