MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen's Viral Thrashing Of Employees Sparks Outrage

A viral video of a CEO berating her workers over a Zoom call has gone viral and is shedding a not-so-nice light on the boss.

Andi Owen started out a company Zoom call on a positive note, but it soon turned dark when she revealed not only would they not be getting bonuses, but they are also responsible for selling more, $26 million more to be exact.

Owen’s sparked outrage in more than just her employees and now she is taking a lashing online. “A lot of questions came through about how can we stay motivated if we're not going to get a bonus,” Owen said. “Some of them were nice and some of them were not so nice so I'm going to address this head on.”

Owen then proceeded to tear into her employees. “Don't ask about ‘what are we going to do if we don't get a bonus?’” she mocked her staff. “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?”

To further prove her point about hard work for very little pay actually paying off (sidenote here: the unofficial news on the internet is that the average pay at this company is about $43-$44k for mid-level employees, the ones supposedly being addressed in the video).

Okay back to those words of wisdom, “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. Thank you,” the CEO then proceeded to throw her hands in the air like she just had a mic drop moment.

In reality, she just demeaned her important employees. She even mouthed “boom” like she was doing something big! A spokesperson for the company spoke with People magazine and admitted that it’s not a good look.

“Last month we held a 75-minute company meeting where we shared business updates, product launches, and campaigns. A 90-second clip from that internal meeting loses the context of the broader discussion,” they said justifying her degrading words.

The statement went on to share that the bonuses aren’t even decided yet so that’s why the CEO felt so strongly about the question. “Our CEO believes fiercely in the company and what we can do together to finish our financial year strong. Our bonuses are set by the Company's full year financial results and our fiscal year closes at the end of May. No bonuses, for anyone at MillerKnoll, have been decided.”

Owen claims she is being “transparent and empathetic, and as I continue to reflect on this instance, I feel terrible that my rallying cry seemed insensitive.” She now realizes the moment wasn’t what she hoped it would be. “"What I'd hoped would energize the team to meet a challenge we've met many times before landed in a way that I did not intend and for that I am sorry.”

MillerKnoll is also admitting that they fully expect a drop in sales this quarter after the incident but it would be on trend with their year so far.