'Never hire anyone that's looking for work life balance': CEO under fire for LinkedIn 'wisdom'

Author image for Ada Elder
Ada Elder
May 21, 2023 12:00 AM EDT

I'm going to come out and say it: Loving what you do (for work) is a luxury. But even if you're a statistics enthusiast or a strategy geek, chances are you don't want to spend all your time working. That's where having a work/life balance comes in. The concept, to many, is pretty novel. It's long been fashionable to spend long hours working in the office or from home, putting in the extra time because your bosses, for some reason, expect you to be available around the clock. There's a reason those '90s workaholic parents were such a common trope. It's because our society has nurtured this unhealthy existence. 

While we don't usually hear CEOs or other bigwigs saying that people should work more, every now and then one of them screws up and reveals their true (ugly) colors. Thanks to the r/antiwork subreddit, we see more of these instances than we used to. Just a couple of weeks ago, one Scott Kuru - CEO of Freedom Property Investors, shared a particularly damning bit of wisdom on the corporate cringe fest that is LinkedIn. 

The post starts off with a bang: 

'Never hire anyone that's looking for work life balance' 

Things get more annoying from there. 

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  • 01
    Font - 11:10 Scott Kuru. 3rd+ Founder and CEO of Freedom Property ... 2w Edited Never hire anyone that's looking for work life balance ● I am not against work life balance. Balance is important. You cannot perform at high levels unless you have all the areas in your life in harmony. 476% However I am in the business of providing people with an opportunity to earn money and grow their career. Most people, not all, but most people that say "I'm looking for work life balance” are not driven to grow
    via u/rubyglue

  • The post got its fair share of opponents on LinkedIn - something we love to see from people who normally seem like such corporate bootlickers. 

  • 02
    Font - Debbie Bellenger • 3rd+ 1w Executive in Health and Wellness Advisory S... Well you definitely poked the bear!!!! The well-being bear! That is a very lofty comment....NEVER......and defining work-life balance in a virtual world has different meaning today! I do not agree with this statement! How do we think we got to 1 in 2 Americans burned out? Burn out now has an ICD-10 code, a confirmed disease state with huge healthcare costs to employees and employees. It is time to reframe ...see mor
    via LinkedIn
  • 03
    Font - Scott Kuru Author Founder and CEO of Freedom Propert... 1w Hi Debbie I totally agree with you. Can I add that there are a group of people. Small group. That need to be highly active and engaged and work tremendously hard just to feel happy alive and normal. I'm one of them. I don't ask anyone else to be that way. And as I said in my post. Work life balance is extremely critical to health happiness and performance. I just choose to build my business this way. People can opt in or opt out.
    via LinkedIn
  • 04
    Font - Alban Gaval • 3rd+ 2d People are not tools. Businesses should ser... ... As business owners, you and I and many here have the MOST to gain from a hard working workforce. So to pocket those returns while leveraging the money and careers we provide to crack the whip with demeaning insinuations of being B level, comes across as self-serving and lacking the gratitude and humility I would want to see in a leader toward the people who make their business a success. It's plainly false to say tha
    via LinkedIn
  • 05
    Font - Michael Kowalczyk • 3rd+ 2w Buyers Advocate / Investment Property Stra... Id have to disagree with this. As an active father of 3 kids under 5, I'm a firm believer an individual can maintain a healthy work life balance and perform at a high level. If your employee is able to produce the same results in 3/4 days worth of work, as what another can accomplish in 5 days, then i'd favor to hire that employee. Working 5+ days a week is an outdated system. Too many people I know worked hard 5+ d
    via LinkedIn

  • But, as one can imagine, the people of Reddit were more than happy to share their disapproval after the cringepost was shared to r/antiwork. 

  • 06
    Font - Conscious-Dirt-7289 2d Never work for anyone who doesn't want you to be able to have a life outside of work Reply 2.3k ATCrow0029 • 2d ... Never work for someone who is too dumb to understand how 4 day work weeks work. Also never work for a company that has "Freedom" in its name. ... 549 tjmaxal • 1d You're free to make the CEO's work life balance better 166 ↓
    via LinkedIn
  • 07
    Font - Squinton PlaysRoblox • 2d Companies offer 4 day work weeks because it's been proven to increase employee productivity. Reply 3.8k Propanegoddess • 2d Which shows he has no numbers or evidence of any kind to back his statement because he did zero research and is just talking out of the side of his neck about a subject he knows nothing about. skitnegutt 2d 1 Award but I'm A cEo! ... : G 1.5k 576
    via LinkedIn
  • 08
    Font - Ok_Leadership2518 2d Funny...I work four day work weeks. I took the job because of the schedule was perfect for balancing work with my personal and family life. I started as a janitor/grounds worker for a small town and have studied and taken certification courses and I'm about to earn my Water Treatment Plant Operator lvl 1 cert (scoring an avg of 97% on tests.) All this while performing all other tasks required in my position. I have added a significant value to my role in the town and
    via LinkedIn
  • 09
    Font - ethereal_empress • 2d Then all they will attract is high turn over rate. Reply 970 ... CsrfingSafari • 2d According to glassdoor the Offshore Operations have a high turn over. ... 236
    via LinkedIn
  • 10
    Font - CommercialBox4175 • 2d If the pay is high enough, I'll buy into the company goals Ishidan01 2d ● Narrator: It's not. : Reply 239 ← 150
    via LinkedIn

  • While many people simply pointed out the injustice (and stupidity) of Kuru's message, others had some tips for people who want to avoid working for people like him. 

    “The key question I ask of every potential boss at an interview is “what do you do outside of work.” If they don’t have a life outside of work they’ll bother me at midnight expecting me to answer emails. Hard pass.”

    This advice seems far more valuable than anything Kuru can provide.

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schedule wtf FAIL work cringe working ceo linkedin work-life balance employment work schedule
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