Cruel CEO Playing With People’s Lives

by Katrina Collier | Jul 15, 2024

This is not being cruel to be kind.

Reading about the cruel email from Intuit’s CEO has left me worried about those laid off.

In the article ‘Investing in our future‘, the CEO states about the 1800 strong layoffs:

“We’ve significantly raised the bar on our expectations of employee performance, resulting in approximately 1,050 employees leaving the company who are not meeting expectations and who we believe will be more successful outside of Intuit.”

Saying that 1050 of the 1800 people are being laid off due to underperformance is cruel and additionally damages their mental health when they’re already in shock.

Stating it publicly makes securing a new role even harder for them in an already 💩 market!

Also, the last words they will remember are, ‘You are underperforming.’ Then their inner dialogue could unhelpfully reinterpret it as ‘You are a failure’ or ‘You are not good enough.’ Rather than, ‘Underperforming here, might be overperforming elsewhere. I am ok.’

Those 1050 will be stepping upon the awful rollercoaster of applying for jobs and not hearing anything, interviewing and being ghosted, but starting the horrific job hunting process, reeling from this public humiliation.

The long-term damage of a regular layoff on both mental and physical health is already proven, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this unnecessary public shaming leads to deaths.

Research from Sydney University found that an estimated 9.5 per cent of suicides reported between 2004 and 2016 resulted directly from unemployment and underemployment. So, if you are considering telling me that I am being dramatic, speak to someone currently job hunting.

And WHY be cruel?????? 🤬

What did this CEO gain from making such a statement and publicly belittling people?

What does he gain by acting with so little concern for the lives and livelihoods of his former employees?

Oh yes, I know; the article expands on the financial aid they’ll receive while interviewing… with a damaged reputation. 🙄

For those more concerned for Intuit’s employer brand than these suffering former employees, you left me seething, but I do wonder where HR or PR was when this article was composed! Either not at the table or ignored at the table.

If you wonder why I am so incensed, it’s probably because I am victor over child abuse and always fight for the underdog, but mostly, it is due to the lack of empathy and compassion.

Even if 1050 were underperforming:

You don’t tar the other 750 with the same brush!
You don’t publicly announce it so that future hiring managers – especially the risk-averse – refuse to hire any of the 1800 who ended their Intuit employment at this time.

How do any of these people prove that they were not underperforming? Especially when, in true 💩 sandwich style, he added, ‘We are very grateful for the great work they have done and the amazing contributions they have made while at Intuit.’

So, which is it? Underperforming or great and amazing?

The only performance truly questionable here is the CEO’s in the public email.

What talent acquisition & recruiters can do

You can ensure that neither you nor your hiring manager’s bias comes into play when you see Intuit as the former employer and judge the person fairly.
You can point out that in the same breath Intuit used to move the performance goalposts, they also said, ‘We are very grateful for the great work they have done and the amazing contributions they have made while at Intuit’!
Don’t ask former Intuit employees (or any) why they left their last role! Try asking, ‘What was missing in your last role that you hope is part of this role?’ or similar so they can focus on skills and experience.
You can show your leaders the damage to the mental health of employees and to their reputation of such unnecessarily cruel behaviour. [More in Reboot Hiring!]
You can remember that we play with people’s lives and livelihoods and not leave 87% of applicants down or depressed from ghosting.
You can remember that Inuit are using the impact of AI to justify these layoffs – so you better step up and start showing your value in every interaction you have with managers and leaders – lest it be you who is deemed underperforming.