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Property developer Tim Gurner says employees have become too arrogant, and that unemployment must rise substantially to lift productivity, especially in the construction sector.<\/p>\n
Gurner told a business event on Tuesday the pandemic had a \u201cmassive effect\u201d on productivity, especially among tradies, and that it was worsening the housing crisis.<\/p>\n
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Property developer Tim Gurner said unemployment needed to rise by between 40 and 50 per cent.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Michael Quelch<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cThey have been paid a lot to do not too much in the last few years, and we need to see that change,\u201d he told the AFR property summit in Sydney. \u201cI think the problem that we\u2019ve had is that people decided they didn\u2019t really want to work so much any more through COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n Gurner refuted the assertion that immigration was worsening the housing crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe absolutely have to have immigration,\u201d he said. \u201cAustralia doesn\u2019t work without immigration and if we\u2019re not growing, we\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n The dynamic between employers and employees had to change through a 40 to 50 per cent jump in unemployment, Gurner said.<\/p>\n \u2018We need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around. There\u2019s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around. It\u2019s a dynamic that has to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite 12 interest rate increases in the past 16 months, the labour market has remained relatively resilient.<\/p>\n The unemployment rate reached a record low of 3.4 per cent in July last year and has remained at historically low levels. In July this year, unemployment was at 3.7 per cent according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics\u2019 latest set of data.<\/p>\n In June, Reserve Bank deputy governor Michele Bullock warned the jobless rate would need to climb to 4.5 per cent to tame inflation, implying about 140,000 people could lose their jobs.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, CBA chief economist Stephen Halmarick said there was a shortfall in dwelling construction in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need annual dwelling construction of about 230,000 or 240,000 a year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re running at about 160,000.\u201d<\/p>\n Gurner said the supply of housing also needed to be increased by improving the planning system, which he said was \u201cfundamentally broken\u201d in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is just an absolute no-brainer,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t understand how one of the best cities in the world has a planning system that just doesn\u2019t work. Melbourne\u2019s planning system is OK. It\u2019s slow, but at least you can come through VCAT [Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal] and you can actually put a date in a program and a feasibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Gurner, who was ranked 154th on the AFR\u2019s Rich List with $912 million, also said incentives needed to be realigned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just comes back to stamp duty taxes,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you look at the percentage of taxes across a property, it\u2019s over 50 per cent. People say, \u2018Why is housing so expensive?\u2019 Well, 50 per cent plus is taken up in stamp duty and taxes. There is only so much developers can do to fix that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. <\/i><\/b>Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Business<\/h2>\n
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