Gurner apologizes for 'deeply insensitive' comments on job losses

However, Mr. Gurner later expressed profound regret for his remarks, which triggered a worldwide backlash.

He had previously garnered attention for suggesting that young individuals couldn’t afford homes due to excessive spending on avocado toast.

His comments during a property summit this week, in which he criticized the pandemic’s impact on employees’ attitudes and work ethics, particularly in the construction industry, have gone viral with over 23 million views and widespread online criticism.

As a former gym owner turned real estate tycoon, he argued that this shift, combined with stricter regulations, is exacerbating Australia’s housing shortage.

He proposed increasing the country’s current unemployment rate of 3.7% by 40-50% as a means to diminish “arrogance in the employment market,” resulting in over 200,000 people losing 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 retraction of his statements coincides with a period in which numerous companies are grappling with their employees on matters like remote work arrangements and compensation.

There is a widespread discourse regarding shifting perspectives on employment on social media, giving rise to hashtags such as “quiet quitting,” describing the choice to cease going the extra mile for employers, and “lazy-girl jobs,” denoting well-paying and flexible positions that prioritize work-life balance.

Mr. Gurner’s earlier remarks, originally reported by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) during their summit, prompted criticism across various social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and LinkedIn.

They were also condemned by Australian Members of Parliament from various political backgrounds. Labor MP Jerome Laxale likened them to something “you’d associate with a cartoon supervillain,” while Liberal MP Keith Wolahan remarked that they “couldn’t 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 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 serves as the CEO and founder of the Gurner Group, boasting an estimated net worth of approximately A$929 million (£479 million; $598 million).

In the past, he has openly discussed how loans from his grandfather and a former employer played a pivotal role in kickstarting his journey as a business owner.

Furthermore, Mr. Gurner gained notoriety for his contentious remarks targeting young prospective homebuyers and their spending habits.

Back in 2017, he remarked that during his quest to save for his first home, he refrained from indulging in items like “smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each.”

This statement ignited a substantial debate, even leading the BBC to explore the question of how many servings of avocado toast would be necessary to amass a sufficient deposit for a home.

Surprisingly, it was revealed that in London at that time, aspiring homeowners would need to forgo a staggering 24,499 servings of avocado toast.

Gurner apologizes for ‘deeply insensitive’ comments on job losses

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