In a Slack message sent to employees Friday, Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff stated that the company’s new hires weren’t productive enough and asked what could be the cause.

Benioff asked, “Aren’t we building tribal knowledge with new hires with no office culture?” first in a message reported by CNBC. Benioff reportedly followed up by trying to soften the intensity of the question with a joking “asking for a friend” smiley angel emoji.

According to CNBC, Benioff stressed that it was “an issue that he said will affect employees who joined Salesforce this year and last year.” It was clear that part of the productivity problem could be related to the nature of widespread remote working, which has become much more common due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement to CNBC, a company spokesperson said Salesforce has “a hybrid work environment that empowers leaders and teams to work together with purpose. They can decide when and where to come together to collaborate, innovate, and drive customer success.” to stimulate.”

Salesforce, like many companies, is grappling with a weakening economy, CNBC notes, as well as the departure of C-Suite execs, such as the imminent departure of Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield.

Benioff’s post reportedly sparked numerous reactions, many of them positive. Still, he was unhappy that it became public, saying in part that he hoped employees “would agree that it’s also disappointing that our private conversations here were given to the public media almost immediately.”