Tim Gurner might just be the most hated person on the internet at the moment after he called for mass employment and economic pain to light a fire under "arrogant" employees.
The Australian property developer has a net worth of AU$929 million and while he would continue to live financially sound if he lost his job he suggests we should be trying to lift unemployment by 40 to 50 percent.
"We need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around,' Gurner told Australian Financial Review's Property Summit in Sydney.
Ironically, his own boss reached into his own pockets to help him get his start by fronting the money for Gurner to renovate an apartment. His own grandad then forked out $34,000 to help him secure a loan, according to ARF.
But that doesn't stop Gurner from ripping into "arrogant" workers, especially tradies, who he claims "feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around".
"I think the problem that we’ve had is that people decided they didn’t really want to work so much any more through COVID."
This is from the same guy who in 2017 blamed millennials' consumption of avocado toast for why they can't afford to buy a house.
Safe to say, Australians weren't amused with Gurner's latest controversy.
"This is a breathtakingly irresponsible statement. Unemployment is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes including suicide. I say this with some confidence having studied suicide and unemployment," Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"Tim Gurner needs to lose everything and be part of the 50 percent unemployment he’s hoping for!" another person said.
"Good luck getting the tradies to work for you now," another said.
University of Sydney Business School Associate Professor Chris Wright said the playing field is already too much in favour of businesses.
"Inflammatory comments like these only reinforce this view," Wright said.
"Wages are still not keeping pace with inflation, and there is already significant slack in the labour market with job insecurity. Many people want more work and better-quality work."
But while Wright agrees work needs to be done to fix problems with the labour market – rising unemployment is not the solution.
"If property developers are struggling to find staff, offering better quality jobs is a necessary part of the solution," he said.
Newshub.
