LinkedIn influencer takes dig at 'Crying CEO' who laid off staff on social media
1 min read . Updated: 11 Aug 2022, 07:04 PM IST
Premium- Braden Wallake, the chief executive officer of a Columbus, Ohio-based marketing agency called HyperSocial, wrote a guilt-filled post this week about laying off employees
A LinkedIn influencer has taken a dig at Braden Wallake, CEO of Hypersocial, who recently laid off employees on the professional networking website with a 'crying' photo of him.
Now, an influencer name Drew also posted a 'crying' image of himself on LinkedIn with a caption, "I thought for at least a few minutes whether I should share this or not. No layoffs to announce… but Taco Tuesday was a bad choice". Drew also used the hashtag "#vulnerabilities".
In response, a LinkedIn user wrote, "I also look like that after eating Taco Bell".
Wallake, the chief executive officer of a Columbus, Ohio-based marketing agency called HyperSocial, wrote a guilt-filled post this week about laying off employees that concluded with a teary-eyed selfie.
After the post went viral, he declared himself “the crying CEO." The CEO took the responsibility for the decision and spoke about how it was his fault and that the staff who were laid off could still have been there if better decisions had been made.
“Days like today, I wish I was a business owner that was only money-driven and didn’t care about who he hurt along the way," wrote Wallake, 32. “But I’m not."
Wallake's post has majorly received backlashes. Comments slammed his 'teary-eyed' post by calling it a PR stunt and saying he was fishing for sympathy. Some expressed support for the move and suggested he shouldn’t be a victim of “cancel culture."
Wallake’s company, HyperSocial, focuses heavily on LinkedIn marketing and outreach strategies for its clients. The company is small; it has 15 employees, two fewer than before the layoffs. Wallake is an influencer of sorts, with over 30,000 followers on the Microsoft Corp.-owned social network for professionals.
In an attempt to quell the debate, Wallake wrote a follow-up post-Wednesday seeking to help people in need of a job. “What I want to do now is try to make better of this situation and start a thread for people looking for work," he wrote. “I’m not sorry for the post. But I’d at least like to use that post for the benefit of others that may need it."
