A speech by the CEO of Clearlink went terribly wrong. He is happy that people are selling the family dog and has made serious accusations against the employees.
It is now well known that company executives sometimes don’t quite understand the reality of their employees. However, one CEO seems to have set a new standard. He accuses his employees of not working for a whole month and even praises someone for selling their dog for the good of the company.
Note: The title image is a symbolic image.
Who is it about? The speech is about James Clarke, the CEO of the marketing firm Clearlink. A few days ago, he held a conference and addressed his employees. Instead of a calm discussion, he made numerous accusations against his employees (via pcgamer).
Dog sold to have more time for the company – Exemplary!
What happened? In the conversation, it was mainly about the employees now being required to return to the office regularly. After it was promised in October that no one would be forced back to the office and that this arrangement would remain in place, this came as a surprise to many.
However, this announcement was accompanied by harsh criticism, accusations, and some questionable views.
Clarke challenged that “someone should work harder than I do, but none of you will.”
Even the sale of a dog is seen as something positive.
“I have sacrificed a lot, and those of you who are here have also sacrificed a lot – being away from family. I heard from someone in management that he sold his family’s dog in light of this news” – apparently to have more time for the company.
Boss belittles employees – Accuses them of not performing
But the accusations got even more bizarre afterwards. Clarke stated that he believes many of his employees are “quietly resigning” and accused 30 employees of not having “opened their laptops at all in a month last year.”
He questioned whether these employees might not now be working for other companies while still receiving a salary from him.
And it got even worse: He accused the company’s content writers of “only letting AI write,” something he claims he could do himself in “30 minutes of an 8-hour workday.” If that were the case, these people should “increase their productivity 30 to 50 times.”
Also, single parents and especially mothers seemed to be a thorn in Clarke’s side, who now cannot find childcare with the return to the office. In his view, he has concerns that these individuals may not meet the standards of the company and that it “would not be fair to either the employer or the child.”
The relevant video has since been removed after Clearlink declared a copyright violation. However, it was probably only intended for internal purposes and was never meant to reach the public.
The return from the “corona home office time” back to office life seems to currently be a problem for many companies, not just Clearlink. Activision Blizzard is also currently facing difficulties: Many employees who were hired during the home office period are now resigning because they cannot bear the regular commute to the office.
