Utah CEO Demands Remote Employees To Go Back to the Office, Questions Parents, Primary Caregivers' Fairness to Their Employer

Remarks of a Utah CEO have gone viral after he questioned parents and primary caregivers, especially single moms, to think if they are indeed giving fairly and equally to their employer and family, because he believes many are unable to balance both.

Utah CEO of digital marketing and technology company Clearlink, James Clarke, spoke at his company's virtual town hall and a video of his "speech" has since gone viral in platform as Reddit and YouTube, which gathered different reactions with most on the negative side.

In the video, the CEO can be heard demanding his many employees that are still on a work-from-home set up to go back and work on the company's office already.

However, what strongly caught the public's attention was his thoughts on the effects of his return-to-office order to many employees who have child care responsibilities, suggesting that having a full-time work and full-time child care "could not be balanced," and this would result in neither being fair to their employer and children.

"Many of you have tried to tend your own children and doing so [while] also managing your demanding work schedules and responsibilities. And while I know you're doing your best - some would say they've even mastered this art - but one could also argue that generally this path is neither fair to your employer nor fair to those children," Clarke expressed.

He further continued saying that what he does believe is "only the rarest of full-time caregivers can also be a productive and full-time employee at the same time.

Single Mothers Are 'Hit the Hardest'

The CEO also highlighted that single mothers are "hit the hardest" in terms of the "real challenge" between working and providing child care while doing so.

However, he stressed that his commentaries are not criticisms of the "noble nature of motherhood," or the ability of a mom to do both well. He just wanted to present the reality that the waking hours of everyday life will not be enough for doing both, CNN reported.

He then praised one of his female vice presidents who chose to work part-time while also expressing skepticism and doubt if full-time work and being the primary caregiving parents can be possible at all.

"It can be done, but it adds so much stress to a working mother's life that I would never want to put that on anyone," he declared.

Read More: Working Parents Are Starting To Realize They Can't Have the Best of Both Worlds

Remote Employees Required To Show Up

The decision of the CEO to suddenly mandate in-office work came as a surprise to many employees who had been hired with the understanding that it was a "remote-first" company. Also, workers stated that Clarke himself proclaimed in October last year that he has "no plans" to ask employees to work in the office.

However, Clearlink told its employees that the "circumstances" have "changed" due to an unsteady economy and a recent round of layoffs.

"We just need you to show up and give an honest day's hard work - blood, sweat, and tears - and go home to your family after that," Clark declared.

According to Vice, Clearlink was able to successfully take Clarke's video down from other sites, demanding a copyright claim, but Motherboard was able to obtain a copy, which has been reproduced and reposted online and was able to reach out to two of their employees who provided various emails, memos and even additional video materials.

"Who would want to work for someone like this? American work culture is the worst. We really need to take a cue from European work culture," One Reddit user commented, while another stated, "If you work at clear link you should quit [sic]."

Related Article: How to Succeed at Work and Parenting: Key Strategies for Working Parents