‘Not every CEO is cold-hearted,’ says the ‘crying CEO’ after he lays off employees

Whether your laid-off staff forgives you after you put up a LinkedIn post crying in guilt is a different discussion, but it surely will make you the talk of the town. The CEO in question, Braden Wallake, is the chief executive of an Ohio-based marketing agency called HyperSocial. 

After he laid off some of his employees, Wallake’s guilt-ridden post on how much he loves them, has gone viral. As expected, it has not gone down swimmingly with everyone, with some calling him out for victimising himself. He has since then also earned the moniker of the “crying CEO”. 

In his viral post, Wallake said, “I made a decision in February and stuck with that decision for far too long. Now, I know my team will say that "we made that decision together", but I lead us into it. And because of those failings, I had to do today, the toughest thing I've ever had to do. We've always been a people first business. And we always will be.”

He added that he wishes he was a business owner who is only “money driven”. “So, I just want people to see, that not every CEO out there is cold-hearted and doesn't care when he/she have to lay people off. I'm sure there are hundreds and thousands of others like me. The ones you don't see talked about. Because they didn't lay off 50 or 500 or 5000 employees. They laid off 1 or 2 or 3. 1 or 2 or 3 that would still be here if better decisions had been made,” he said in the post.

Wallake then said that he knows that it is not professional to tell one’s employees that he loves them. “But from the bottom of my heart, I hope they know how much I do. Every single one. Every single story. Every single thing that makes them smile and every single thing that makes them cry. Their families. Their friends. Their hobbies.”

The CEO said that he has always hired people for who they are – with “great hearts, and great souls”. 

While some supported him for his vulnerability, many pointed out that he is trying to “secure misplaced sympathy from the general public”. A LinkedIn user who said she is a mental health professional said that this is “not accountability, but emotional manipulation”. “The selfie is truly a next-level manipulation tactic. I see this sort of behavior among abusive parents who want their children to pity them for the abuse they committed,” she said in the comments. 

Another user said, “You're crying? I'm crying. We're crying. You still have your job. Imagine if we all posted pictures of US crying? We'd never get hired, because we are forced to be RESILIENT in our industries.” One user said that while this post could have been with good intentions the entire episode “could not be less about you”. 

Many asked him to use his network to promote his laid-off employees, instead of posting his crying pictures.

After much backlash, Wallake said, “Hey everyone, yes, I am the crying CEO. No, my intent was not to make it about me or victimize myself. I am sorry it came across that way. It was not my place to out the employees’ names publicly,” further starting a thread for people looking for work. He asked people seeking work to post their resume, and for employers to pick from the list. 

Also read: Better.com CEO fires 900 employees on a shocking Zoom call; here’s all you need to know

Also read: ‘Blundered the execution’: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg apologises for terminating 900 employees on Zoom call