An American CEO has earned the internet’s disdain for his social media post about firing an employee. Matthew Baltzell, founder and CEO of Cap X Media, shared a detailed breakdown of his meeting with the affected employee on LinkedIn last week. The post sparked outrage on social media, with many calling it tone-deaf.
In his post, Baltzell said the entire meeting took 10 minutes, during which the employee was informed he was being laid off. He explained that the ex-employee was offered a severance package and a reference for a future job, should he need it. The CEO said he kept the whole thing “short and direct” and the employee handled it “professionally and with grace.”
“After the meeting, I sent a message over Slack to inform everyone that the employee was no longer with us, without giving details,” he said, adding that he did not want secrecy surrounding the layoff. “This approach shows my team that if they ever have to leave, they’ll be treated with respect, not discarded like trash,” explained Baltzell.
Take a look at the post below:
The post divided opinion on LinkedIn, where some praised Baltzell for his leadership and others called the account tone-deaf and insensitive. One person in the comments section called it “typical LinkedIn drivel.” Another asked the CEO to “grow up”.
“You just made someone’s exit incredibly problematic for yourself,” the commenter wrote.
A screenshot of the post also reached X, where it was shared with the caption: “Imagine getting fired, heading over to LinkedIn, and seeing this.”
Reactions on X were largely negative. Some people brought up the CEO of Hypersocial, who in 2022 went viral for posting a selfie of himself crying after laying off hundreds of employees.
“If I’ve fired someone, the last thing I want to do is post about it on social media,” wrote one founder.
“This is horrifying. A real leader doesn’t need to brag about how good of a job they thought they did in firing someone,” another said.
