A CEO has recently come under fire for telling her employees to stop asking about their bonuses and to get out of “pity city,” despite taking home a $4 million bonus herself.
Andi Owen, the head of the office furniture company MillerKnoll, was addressing her staff in a video that has been leaked and gone viral on social media.
In the now infamous video, Owen told her employees that they needed to focus on being better workers instead of worrying about whether they would lose their bonuses this year.
“Don’t ask about ‘what are we going to do if we don’t get a bonus?’ Get the damn $26 million,” Owen says in the video where she discusses the company’s goals.
Many have called the comments Owen made 'out-of-touch,' pointing to the fact that she herself took home nearly $4 million in incentives for the fiscal year ending in May 2022, on top of her fixed $1.1 million salary.
Still, Owen said in her town hall video that employees need to “leave pity city” and stop thinking about the prospect of losing their bonuses.
“Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million we need and not thinking about what you’re going to do if you don’t get a bonus, all right? Can I get some commitment?” she said.
According to a company spokesperson who spoke with NPR, the comments were made in regards to a question asked during the 75-minute town hall, which was focused on customer service and performance goals.
“I had an old boss who said to me one time, ‘You can visit pity city, but you can’t live there.’ So, people, leave pity city. Let’s get it done,” she said, finishing her answer to the question.
The spokesperson, Kris Marubio, said in a statement that the comments from Owen are being taken out of context but highlighted that they “struck a nerve.”
“Andi is confident in the team and our collective potential,” Marubio said in the statement.
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