Indian CEO Slammed Over LinkedIn Post Praising Tired Employee Asleep In Autorickshaw

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Shantanu Deshpande, founder-CEO at Bombay Shaving Company, known for once having advocated 18-hour workday for youngsters, is getting backlash over a LinkedIn post yet again.

Deshpande praised an employee, Shanky Chauhan, for being the “heartbeat” of the company. “He LOVES the company. His eyes twinkle when he talks about his work, his team, his stores, his distributors, his customers,” the CEO wrote about Shanky.

Deshpande also spoke about how he struggles to get Shanky to switch off. “While he is a diamond asset, Deepak and I struggle to get him to switch off.

We constantly worry about his health. We realize that for him to do justice to his own commitment to the Co, longevity is everything,” the CEO wrote.

The trouble arose with the accompanying photo of Shanky, apparently asleep in an autorickshaw after a morning flight and marathon meetings.

Bombay slaving company is back!

Other Employee: Should we wake him up/get him to a comfortable bed?

Founder: Nah, Let me get a picture for personal brand building. Im glad he isn't in an Uber or picture won't have that impact. pic.twitter.com/ksOaAGZjOo

— Garv Malik (@malikgarv) February 17, 2023

Person working is fine. Founder milking it and glorifying that people work extreme hours in my company isn't fine.

There's an imbalance of power for the employee to be able to say no to this too.

— Garv Malik (@malikgarv) February 17, 2023

in an ideal world where everyone was good hearted and this founder wasn't getting any benefit from this social media post, you'd have been right. But world is not ideal and founder is serial offendoer in milking such posts.

— Pranav Agarwal (@pranav_agrwl) February 17, 2023

What a horrific sentiment pic.twitter.com/av4rsXBnBO

— Anticipatory Bhel 🇮🇳 (@BombayVakeel) February 18, 2023

I have hated Linkedin for long time bcoz of such sasta PR material published by founders/CEOs with serious internal challenges in their companies which mostly everyone knows. https://t.co/s6Ln46Vsrq

— Satakshi Chaudhary (@sachyy901) February 19, 2023

CEOs have been drawing increasing criticism over their promotion of “hustle culture” and the draining practices it accompanies. Some people did not take kindly to Deshpande’s post.

There were, however, others who said that Deshpande’s post seemed like a genuinely appreciative one. Later, Deshpande also posted a photo of a happier-looking Shanky having a meal.