HR exec shares fresh grad's 'success story' in LinkedIn post -- that's not successful at all
A LinkedIn post by a Human Resources (HR) executive in Singapore has sparked outrage for supposedly glorifying toxic work practices and culture.
Stomper Anonymous alerted Stomp on Nov 16 to the now-deleted post by Joanna Yeoh, Principal People Partner at blockchain analytics firm Nansen, who has been accused of promoting a 'PVP' (player-vs-player) workplace culture.
Anonymous explained: "The post describes hiring a fresh grad who outperformed a senior engineer, leading to the senior's dismissal after just a few months. It frames this as a 'performance success story' but has drawn massive criticism for promoting insecurity and cutthroat culture."
According to screenshots shared by the Stomper, which were also circulated on subreddit r/singaporejobs, Yeoh's post described how a fresh graduate "outperformed a senior engineer" within three months, after which the senior was let go and "the grad (was) given his seat".
She attributed the decision to metrics such as Cursor usage and GitHub commits, and praised the junior for "showing up daily" at the firm's co-working space, "using AI tools", and requiring "minimal hand-holding".
Netizens react
The Reddit thread titled "Encouraging PVP toxic work culture in SG?" has gathered more than 370 upvotes at press time.
One Reddit user, arcrenciel, questioned what the situation signalled to employees: "When the new hire turns out to be super productive, they fired one existing staff? What does that imply? The fresh grad was able to do the work of two people, so they were suddenly overstaffed, and they axed someone as a result?"
Another user, Factitious_Character, criticised the performance metrics: "Wtf cursor usage and GitHub commits as metrics? How is such an ignorant person the head of HR? That just tells everyone how horrendous your company culture is."
Ok_Entertainer_4709 remarked: "So a person who pushes 10 times a day because of multiple errors vs a person who pushes once at the end of the work day means the former is better?"
"Post was deleted, guilty conscience detected," user BitcoinlongFTW wrote.
The original post had also attracted criticism on LinkedIn.
Independent General Election 2025 candidate Darryl Lo commented that while it was "encouraging to see a fresh grad succeed", the broader issue was how the post appeared to set up an insecurity-driven culture.
Lo wrote: "When the message is 'we hired one junior and he outperformed a senior, so we replaced the senior,' it sets up a PVP culture where employees end up worrying that the next person through the door might be there to replace them."
He added that lines such as "he gets things done" and "he shows up in the office" could be read as implying that existing team members did not.
Another commenter, Tian Chuin Chen, noted "highly problematic" optics, adding that the underlying values being promoted were concerning.
Deeper underlying issues at play?
Anonymous felt that the post implied favouritism while "implicitly shaming existing employees".
"Replacing a senior with a junior could signal instability (in the company). It also ties into Gen Z's job hunting woes in Singapore's tough market," the Stomper added.
"As someone familiar with the company, I believe this reflects deeper HR issues."
Nansen CEO: "Dumb thing to post"
In response to Stomp's queries, Alex Svanevik, chief executive of Nansen, conceded that the post had been "dumb".
He said: "As someone who has said a lot of dumb things, I'd happily concede." He also called Yeoh a "great person" who made a "mistake".
"It's poor taste to write a celebratory post about letting someone go. That's not what we stand for," he added.
Mr Svanevik also refuted claims that Nansen had a "toxic" work culture, citing the firm's "excellent" rating on its employee net promoter score.
"The idea that we have a 'toxic work environment' is simply empirically untrue."
On the company's culture, Mr Svanevik told Stomp: "We run our company like a sports team. Performance is really important. People who work at Nansen know that, and they love it."
This is not the first time a LinkedIn post has backfired.
In October, a LinkedIn user publicly criticised a job seeker who had reached out shortly after they connected the platform. The LinkedIn user was subsequently called out for being bullying and humiliating the job seeker.
