Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Spotify's CEO sent a memo announcing layoffs. It also contained 'a powerful example of toxic positivity.'

Spotify's CEO sent a memo announcing layoffs. It also contained 'a powerful example of toxic positivity.'

Daniel Ek would have been wise to display empathy and explain how cutting about 6% of Spotify employees would help strengthen the company as a whole.

"Hi, it's me, your friendly neighborhood CEO with a net worth of about $2 billion who stands to benefit from some changes that might include you losing your job."

This might as well have been the message Spotify CEO Daniel Ek shared in a memo announcing layoffs at the company.

In the memo, which was published on Spotify's website Monday, Ek described what would happen now that the company had announced plans to lay off about 6% of its work force. That would come to about 588 employees based on the global work force the company reported with its third-quarter earnings.

Ek wrote about forthcoming changes in the C-suite, then said: "Personally, these changes will allow me to get back to the part where I do my best work — spending more time working on the future of Spotify — and I can't wait to share more about all the things we have coming."

His excitement seemed discordant with the announcement that came a few paragraphs later: "We've made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our number of employees."

Spotify joins a wave of high-profile tech companies that have conducted mass layoffs in the past few months. Memos from the CEOs of these organizations announcing the layoffs have varied from empathetic and self-flagellating to sparse bordering on callous.

Ek's memo is otherwise unremarkable. He mentions the support Spotify will provide to outgoing employees and expresses confidence in the company's future, for example. But leadership experts say Ek's note about the career opportunities the C-suite reorganization affords him is inappropriate in this context.

"People want empathy and sympathy and a focus on what's happened to them" during layoffs, said Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics who's the vice dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Columbia Business School.

Of Ek's comment about doing his best work, Galinsky said, "That's just completely lost here."


Ek's comment about his own career opportunities might come across as tone-deaf


In the memo, Ek wrote that the layoffs and the reorganization of Spotify's C-suite would help the company become more efficient, make more-effective decisions, and save money. He held himself accountable for the situation and reassured remaining employees that the company was stable — two elements of a layoff announcement that experts say are critical.

"In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," Ek wrote. "I take full accountability for the moves that got us here today."

He added: "It's my belief that because of these tough decisions, we will be better positioned for the future."

But letting employees know how his job will be getting better when he can focus on the company's future is somewhat tone-deaf, experts said.

"Talking about, or in any way putting oneself at the center as 'what's in this for me' is not appropriate in this kind of note," Coco Brown, the CEO and founder of Athena Alliance, an executive-development network for women, wrote in an email to Insider.

"This is a powerful example of toxic positivity," Brooks Scott, an executive coach and the CEO of Merging Path Coaching, wrote in an email to Insider.

"Focusing on 'personally, me, I, and my' detracts from what employees are going through," Scott added. "What people are looking for is an acknowledgment of the hard work they've done in the past, and some empathy for the present."

Galinsky said the "subtext" of Ek's comment about his own career opportunities was, "I want to get back to being the visionary I can be." Ek might instead have commented on how the reorganization would give the company as a whole "the resources it needs to be able to help those that are going to stay with Spotify, create a better organization that's going to grow, and maybe hire more people in the future," Galinsky added.

The standard CEO memo announcing layoffs can seem formulaic, Galinsky said. You make the announcement, you express regret, and you tell customers, investors, and remaining employees that the company is in a good position. It's possible (though Galinsky can't say for sure) that Ek wanted to depart — if only slightly — from these conventions.

Still, "the formula exists for a reason," Galinsky said, adding: "The formula is to express remorse and regret that you're having to take this action but the actions ultimately support a brighter future for this company."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
×