Nansen CEO Responds: This is a "Stupid Post".

Author: Cherry Tan

Translation: Deep Tide TechFlow

Recently, a post by a human resources (HR) executive in Singapore on LinkedIn sparked widespread dissatisfaction, as it was accused of glorifying a toxic workplace culture and work practices.

On November 16, an anonymous user reported the now-deleted post to Stomp. The post was made by Joanna Yeoh, the Chief Human Resources Partner at blockchain analytics company Nansen, who was accused of promoting a "PVP" (player versus player) competitive workplace culture.

The anonymous user explained: "The post tells the story of a recent graduate who outperformed a senior engineer, leading to the senior employee being fired just a few months later. The post describes this as a 'performance success story,' but it has faced significant criticism for encouraging insecurity and a cutthroat competitive workplace culture."

According to screenshots shared by the anonymous user (which also circulated on subreddit r/singaporejobs), Yeoh mentioned in the post that the recent graduate "surpassed a senior engineer in three months," after which the senior employee was let go, and "the graduate took over his position."

Joanna Yeoh noted in the post that the decision was based on several performance metrics, such as the frequency of using the Cursor tool and GitHub commit records. She also praised the recent graduate for "clocking in" at the company's co-working space every day, being adept at "using AI tools," and "requiring almost no guidance from others."

Netizen Reactions

On Reddit, a discussion thread titled "Encouraging Toxic PVP Workplace Culture in Singapore?" quickly gained attention, receiving over 370 upvotes by the time of publication.

One user, arcrenciel, expressed confusion about the situation: "A new employee shows super high productivity, so they fire an existing employee? What message does that send? Is it because the recent graduate can do the work of two people that the company suddenly thinks it has too many staff and decided to let one go?"

Another user, Factitious_Character, criticized the so-called performance metrics: "What the hell, measuring performance with Cursor usage and GitHub commit records? How can someone like this be the head of HR? This only shows how bad your company's culture is."

User OkEntertainer4709 commented: "So, someone who submits code 10 times a day due to repeated mistakes is better than someone who submits code once at the end of the day?"

User BitcoinlongFTW sarcastically remarked: "The post was deleted, looks like they felt guilty."

The original post also faced widespread criticism on LinkedIn. 2025 independent election candidate Darryl Lo commented that while "it's encouraging to see a recent graduate succeed," the bigger issue is that the post seems to promote a workplace culture driven by insecurity.

Darryl Lo wrote in his comment: "When the message is 'We hired a new person who outperformed a senior employee, so we replaced the senior employee,' it undoubtedly creates a PVP culture, making employees worry that the next person who walks in might be there to replace them."

He also pointed out that phrases like "he can get the job done" and "he comes to the office every day" could be interpreted as implying that existing team members are not doing these things.

Another commenter, Tian Chuin Chen, mentioned that the message being conveyed is "problematic" and expressed concern over the core values communicated by the post.

An anonymous netizen believed that the post implicitly favored newcomers while "subtly shaming existing employees."

"Replacing a senior employee with a newcomer may send a signal of instability within the company," the netizen added, "This also reflects the challenges faced by Gen Z job seekers in Singapore's competitive job market."

He further stated: "As someone who understands the company, I think this reflects deeper HR issues."

Nansen CEO Responds: This is a "Stupid Post"

In response to Stomp's inquiry, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik admitted that the post was indeed "stupid."

He said, "As someone who has said many stupid things, I am willing to admit that." He also praised Joanna Yeoh as a "good person," but acknowledged that she made a "mistake."

"Writing a post celebrating the firing of someone is indeed in poor taste. This is not the value we advocate at our company," he added.

Svanevik also denied claims of a "toxic" workplace culture at Nansen, mentioning the company's "excellent" score on employee net promoter score (eNPS).

"The claim that we have a 'toxic workplace environment' is completely unfounded."

Regarding the company's culture, Svanevik stated: "We operate the company like a sports team. Performance is very important. Nansen's employees are well aware of this and enjoy it."

This is not the first time a LinkedIn post has sparked controversy.

In October of this year, a LinkedIn user publicly criticized a job seeker who made a job request immediately after connecting, resulting in the user being accused of bullying and shaming the job seeker.

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