> I will whip myself once for every employee I had to layoff
I like the sound of that! Joking aside, while physical harm may not fly I can imagine a scenario where it hits the CEOs' wallets either by losing stock options/grants or actual salary based on the number of employees they had to layoff. Because seriously, what does it even mean for the CEO to take responsibility when there are no actual consequences for them? If they're doing it to save the business (which they are) then just say that instead of saying they take responsibility as the latter is just virtue signaling.
From the investor's perspective the CEO's job is to do what's good for the company, which doesn't always involve doing what's good for some or all the employees, laying a lot of developers off is not a bad thing from the perspective of the business unless their work is needed and there is enough money to pay them.
Right, so the CEO should just say that. Effectively the layoff was out of their control. It was the best decision for the business (shareholders). The act of saying "I take full responsibility" is pure virtue signaling unless it actually has consequences for them. Instead they should say, "I made the best decision for the shareholders."
I like the sound of that! Joking aside, while physical harm may not fly I can imagine a scenario where it hits the CEOs' wallets either by losing stock options/grants or actual salary based on the number of employees they had to layoff. Because seriously, what does it even mean for the CEO to take responsibility when there are no actual consequences for them? If they're doing it to save the business (which they are) then just say that instead of saying they take responsibility as the latter is just virtue signaling.