“We need to remind people that they work for an employer, not the other way around”: an Australian millionaire’s speech on “employee arrogance” that went viral

One of Australia’s richest men has apologized after saying unemployment should rise to remind “arrogant workers” of their place.

“We need to see pain in the economy,” Tim Gurner had declared.

But the businessman later said he “deeply regretted” his comments, sparking a global backlash.

Gurner has previously made headlines when he suggested that young people cannot afford to buy a house because they spend too much on avocado toast.

Now the video of his comments has gone viral, with more than 23 million views and heavy criticism online.

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Speaking at a real estate meeting this week, the 41-year-old businessman spoke about the Covid-19 pandemic had worsened employee attitudes and work ethicsand he gave the masons as an example.

Gurner, a gym owner turned property mogul, says the shift is impacting productivity in the sector, which, combined with tighter regulations, is fueling Australia’s housing shortage.

The businessman suggested that the current unemployment rate of 3.7% should rise by 40% to 50% to reduce “arrogance in the labor market.”

That would result in more than 200,000 people losing their jobs.

“There has been a systemic change where employees feel like the employer is very lucky to have them,” Gurner said.

“We need to remind people that they work for the employer and not the other way around.”

But Gurner later said in a LinkedIn post that he had “made some comments about unemployment and productivity in Australia that I deeply regret and were wrong.”

He said there are “important conversations to be had in this environment of high inflation, pressure on house prices and rents due to lack of supply, and other cost-of-living issues.”

He added that his comments were “very inconsiderate” towards workers, traders and families “across Australia” affected by cost of living pressures and job losses.

Gurner also said he understood that job loss “has a profound impact” on employees “and I sincerely regret that my words did not convey empathy for those in that situation.”

Negative reaction

Gurner’s retraction of his comments comes at a time when many companies are fighting with staff over issues such as remote working and salaries.

The change in attitudes towards employment is also a subject of widespread debate on social media, giving rise to hashtags such as ‘quiet resignation’, a term that attempts the decision to strictly adhere to the duties of the position and not doing more for the bosses and the company; and “lazy girl jobs,” which refer to flexible, well-paid positions that offer a better work-life balance.

Gurner’s earlier comments, which were shared by the Australian Financial Review (AFR), which hosted the meeting, sparked criticism on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and LinkedIn.

They were also condemned by Australian MPs of all political stripes.

Labor MP Jerome Laxale said they were “comments you would associate with a cartoon supervillain”, while Liberal MP Keith Wolahan said: ““They can’t be outdated anymore.”

“Job loss is not a number. These are people on the streets and dependent on food banks,” Wolahan told the AFR.

In the United States, lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also criticized the real estate magnate.

“Recall that top CEOs have increased their own pay so much that the CEO-to-employee pay ratio is now at one of its highest levels ever,” he wrote in X.

But others, such as Andrew Michelmore, president of the Minerals Council of Australia, defended him.

“Workers have become accustomed to earning the same amount of money but not working the same hours,” Michelmore told the AFR.

Gurner is the CEO and founder of the Gurner Group and has an estimated net worth of $598 million.

In the past, he has talked about how loans from his grandfather and former boss helped him get started as a business owner.

He also previously made controversial comments criticizing young home buyers for their spending habits.

In 2017, the businessman stated that when he was saving for his first home, he “usually didn’t buy a crushed avocado for $19 and four coffees for $4 each.”

This sparked a huge debate and led to the BBC asking the question: how much avocado toast would it really take to put down a deposit on a house?

It turned out that buyers in London at the time had to give up 24,499 avocado toasts. (JO)