CEO Backtracks After Quoting Martin Luther King Jr. In Layoff Announcement: ‘Inappropriate And Insensitive’

Ben ZeisloftJanuary 30, 2023

Jennifer Tejada, PagerDuty CEO, apologized for quoting Martin Luther King Jr. While announcing that her company would implement mass shipments, Layoffs.

Tejada spoke in a company Memo Last week, 7% of the positions at the cloud computing company were eliminated in order to lower costs and increase return on investment.

“Like most technology companies, our most significant investment is our workforce,” She wrote. “These decisions were carefully considered and are necessary to set PagerDuty up for long term success, especially in the context of ongoing uncertainty.”

At the conclusion of the memo, however, Tejada cited the civil rights leader’s statement that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Three days later she apologized, calling the addition of the quote an apology “inappropriate and insensitive.”

“The way I communicated layoffs distracted from our number one priority: showing care for the employees we laid off, and demonstrating the grace, respect, and appreciation they and all of you deserve,” She made a comment. “There are a number of things I would do differently if I could. The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive. I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”

Social media backlash against the original announcement was strong. Tom Gara, Meta Communications Manager So called The memo “all time classic bad layoff announcement” Since the letter was only 370 words long, it did not mention the layoffs. The letter continued on for 1,250 more words.

Shares for PagerDuty have increased 4.7% over the five trading days since the initial announcement; the company’s stock price has fallen 12% over the past year, exceeding losses witnessed by the S&P 500 Index and the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite.

PagerDuty’s headcount reduction follows similar actions by larger technology companies. Amazon, Google and Microsoft revealed Their intention to reduce payrolls by more then 40,000 workers over the next few weeks is what they have announced. A report by a reputable American technology company claims that more than 58,000 people were dismissed from their companies during the first month in 2023. Report Crunchbase reports that 140,000 jobs were still being filled by firms in this sector last year, despite the fact that Crunchbase has compiled these figures.

Many investors feel that Silicon Valley businesses must cut headcount to make up for the post-recession hiring frenzy. The Children’s Investment Fund Management CEO Christopher Hohn So called Alphabet, Google’s parent, needs to reduce its workforce by another 25,000 employees. The reason is excessively high median salaries that exceed $300,000 and rapid growth of payrolls.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary deflected questions Journalists were asked whether layoffs could spell doom for the economy. One reporter noticed that President Joe Biden was present “quite optimistic” In his statements on the labor market, he was asked if layoffs were a factor. “matter of concern.” Jean-Pierre replied that the commander in chief watches closely “anytime there are reports of Americans losing their jobs.”

“More broadly speaking, layoffs remain near record lows according to job openings data,” She spoke. “Companies across the economy are continuing to grow and invest in the United States.”