After beauty services platform YesMadam faced backlash on Monday over a purported internal email leaked on social media suggesting the termination of staff who indicated workplace stress, the company co-founder on Friday clarified that no staff was fired and called it a marketing initiative "to shed light on workplace stress and mental health".

YesMadam Co-Founder Mayank Arya in a note said the intent behind the campaign was to highlight an important issue, but it inadvertently triggered negative reactions.

"It is important to clarify that no firing mail was sent to employees, and no one was terminated. The picture shared on LinkedIn was the first step toward introducing the initiative, and the clarification shared the following day was meant to serve as a wake-up call for the industry about the importance of mental health awareness," he said.

He added that the campaign was conceptualised with the genuine objective of raising awareness about mental health challenges in corporate and startup environments.

"Our intentions were rooted in addressing workplace stress and fostering a healthier work culture. However, we understand that the approach taken was inappropriate and led to unfavourable feedback. I deeply regret any confusion or discomfort caused by this initiative," he said.

He acknowledged that the "execution fell short and unintentionally triggered unintended emotions".

Anushka Dutta, whose LinkedIn profile identifies her as a UX copywriter at the company, on Monday posted on LinkedIn, "What's happening at YesMadam? First you conduct a random survey and then fire us overnight because we're feeling stressed?" She attached a screenshot showing an email from the company's HR official, which suggested that the company was laying off employees who reported workplace stress in an internal survey.

Noida-headquartered YesMadam secured investments from Lenskart's Peyush Bansal, Sugar's Vineeta Singh, OYO's Ritesh Aggarwal and boAt's Aman Gupta on Shark Tank India.

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