MillerKnoll boss BERATES workers for complaining about bonuses being cut - after she took home $5M

MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen has been caught on camera berating workers asking about bonuses - after she received over $1 million on top of her inflated salary last year.

In the leaked video, which has been widely circulated online, Owen told staffers via Zoom to 'leave pity city' and stop 'thinking about what you’re going to do if you don’t get a bonus'.

Her controversial comments came at the end of a virtual town hall meeting for the office furniture giant, in what appeared to be encouraging staff to hit sales targets. 

Owen, who took the helm of the company in 2018, took home just shy of $5 million in 2022 - including a $1.2 million bonus. 

In its third quarter fiscal reports released last month, MillerKnoll admitted that the company had faced a 'period of disruption' following a rise in hybrid working and a decline in demand for office furniture since the start of the pandemic. 

MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen has been caught on camera berating workers asking about bonuses

'Questions came through about, "How can we stay motivated if we’re not going to get a bonus...What can we do? What can we do?"', Owen said in the viral clip. 'Some of them were nice, and some of them were not so nice.'

'I’m going to address this head on. The most important thing we can do right now is focus on the things that we can control. None of us could’ve predicted Covid, none of us could’ve predicted supply chain, none of us could’ve predicted bank failures. 

'But what we can do, is stay in front of our customers, provide the best customer service we can, get our orders out our door, treat each other well, be kind, be respectful, focus on the future, because it will be bright.

'Don’t ask about, "What are we going to do if we don’t get a bonus?" Get the damn $26 million dollars. 

'Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million dollars we need and not thinking about what you’re going to do if you don’t get a bonus. Alright? Can I get some commitment for that? I would appreciate that.'

It is understood that the $26 million figure is an internal metric which the company is not discussing publicly.  

She continued: '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,' she said, before wishing her employees a great day.   

In 2022, Owen received a base salary of $1.1 million, a $1.2 million bonus and a further $2.7 million in stock awards and other compensation for the fiscal year ended May 2022, according to the company's most recent proxy statement.

Her Instagram page, which is now set to private, describes her as a 'Design addict', 'Champion of the planet' and 'Defender of equity and inclusion'. 

It comes as businesswoman and TV personality Barbara Corcoran also faced backlash for saying how she 'loves firing people on a Friday', and describing how she weeded out 'negative' workers. 

Last year, Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, who famously fired 900 employers over a Zoom call, resumed his 'full-time duties' after taking 'time off to reflect on his leadership.'

Harvard Business School graduate Owen joined the office furniture giant in 2018 after holding high profile jobs at Gap and Banana Republic. 

Owen took home just shy of $5 million in 2022 - including a $1.2 million bonus

In 2021, Herman Miller acquired competitor Knoll for $1.8 billion, to form the newly-created MillerKnoll

Owen told staffers to stop 'thinking about what you’re going to do if you don’t get a bonus'

Her controversial comments came at the end of a virtual town hall meeting for the office furniture giant

In 2021, Herman Miller acquired competitor Knoll for $1.8 billion, to form the newly-created MillerKnoll, in an attempt to weather the changes brought about by the Covid pandemic and rise in hybrid working.

In October last year, Owen bought a whopping $1 million worth of stocks in the company. 

However in March this year, the giant admitted it had been a 'period of disruption', and announced earlier this month that it was permanently laying off 162 employees as it closed a manufacturing plant in Wisconsin, according to Crain's Grand Rapids Business.

Users took to social media to express their outrage at Owen's comments, with one person saying it had filled them with 'indescribable rage', and another described the clip as 'absolutely disgusting'.   

Dailymail.com has approached MillerKnoll for comment.