[Imnimo]

> On Monday, Kraken executive Christina Yee wrote in Slack to employees that the "C.E.O, company, and culture are not going to change in a meaningful way," urging workers to go "somewhere that doesn't disgust you," the Times reported.

Sounds like a healthy corporate environment run by professionals. /s

[CodeSgt]

Sounds like individuals who have beliefs and are standing by them.

A company choosing not to submit to popular politics shouldn't immediately prompt doubt of organizational health or professionalism.

They've clearly articulated their actual core values, and are offering very generous severance to employees who disagree. This is a sign of vibrant health if I've ever seen one.

[pxc]

Highlights from the paywalled Times article which is the basis of the OP:

> In 2019, former Kraken employees posted scathing comments about the company on Glassdoor, a website where workers write anonymous reviews of their employers. [...] In response, Kraken’s parent company sued the anonymous reviewers and tried to force Glassdoor to reveal their identities. A court ordered Glassdoor to turn over some names. On Glassdoor, Mr. Powell has a 96 percent approval rating. The site adds, “This employer has taken legal action against reviewers.”

--

> That same day, he invited employees to join him in a Slack channel called “debate-pronouns” where he suggested that people use pronouns based not on their gender identity but their sex at birth, according to conversations seen by The Times. He shut down replies to the thread after it became contentious. Mr. Powell reopened discussion on Slack the next day to ask why people couldn’t choose their race or ethnicity. He later said the conversation was about who could use the N-word, which he noted wasn’t a slur when used affectionately.

It is absolutely childish, unprofessional behavior for a CEO to derail a whole company by creating Slack channels for sophomoric 'debates' about questions such as 'is it actually rude and shitty for white people to use racial slurs' and then just shut them down when the conversation doesn't sufficiently favor his view for his liking.

The BI piece is a bit less explicit about the CEO's ridiculous behavior.

[Zanni]

I have to agree. The BI article really makes it seem as if Powell just wants to hasten the exit of agitators and malcontents. But the NYT article [0] makes it clear that Powell himself is the agitator.

[0] Archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220615180655/http://www.nytime...

[devwastaken]

Yeah these are topics entirely inappropriate in work place communications. This ceo isn't mature enough to understand that, therefore they are not fit to be residing over any sort of "debate".

It's also very good evidence for a Title IX violation, so, this CEO is an active liability for the company too.

[oh_sigh]

If someone tells you you're horrible and you need to change, but you don't think you're horrible at all, and neither party can come to an agreement, then what is wrong with this? She's probably been told to her face or through a public forum by a disgruntled employee that she disgusts them so.... what's the issue?

Professionalism wasn't always wrapped up in bland, content-less corp-speak, and I'd be happy for more business communications to be more blunt and straight forward rather than more obscured.

[spikefromspace]

Is it just me or every crypto company about to do a layoff is doing this? Is it just to weed out some folks so the layoff looks smaller?

[viraptor]

With both cynical and realistic view, yes.

But there may be a genuine idea here too. If you know you're going to downsize, letting people choose to leave will result in higher morale. It will also prevent some situations where the lay-offs caused those same people to quit anyway (but now the company is actually short some key employees).

But maybe Kraken managers are actually just assholes and the leadership is trying to pull off DHH.

[spikefromspace]

Makes sense. Although for me, it means never apply for work there. I would hate to be part of a “if you disagree, leave” culture.

[hacym]

Similar to Tesla’s “come back to work or be fired” comments. They’re bound to be headed for layoffs if their recent economic news is any indication.

[ccarter84]

The CEO gives off failed surfer dude vibes but the company is allegedly worth $11 billion? Laughable, and I (almost) feel bad for whoever funded that most recent round.