CEO praises employee who sold his family dog to meet expectations at work

James Clarke, CEO of Utah-based Clearlink (Image credit: www.uvu.edu)

The CEO of a US-based digital marketing and technology company, who has been pushing his employees to return to the office, recently lauded the sacrifice of an employee who had to sell the family dog to follow the boss's orders. Clearlink CEO James Clarke also criticised, about 30 of the, whom he deduced had not opened their laptops for a month, Vice reported.

In a virtual meeting, a video of which was shared by Vice, Clarke appeared to laud the work ethic of one employee who he said, "sold their family dog" in order to rise to expectations at work. He contrasted it with the work of others who he said, "quietly quit their positions, but are taking a paycheck".

"In one month, this year alone, I got data that about 30 of you didn't even open or crack open laptops," Clark said in the video. "And those were all remote employees, including their manager -- for a whole month."

The CEO, whose company has 800 staff in its payroll, also appeared to be skeptical that single and working mothers could meet the company's expectations while continuing to take care of their children.

"Many of you have tried to tend your own children, and, doing so, also manage your demanding work schedules and responsibilities," he said in the video. "And while I know you're doing your best -- some would say they've even mastered this art -- but one could also argue that generally, this path is neither fair to your employer nor fair to those children. Now, I don't necessarily believe that, but I do believe that only the rarest of full-time caregivers can also be productive and full-time employees at the same time."

Meanwhile, a company representative declined to comment on Clarke's comments to Business Insider, stating it was a matter of "internal Clearlink business". The representative, however, said in a generalised statement: "James Clarke could not be more excited about the future of the company that he founded over 20 years ago, to which he returned in 2022 as CEO."