James Clark, CEO of Clearlink.
James Clark, CEO of Clearlink, a Utah-based company, is being criticized on social media for praising an employee who had to sell his family dog in order to return to the company’s office. Independent,
In a video that is doing the rounds online, he said that he has had a lot of employees complaining about the new return-to-office rule. On April 3, he sent an email to company employees, requesting them to work from the office four days a week beginning April 17 if they lived within 50 miles of the company’s new headquarters in Draper. According to viceMany employees were taken aback by his decision, given that the CEO had recently stated via email that he had “no plans” to do so. Furthermore, some employees were hired with the understanding that the company was “remote-first”.
Clear Link CEO Is Forcing Everyone Back To The Office When He Should Be Forcing Himself To Therapy pic.twitter.com/BhcCmrNaOR
— Alex Cohen (@anothercohen) April 20, 2023
However, Mr Clarke said staff could not “push harder” than him during the meeting where he explained the rationale for the new mandate and accused them of “quietly leaving”. The CEO said that he found that 30 employees had not opened their laptops in a month. He continued to criticize the content writers, alleging that they used artificial intelligence to accomplish their tasks. “I can do that in about 30 minutes out of an eight-hour workday,” he said, “requesting to produce 30 to 50 times more than our normal production,” Mr Clarke said in the video.
He then highlights how one of the employees “sacrificed” by selling his family dog in order to return to work. “I have made sacrifices, and those of you who are here have also made sacrifices to be here – to be away from your families. I learned from one of our leaders that, in the midst of hearing this message, ( Somebody) went out and sold his family dog,” he said in the video.
She added that as “someone who has been at the forefront of humanizing pets among other businesses we’ve built,” the news “broke her heart”. It should be noted that Mr. Clarke served for a decade as chairman of PetMD, a business that distributes pet supplies and veterinary services.
Furthermore, the CEO questioned whether mothers can successfully balance employment and parenting their children.
Many Internet users pointed to the company’s toxic work culture. “For the employee who sold the dog, James Clark, CEO of technology and media company Clearlink, would fire you in a heartbeat,” one user said on Twitter.
One user said, “James Clarke is an idiot. The problem isn’t remote working, it’s bad leadership. Look in the mirror.”
According to VICE, a company spokesperson said the entire episode was a matter of “internal Clearlink business” and that the order to return to the office would help the company achieve its “collective goals.”