How does the song go? Nobody's right, when everybody's wrong?

The employees were at least disingenuous and duplicitous. The CEO was wrong in believing employees have an obligation to be loyal. Employees only have an obligation to perform their assigned tasks and collect their reward after two weeks. If they feel the reward is insufficient they have an obligation to themselves and their employer to ask for better compensation or move one.

Businesses do not exist to provide employment for people. They exist to provide value and receive compensation for that value. They then take that value that they captured and distribute it to cover their costs. What remains is the profit they can choose to retain or distribute to owners and/or shareholders. Pretty simple formula.

It sounds like the CEO forgot the formula and instead let his ego and desire to be the loved and respected leader of the pack guide his business decisions.

Is there a different formula? Possibly. The CEO could have recognized an opportunity for transformation amidst the crisis of the pandemic. What about making all of the employees owners? Certainly a complicated arrangement but one suitable for a small to medium software development company. Maybe the outcome would have been different, maybe not.

In the end, the question isn't who is right and who is wrong. The question is - Has the CEO learned anything from the experience and how has he altered how he views employees or runs his company today? That would be an interesting follow-up article.