The CEO Who Quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in Her Layoff Email Apologizes to Staff
The chief executive of a San Francisco startup apologized for quoting Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
in a layoff announcement, saying her email to employees was “inappropriate and insensitive.”
Jennifer Tejada,
chief executive at
PagerDuty Inc.,
PD 3.80%
a cloud computing company, told staff last week she was cutting 7% of employees. PagerDuty is one of a number of companies that have recently delivered layoff news through email and have apologized for the downsizing.
In her 1,671-word layoff memo, she included a quote from Dr. King about leadership.
“I am reminded in moments like this, of something Martin Luther King said, that ‘the ultimate measure of a [leader] is not where [they] stand in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand in times of challenge and controversy,’” she said in an email to staff on Jan 24.
She was referencing how she believed PagerDuty was a leader in building an equitable world. She later added that she was excited to appoint a new executive and reorganize her customer-success team.
Her memo, posted on PagerDuty’s website, immediately attracted backlash from company outsiders for invoking Dr. King. She was also widely criticized for using an upbeat tone and burying the layoff announcement in the middle of the email.
“There are a number of things I would do differently if I could,” she wrote in a follow-up email to staff on Friday night, three days after her prior email.
“The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive,” she said. “I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”
Ms. Tejada and PagerDuty didn’t immediately return requests for comment Tuesday.
Ms. Tejada sent the initial message in the middle of a wave of layoffs plaguing the tech industry. Tech companies have cut tens of thousands of jobs in recent months as the industry prepares for a potential recession after growing rapidly in the past few years. Companies ranging from tech giants such as
parent Meta Platforms Inc. and
Amazon.com Inc.
to smaller startups have been cutting staff over concerns about a slowing economy.
PagerDuty had 950 employees as of January 2022, according to the company’s annual report.
Many companies are now laying off staff via email. Employers using this strategy often value the speed at which they can deliver the news, but many employees feel a layoff email is cold and unkind. Others say they prefer receiving the news in a private email instead of waiting for a dreaded call or meeting invite.
“The way I communicated layoffs distracted from our number one priority: showing care for the employees we laid off, and demonstrating the grace, respect, and appreciation they and all of you deserve,” Ms. Tejada wrote to staff in her apology note.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The chief executive of a San Francisco startup apologized for quoting Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
in a layoff announcement, saying her email to employees was “inappropriate and insensitive.”
Jennifer Tejada,
chief executive at
PagerDuty Inc.,
PD 3.80%
a cloud computing company, told staff last week she was cutting 7% of employees. PagerDuty is one of a number of companies that have recently delivered layoff news through email and have apologized for the downsizing.
In her 1,671-word layoff memo, she included a quote from Dr. King about leadership.
“I am reminded in moments like this, of something Martin Luther King said, that ‘the ultimate measure of a [leader] is not where [they] stand in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand in times of challenge and controversy,’” she said in an email to staff on Jan 24.
She was referencing how she believed PagerDuty was a leader in building an equitable world. She later added that she was excited to appoint a new executive and reorganize her customer-success team.
Her memo, posted on PagerDuty’s website, immediately attracted backlash from company outsiders for invoking Dr. King. She was also widely criticized for using an upbeat tone and burying the layoff announcement in the middle of the email.
“There are a number of things I would do differently if I could,” she wrote in a follow-up email to staff on Friday night, three days after her prior email.
“The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive,” she said. “I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”
Ms. Tejada and PagerDuty didn’t immediately return requests for comment Tuesday.
Ms. Tejada sent the initial message in the middle of a wave of layoffs plaguing the tech industry. Tech companies have cut tens of thousands of jobs in recent months as the industry prepares for a potential recession after growing rapidly in the past few years. Companies ranging from tech giants such as
parent Meta Platforms Inc. and
Amazon.com Inc.
to smaller startups have been cutting staff over concerns about a slowing economy.
PagerDuty had 950 employees as of January 2022, according to the company’s annual report.
Many companies are now laying off staff via email. Employers using this strategy often value the speed at which they can deliver the news, but many employees feel a layoff email is cold and unkind. Others say they prefer receiving the news in a private email instead of waiting for a dreaded call or meeting invite.
“The way I communicated layoffs distracted from our number one priority: showing care for the employees we laid off, and demonstrating the grace, respect, and appreciation they and all of you deserve,” Ms. Tejada wrote to staff in her apology note.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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