On July 29, 2020, PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada sent an email to her staff announcing the company’s large-scale layoffs. This email quickly gained media attention due to the fact that it contained a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. While many would argue that the inclusion of a quotation from one of the most revered civil rights leaders in history should be celebrated, the message lacked the empathy that one might expect from a CEO who had just made the difficult decision to layoff hundreds of employees.
The email, which was sent out to the entire company, contained a quote from Dr. King: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” While the intentions behind the inclusion of this quote in the email may have been to inspire and motivate the remaining employees, many PagerDuty employees felt that the quote was out of place given the circumstances.
The backlash to the email was swift, with many calling out PagerDuty’s lack of empathy in the midst of a difficult time. In a public statement that was released shortly after, Tejada apologized for the inclusion of the quote and offered her sincere condolences to the employees affected by the layoffs.
In a world where layoffs are becoming increasingly common, it is more important than ever for leaders to communicate with their employees in an appropriate manner. Corporations have the power to affect people’s lives, and it is the responsibility of the leaders of these companies to understand the weight of their decisions and to communicate with empathy and clarity. It is clear that PagerDuty didn’t measure up in this case, but hopefully this unfortunate incident will be a lesson for other CEOs and companies.
Hey Subscribe to our newsletter for more articles like this directly to your email.