A CEO dismisses 90% of the staff because they do not attend a meeting. This leads to a lot of criticism of the CEO. However, he explains that the decision was the right one: the company is doing better than ever before, and the attempt to ‘cancel’ him completely backfired.
The CEO of a company that sells musical instruments on an online platform dismissed most of his staff. The reason: they did not show up for a meeting he had called on short notice.
Later, he claims that the dismissals were a justified decision and that his company is “stronger than ever before.” He does not regret the move for a minute.
A missed meeting leads to dozens of layoffs
What exactly happened? Baldvin Oddsson, CEO of The Musicians Club, fired 99 of his 110 employees, or about 90%, because they did not attend a meeting. The English-language music magazine Musictech received numerous Slack messages detailing the situation. The announcement, which was disseminated on November 15 at 8:24 AM via Slack, was unambiguous:
I gave you the opportunity to improve your lives, work hard, and grow. But you have shown me that you do not take this seriously.
Of 110 people, only 11 were present this morning. These 11 can stay. The rest of you will be dismissed. Get out of my company immediately.
The Musicians Club reportedly relies on a system of interns and freelancers, mainly students of classical music, who are often lured with the promise of gaining work experience and potentially receiving a paid full-time position in the future. A former employee reported on the whole situation on Reddit. The post has since been deleted by a moderator, but the comments are (still) preserved.
Another issue: The problem was also that there was no prior notice for the meeting: a threat message was allegedly sent only a few minutes before the scheduled time, causing panic among the employees and leaving little room for reaction. Overall, the entire management of the company appears to have been very chaotic.
This is reported by the French magazine Jeuxvideo.com, which cites several anonymous sources that reportedly confirmed this. And the user on Reddit confirms it as well:
I did not receive any notification about a meeting. I was not granted access to the department in the Slack workspace where I was supposed to land.
He further states that he had arrived at the company just an hour before the dismissals, only to be dismissed just as quickly.
The CEO defends his tough approach: The company is doing better than ever
How does the CEO react? Despite the general astonishment over his tough approach, the CEO showed no remorse. Rather, he stated on the platform LinkedIn that the layoffs were a justified decision and that his company is “stronger than ever.”
He even praises the positive impact of the controversy on the company’s business, mentioning an increase in visitors to his website and a record number of applications following the mass layoffs. We have included his statement (via Musictech.com)
Last weekend, I received an overwhelming amount of attention – both positive and negative. Some tried to ‘cancel’ me, but that completely backfired. Our visitor numbers have risen to over 20,000, sales are higher than ever, and we receive hundreds of applications every day.
I have received more than 300 messages, including inquiries from CEOs, industry leaders, and major newspapers requesting interviews. I will do my best to respond in the coming days. I stand by my decisions and the values we uphold. Dismissing these individuals was the right step for our company, and we are stronger than ever.
There are other strange bosses: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies were forced to rely on remote work, allowing their employees to work from home. Now, the CEO of an IT company forced an employee to return to the office. But the employee “took revenge” on his boss by using a legal trick: Employee is forced back to the office by the boss – he succumbs, soon after he has his moment of triumph
