You’d think that James Clarke would have learnt to show some restraint after Braden Wallake’s LinkedIn post backfired in the most spectacular way.
In August last year, Wallake, the chief executive of a marketing start-up, explained he had to let two of his employees go after trying to save his company from going under.
Alongside a photo of him in tears, Wallake said: “I just want people to see that not every CEO out there is cold-hearted and does not care when he/she have to lay people off.”
The post quickly went viral, but for all the wrong reasons. Many accused him of being insensitive, tone deaf and self-indulgent.
Wallake’s story proved to be a cautionary tale for CEOs. But it appears James Clarke didn’t get the memo.
The CEO of a Utah digital marketing and technology firm went on a bizarre rant in a leaked video.
According to Vice, which first obtained the video, Clarke accused remote workers of slacking off and told them to use AI to create their content, adding: “I can do that in about 30 minutes of an eight-hour workday.”
He also made reference to quiet quitting, saying: “Some have already quietly quit their positions but are taking a pay-cheque.”
The video came after he mandated in-office work, forcing employees within a 80km radius back to the Utah office, Smart Company reported.
He then commended a worker who had sold his dog, saying it was an example of “sacrifices that are being made”, and added that as someone who had been at the “head of the humanisation of pets movement”, it broke his heart.
No one was immune to his rant. Clarke even suggested single and working mothers couldn’t meet their job obligations while taking care of their children.
“It can be done… it adds so much stress to a working mother’s life that I would never want to put on anyone.”
Taking another potshot at remote working parents, he added: “And while I know you’re doing your best, some would say they’ve even mastered this art, but one could also argue that, generally, this path is neither fair to your employer nor your children.”
When asked for official comment, Clarke’s spokesperson told Vice that it was “a matter of internal Clearlink business and that the return-to-office mandate would help the company achieve its collective goals”.
No doubt after watching his video, Clarke would be missing out on this year’s CEO of the year award.