Indian beauty startup YesMadam is facing criticism after revealing social media posts which suggested it had fired staff who admitted they were stressed were actually part of a “planned” effort to highlight workplace stress.

The saga began earlier this week when a screenshot of an email announcing sackings — allegedly written by YesMadam’s head of human relations, Ashu Arora Jha — went viral on social media.

The email in the screenshot claimed the company had conducted a staff survey about workers’ stress levels, before management decided to fire a number of employees who were the most stressed.

“To ensure that no one remains stressed at work, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with employees who indicated significant stress,” the screenshot read.

“This decision is effective immediately, and impacted employees will receive further details separately.”

The post was met with anger and confusion on social media, with some users questioning whether workers could be fired for being stressed.

“Terribly stressful and disturbing news,” wrote one user.

“Toxic work culture at its peak,” wrote another.

“So now being honest about stress gets you fired? Shame on you YesMadam!”


YesMadam says this viral email screenshot was designed to draw attention to the issue of workplace stress. Image: LinkedIn

Company says stunt was ‘planned’

In a statement on Tuesday night, YesMadam said none of its employees had been fired and apologised for any distress it had caused.

The company said its viral social media posts “were a planned effort to highlight the serious issue of workplace stress”.

“And to those who shared angry comments or voiced strong opinions, we say thank you,” the firm said in a statement.

“When people speak up, it shows they care — and care is at the heart of our business.”

The company used the remainder of its statement to promote a new “de-stress” leave policy and the introduction of employee benefits such as “head massages and spa sessions”.

Many social media users criticised the statement.

"Controversy marketing is not appreciated," wrote one user.

"You can't take back the damage you caused with your stunt," said another.

Anushka Dutta, a copywriter at YesMadam according to her LinkedIn profile, posted the original email screenshot earlier this week, and alleged the company was firing at least 100 stressed staff.

The post was deleted after the startup came clean.

In a new post on Tuesday night, Dutta said that while a staff survey did occur, the original screenshot of an email “was a planned move”.

She said the reason for the stunt was because “it was the need of the hour”, and cited stress as “a universal problem which needs immediate attention”.

Comments on Dutta’s post included criticism of what some users called a “cheap PR stunt”, while others claimed the saga would have increased workers’ stress levels.

Dutta’s post has been reposted on the personal LinkedIn accounts of YesMadam co-founders Aditya Arya and Akanksha Vishnoi.

YesMadam was founded in 2016 and featured in season three of the TV series Shark Tank India earlier this year.