“Pity city”: Leaked footage of CEO telling employees not to ask about bonuses puts company in the hot seat

Leaked footage of an office furniture industry titan urging her staff to leave “pity city” and stop asking about their bonuses has surged across social media, eliciting sharp criticism from viewers and leading corporate leadership to claim the clip was taken out of context.

A video clip recently posted to Twitter shows Andi Owen, CEO of MillerKnoll, the company behind the ubiquitous Aeron office chair and the Eames lounge chair, addressing staff during a March conference call.

It opens with Owen encouraging staff at the US$1.36 billion (AU$2 billion) company to stay perseverant after years of market disruptions.

“None of us could have predicted COVID, none of us could have predicted supply chain [disruptions], none of us could have predicted bank failures,” Owen said.

“But what we can do is stay in front of our customers, provide the best customer service we can, get our orders out the door, treat each other well, be kind, be respectful.

“Focus on the future, because it will be bright.”

But the clip, apparently recorded at the end of the conference call, quickly veers into a discussion of staff bonuses.

“Don’t ask about, ‘what are we going to do if we don’t get our bonus?'” Owen said.

“Get the damn $26 million. Spend your time and effort thinking about the $26 million we need and not thinking about what you’re going to do if we don’t get a bonus, alright?

“Can I get some commitment for that?”

“I would appreciate that,” the CEO added, sotto voce.

It is not immediately clear what metric Owen referred to when discussing the $26 million figure.

Owen shared an anecdote passed to her by an old manager, who said, “you can visit pity city, but you can’t live there.”

The call concluded with what appears to be a mimed ‘mic drop’ reaction from the CEO.

One version of the clip has been viewed nearly two million times on Twitter, with commenters noting the sharp turn from discussions of treating colleagues well, to Owen’s pointed statement about bonus payments.

@millerknoll This is exactly the kind of leadership that would make me run for the hills. Can't wait to learn more about your company! pic.twitter.com/yKdOe3ugQj

— Stryder.bsky.social (@ActuallyStryder) April 17, 2023

In a statement provided to Motherboard, a MillerKnoll spokesperson said the clip was taken out of context.

Owen “fiercely believes” in the MillerKnoll staff, the spokesperson said, adding that the company “will not be dissuaded by a 90-second clip taken out of context and posted on social media.”

While debate rages online over the tone and appropriateness of Owen’s commentary, business uncertainty faced by MillerKnoll, and the changes it made to its bonus offerings, are both matters of fact.

The lingering downturn in sales through the locked-down years of 2020 and 2021, debt expenses incurred by Herman Miller when it acquired competitor Knoll to create the new joint entity in 2021, and the prevalence of hybrid working arrangements have all rocked MillerKnoll’s business operations, financial records show.

As offices across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia reopened, MillerKnoll sales rebounded 60% in the 2022 financial year from 2021 levels, the company’s Q2 2023 report shows, resulting in net sales of US$3.95 billion (AU$5.89 billion).

However, orders have slowed so far in the 2023 financial year, which “reflects higher orders experienced in the prior year as a result of pandemic-driven pent-up demand for projects associated with return to office,” the company said.

The company’s debt burden from the Knoll acquisition, estimated to be US$1.38 billion (AU$2.05 billion) in May last year, and the way some office-intensive industries have adopted distributed workforces are also front of mind for the furniture giant.

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The leaked clip suggests those concerns have resulted in internal questions about bonus compensation at a company which “stresses individual employee participation and incentives”, and aims to “appropriately reward and motivate employees to deliver our business goals,” according to its 2022 financial report.

The company’s Q3 2023 report states the company cut US$21.3 million (AU$31.7 million) in operating expenses from the same period last year, “primarily due to a reduction in variable compensation, further optimisation of our organisational structure and cost synergies.”

Owen’s personal bonus has not been determined for the ongoing fiscal year, Motherboard reports, but the outlet states the CEO received a US$1.29 million (AU$1.92 million) bonus in 2022.