Four days ago, Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande, criticised widely for a LinkedIn post advising newcomers to work 18 hours a day, apologised and said he would take a break from the professional networking platform. He returned yesterday to take a dig at his critics.
Shantanu Deshpande wrote that the controversy had given him and his company over Rs 20 crore of PR, according to some estimates.
This, he said, was made possible not because of people agreeing or disagreeing with him but because an "extremely passionate group" worked very hard to "comment, share, hate on every possible platform and post over and over again".
Deshpande said that went on to show extraordinary results could be achieved with hard work, adding a wink emoji at the end of the sentence.
After making his point, the Bombay Shaving Company boss wrote: "Ok. Linkedin sabbatical back on."
In the comments section of his post, Deshpande revealed he had edited his post twice because he wasn't "getting the mike drop" right.
"Still kinda unhappy with it," he added.
Deshpande's comments have triggered a huge debate on toxic work culture.
After facing backlash, he acknowledged that his comment may have been extreme.
"However, I think if you're in a place where you're not learning or having fun, then you're in the wrong place," Deshpande had said, trying to clarify this remark. "So change your work environment, especially if you feel you're being exploited."
Another boss also recently came under scrutiny for glorifying unhealthy work practices
Harsimarbir Singh, the founder of Gurugram-based healthcare company Pristyn Care, was criticised for a social media post in which he detailed some interview hacks his company followed. These included scheduling weekend interviews and asking candidates living in other cities to show up at office on short notice.
Read: After ‘18-hour CEO,’ Pristyn Care co-founder under fire for ‘toxic’ interview practices
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