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The truth behind an email declaring staff had been fired after indicating they were “stressed” in a wellbeing work survey has caused even more outrage.
It all started when Anouska Dutta, who, according to her LinkedIn profile, works as a copywriter at the Indian company YesMadam, shared a screenshot of a wild email she’d allegedly received from the company.
“What’s happening at YesMadam? First you conduct a random survey and then fire us overnight because we’re feeling stressed? And not just me 100 other people have been fired too,” she wrote.
YesMadam is a company that offers a tech platform for beauty and wellness. The copywriter described the incident as a “mass firing”.
The post went viral.
People online shared their shock and horror over the brutal email. It was called “toxic” and “insane.”
The email also amassed millions of views on X because Siqi Chen, who founded tech start-up Runway and has a following of over 70,000, shared it.
He claimed the email left him “shaking” and called it “actually insane” and a massive thread kicked off.
In the email, the company’s HR manager claimed they had decided to “depart ways” with any employees who had indicated experiencing “significant stress” in a recent wellbeing survey.
“This decision is effective immediately and impacted employees will receive further details separately,” the email read.
The company has now backflipped on this claim, declaring that no one was fired and that the email was a marketing stunt to highlight the “serious issue of workplace stress.”
“We sincerely apologize for any distress caused by our recent social media posts suggesting we dismissed employees for being stressed. We would never take such an inhuman step,” the company wrote.
“Those who shared angry comments or voiced strong opinions we say thank you. When people speak up it shows they care and care is at the heart our business.”
The company explained that after staff filled out a workplace wellbeing survey, those who shared they were stressed were given a break to reset and were urged to “rest and recharge” and no one was fired.
The company added that “productivity” can often overshadow employee wellbeing, but that wasn’t the case at YesMadam, and they were happy to introduce India’s first “de-stress leave” policy for staff.
Employees are now entitled to six days of paid stress leave a year.
Ms Dutta, the employee who shared the email on LinkedIn to begin with, also clarified that “nobody got fired” and that her original post was untrue.
“Everybody is curious to know what really happened at YesMadam, I am spilling the beans here,” she wrote.
“Yes, the survey did happen, in fact, I volunteered in the survey, and was part of the core team which gave birth to the idea of De-Stress Leave.”
The staff member claimed the email that went viral and was a “planned move”, claiming they executed the stunt because it was “the need of the hour.”
“Stress is not just limited to one office, one city, or one country, it’s a universal problem which needs immediate attention,” she said.
Business consultant and managing director of Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia, Karlie Cremin, said this type of stunt trivialized something very serious and made an already stigmatized conversation even more so.
“You wouldn’t send an email about ‘anyone who has had a serious laceration at work is now fired’ with a follow up of ‘I was just trying to draw attention to an important issue,’” she told news.com.au.
“This is because a) it’s nonsense, and b) physical injuries are viewed as somehow more meaningful. Companies trying to get attention this way lessens the conversation, and we are all worse off for it.”
Online, people were outraged that a company would pull a stunt about firing staff and said they would struggle to trust a business that would lie about such a situation.
“Now I know YesMadam is a company that fires their own employees for PR Stunt,” one wrote.
“This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in 20 years of executive leadership,” another complained.
“What about our stress level spiking after your firing marketing stunt yesterday? Isn’t this more like a mockery made out of stress?” another asked.
Someone else called the stunt “silly” and “distasteful and disgraceful.”
Another said the company needed to work on its “sensitivity” and one person dubbed the reveal “pathetic.”
“Absolutely shocking,” one wrote.
“Is this the corporate version of, ‘we were just kidding?’” another asked.
“Fire the person that came up with this stupid idea,” someone else ordered.
