Property developer and CEO Tim Gurner: "We need to see unemployment rise. Unemployment has to jump 40, 50 percent 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."
Just want to clear the record and say that every business owner thinks this, it's just that this jackass has the stupidity to say it out loud. They don't want to pay more, which has become a necessity since the pandemic due to low unemployment rates. By having a larger labor pool, they can cut wages to take advantage of people's desperation.
Hi there, business owner here. I wouldn’t dare to think this about my employees as they drive our business forward. I’m also a huge proponent of working from home (1 day in the office is nice, but not mandatory). I also try to compensate them and cut them in on our profits - before I take my own cut mind you. Happy workers = better productivity.
Both in the sense that this is a bullshit thing to say, and in the sense that this is the sort of thing that, if misquoted, could get innocent (at least of saying something like that) people hurt.
For everyone saying "A 50% increase in unemployment would only take us from 3.8% to 5.7%, that's not bad" keep in mind that 37,000 people die for every 1% increase in unemployment. This man is essentially wishing for the deaths of 70,000 americans.
Edit: just realized he's probably talking about Australia from his accent. Not sure about the numbers for Australia on unemployment deaths, but I imagine the point should still stand.
Economic instability has been found to increase overall mortality, infant deaths, fatalities from cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, suicide, and homicide as well as morbidities, alcoholism and admissions to mental hospitals. M Harvey Brenner has publications studying the phenomenon going all the way back to the 50s if you're interested in the scientific literature.
No, the number comes from a macroeconomics text book written by Gregory Mankiw and its based on research by Harvey Brennan studying the correlation since the 1950s.
We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around
This angers me. If it wasn't for employees many employers be living in a box under the turnpike, because shit doesn't get done by wishful thinking alone.
He is a “Property Developer”.
In his “perfect world” of employees working 16 hour days and not getting paid, that also means that half of the rental homes do not have tenants, half of small businesses in shopping centres don’t have customers and half of all his “Developed Properties” are empty.
He is just a Fuckwit who was given a silver spoon and doesn’t actually comprehend how reality works.
We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around.
Employment is a mutually-beneficial agreement. I pity whoever has that CEO as a boss that thinks so lowly of their subordinates. We need to remind employers that they also depend on their employees.
Not agreeing with the sentiment, but your title is wrong, OP. He didn't say unemployment should be 40-50%. He said it should increase by 40-50%, which equates to a move from 3.8% to 5.7%
This goes right into my spreadsheet of examples how winning at capitalism does not require much intelligence or foresight. In fact, too much of either hurts your chances.
Not true! You also have to be significantly lucky. I've met plenty of egocentric psychopaths who are stuck in small-time hustles and utterly pissed about it.
Keep in mind that “jump 40-50%” is not the same as “unemployment at 40-50%”…your headline is sensationalist (or just a misunderstanding of the numbers). This guy’s take is still absurd, regardless.
No, you see, employers just give employees jobs out of the goodness of their hearts. And that's why we need to worship them. All hail the "job creators", who don't at all lay off thousands and thousands of their employees the second they're no longer needed (like we've seen happen in tech tons this year).
So I guess that means corporations are actually hoping for a recession so they can "tighten the belt" and fire some workers and the remaining ones will work extra hard to make up the difference. Again.
And swoop in to buy all the assets of soon-to-be bankrupt small-business owners. Big capital does not give a single fuck about who it cannibalises and it will come for those who sing the praises of capitalism as much as those who hate it.
US unemployment rate is 3.8% as of August, so this guy is calling for roughly 70k people to die so that he can get back to his power fantasy and his pesky employees will stop having uncomfortable conversations with him about petty grievances like "feeding their families" and "keeping a roof over their head"
Engineering manager here: I am very lucky to have my team, I need them more than they need me, and I think anyone saying otherwise is fooling themselves.
I don't know what parallel universe this idiot is living in but nothing has changed over here. People know they work for an employer, we sure as hell know the employer doesn't give a rat's arse about their employees, we'd like them to, but we know they don't.
What's he on about?
Anyway he's a property developer so I think that perhaps his opinion is somewhat biased, and therefore should be ignored.
The math here is good point to be aware of and as stated doesn't preclude that the guy is an asshole for wanting to put even a small percentage of people out of work just so he can raise his assholery to tyrannical proportions. Increasing human suffering to teach people who want to have a better life a lesson. What a cartoon villain.