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‘Too lazy, too fat, too stupid’: Home Depot founder slams workers in modern economy
Just The News ^ | Dec 31 | By Just the News staff

Posted on 12/31/2022 7:55:25 AM PST by RandFan

The billionaire co-founder of Home Depot is slamming what he says is a poor work ethic among laborers today, claiming that “nobody gives a damn” about job performance in the present-day economy.

“'Nobody works. Nobody gives a damn,” Bernie Marcus told the Financial Times in an interview this week.

In a jeremiad against what he claimed were insufficiently motivated workers, Marcus mimicked them: "Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work - I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid."

The business tycoon claimed to the Times that his highly successful hardware chain would never realize the same level of growth and popularity in the modern economy.

“We would end up with 15, 16 stores,” he said. “I don’t know that we could go further.

(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fat; heiscorrect; lazy; stupid; workers
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To: Hot Tabasco

Because nobody is going to stick around and work their ass off for minimum wage.

If the person is a go-getter, they are actively on the hunt for something more. They wont stick around.


121 posted on 12/31/2022 3:26:26 PM PST by Hammerhead
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To: Hammerhead
If the person is a go-getter, they are actively on the hunt for something more. They wont stick around.

Obviously reading comprehension isn't one of your strong points. You just validated my point.......

With that being said, your own perception of your self worth is meaningless to any future employer.

But I digress, is your solution a mandatory minimum wage increase to, lets say, $40 per hour?

122 posted on 12/31/2022 3:58:41 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: Hammerhead

So tell me bro, exactly who isn’t looking for jobs?


123 posted on 12/31/2022 4:07:04 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: Hammerhead

And what are their qualifications?


124 posted on 12/31/2022 4:09:25 PM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: ladyjane

119,000 a year? That’s like $57 an hour full time.


125 posted on 12/31/2022 4:10:36 PM PST by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: whitney69

I like your excersize with regard to picking up the dime. It’s Biblical too!

I haven’t read through this entire thread yet, but the earlier comments were talking about paying more money, etc. Agreed that if Lowes is paying $16.50 an hour vs. $16.00 at HD (actual entry level pay in Billings, MT) it might be worth it to go over to Lowes.

But these companies aren’t just competing with Lowes, they are also competing with government welfare. My kids know people (20-somethings) that will work for a little bit and then quit as soon as they don’t like something about the job. They don’t get welfare, but they have free health insurance through the state which they have commented on as one reason why they don’t need to have a job. (They also live in mom’s basement, use the food bank and go get another job when they run out of money for pot).


126 posted on 12/31/2022 4:23:16 PM PST by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: RandFan

Do away with obamacare and the 29/hr workweek. Also make the work schedule standard and not random as is done at Home Depot and other places.


127 posted on 12/31/2022 5:00:07 PM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: BobL

I live in SE Texas, and my house was built in 2001/2002, by, mostly Mexican/Mexican-American peoples.

They screwed me on many ways - the shower drain not actually covering the drain to my septic, more than one “corners” not being 90 degrees, the exhaust hood over my stove having literally no vent to the attic/outside, the bricks not actually being in a 2 x 1 (walking soldier) pattern, etc.

Sad thing is, I actually came out here a couple times a week while they were building it, and I didn’t catch these.

My fault for being a first time home-buyer and not catching these, I guess, but no, don’t claim Mexican’s/Central American’s do a “better” job.


128 posted on 01/01/2023 12:00:29 AM PST by ro_dreaming (Who knew that in 2022 "1984", "Enemy of the State", and "Person of Interest" would be non-fiction?)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop

I remember Handy Dan’s, an of course Ace Hardware “With the helpful hardware man”, that has been replaced with “helpful hardware folks”.

Both were before Home Debit and Lowe’s were around, at least before they were around here in SE Texas.


129 posted on 01/01/2023 12:10:39 AM PST by ro_dreaming (Who knew that in 2022 "1984", "Enemy of the State", and "Person of Interest" would be non-fiction?)
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To: nascarnation
Here in Indiana, $15/hr jobs are going unfilled all over the place. So I doubt many folks with any ability are working for 9.

You're right.. lots of good paying jobs are going unfilled.

Example: In middle Tennessee starting hourly wage for stocking shelves at the local Walmart is $18 an hour.

Starting pay for short run Walmart truck drivers is $89,000 per year.

These positions are going unfilled because the motto for today's worker is... "I don't want a GOOD JOB.. just some MONEY!"

130 posted on 01/01/2023 1:46:52 AM PST by VideoDoctor
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To: rktman

$15/hr today is worth less than $10/hr just 2 years ago.


131 posted on 01/01/2023 2:54:40 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: Hammerhead

I think what is really setting them off is the immigrant labor wants more money as well; they are dealing with the same costs as the rest of us. Many years ago an acquaintance was complaining that illegals wanted $10/hour, with a minimum of 8 hours, while the minimum wage was around $7...


132 posted on 01/01/2023 3:39:13 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: bigfootbob

Which comment are you disputing? I didn’t think I was saying anything the Home Depot founder wasn’t implying himself. Is he referring to mid-level managers? I don’t think “lazy”, “fat”, and “stupid” have as much of an impact in those roles.

I assumed he was talking about those who can save nothing on their wages, not those who end their careers as millionaires.


133 posted on 01/01/2023 3:43:12 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: vpintheak

When business owners are wealthy, it is clear for the world to see that they could pay more. They don’t have to, but they look stupid and callous when then complaining that people don’t want to work. What they really mean is people see no point in enriching them even further.

Here in NJ the minimum wage increased to $14.13 per hour at midnight; the problem for employer like Home Depot is that if they think they can pay people low wages for a job that involves any physical strain, then they have to beat that salary by A LOT - because if they don’t, people will always accept slightly lower wages for a much less strenuous job that won’t land them in back or shoulder surgery every few years.

When talking heads describe all of the job opening there are, they conveniently ignore what types of jobs they are; for example, here in NJ, there is no shortage of warehouse work - but if you take the job it is only a matter of time before an injury sidelines you (and the older you are, the sooner it happens). In our McJob/strip mall economy today, it is not uncommon to see workers from one business working at a neighboring one the next week; the McJobs are more or less interchangeable, and until last night they all had to pay at least $13/hour.


134 posted on 01/01/2023 4:17:33 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: vivenne

If he isn’t running it now, then what does he know about workers today? He should be more grateful to the people who made him rich.


135 posted on 01/01/2023 4:19:38 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: BipolarBob

I assume it is the lower-tier workers that are the object of his scorn/contempt.


136 posted on 01/01/2023 4:21:35 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: PIF

Are you really going to imply American workers should accept the working conditions tolerable to Vietnamese coolies?

You can mock them all you want, but you can’t make them work - and the foreign replacements we import want more money/better conditions as well (so that employer end-run around supply and demand in the labor market failed as well).


137 posted on 01/01/2023 4:23:34 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: kearnyirish2

You sure read a lot into statement from working conditions in one specific industry, at one specific time and place and, then conflate it with the present day, when all that was meant is workers today have it easy compared to their predecessors.

Now just go way with your specious pseudo-arguments, thanks.


138 posted on 01/01/2023 5:16:21 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: kearnyirish2

You’re implying Home Depot as a slave labor organization which is not true. They lift people out of poverty. They help associates with educational resources, 401k plans, stock plans, health insurance and a pathway to success.

Home Depot does the right thing…period. I forgot to mention, Home Depot has a “Homer Fund” that willing associates from the newest employee to the CEO may contribute to that is used solely for distressed employees. It’s an amazing thing really.

A recent example of the Homer Fund, a Colorado associate lost everything in a wildfire recently. The Homer Fund directors jumped to action and provided the funds needed to help the associate in their time of need.

Home Depot annually provides veterans who find themselves in a hard spot total home renovation projects. It’s part of who Home Depot is.

Are there employee’s who struggle? Of course, but a lot of the struggle is a result of personal choices made by the associates not Home Depot.


139 posted on 01/01/2023 5:46:57 AM PST by bigfootbob (Arm Up and Carry On!)
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To: 21twelve

“Agreed that if Lowes is paying $16.50 an hour vs. $16.00 at HD (actual entry level pay in Billings, MT) it might be worth it to go over to Lowes.”

I’d like to think money is the endearing factor for employees but many have been brainwashed into thinking that a few cents an hour is the threshold of heaven. And billionaires count every cent in this type of theory on being closer to a wrongly worshipped deity, i.e., greenbacks.

Employees to our bad mouthed rich guy in this thread are supplied by the failing participation minded school systems that make promises to their students that just don’t happen. So the former student flounders in each job as he/she travels through life on the edge of hungry going from one minimum wage job to another to be looked at as a loss by the employers to start with. And this is where the short circuit actually is.

The employers never expect more than what they are complaining about, but bitch about it anyway, and the employees never make the effort to excel because they don’t have to/care to, using your thread’s operandi. And have the attitude that “I was looking for a job when I found that one.”

So the employees never get better at what they do or grow with responsibility and reward to become a real master at the aspects of the job so they can promote and someday groom another minimum wage employee for better things. Sounds like our government doesn’t it? The leaders thinking the voters are stupid and keeping them there so they can get richer while the stupids get poorer and get less possibility of change or even improvement. There are only so many keys to the executive washroom.

wy69


140 posted on 01/01/2023 7:58:45 AM PST by whitney69
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