Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 17, 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

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
×