Axios Goes Full Woke in Memo Ditching Term ‘Killer’ from Company Culture

News site Axios announced Thursday it will be retiring its company phrase “killers with humility” to appease woke commissars who find the term offensive.

Taking its cues from Arianna Huffington (of HuffPo fame) and Wharton School professor Rachel Pacheco, Axios conceded critics of its phrase may have a point.

“Several readers — including Thrive CEO Arianna Huffington and Wharton School professor Rachel Pacheco — told us they hate our phrase ‘killers with humility,‘” Axios wrote. “We use it to describe ideal Axios employees: They have killer talent, but put the cause above their own ambition.”

Citing its “humility to listen,” Axios admitted that they ultimately agreed with Huffington and Pacheco, explaining that the phrase centers on the debate about modern business culture. According to Pacheco, the type of words used to describe a company’s culture will ultimately have a “significant impact on who applies and who joins organizations.”

The problem with the phrase “killers,” according to Pacheco, is that it might be too masculine. Arianna Huffington agreed.

“Killers seems like a relic from the workplace model we’re leaving behind — the one where CEOs (and seemingly everybody else in business) loved to quote Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art Of War’ and talked about success only in terms of ‘killing it,’ ‘crushing it,’ ‘having only one throat to choke’ and sleeping when they’re dead,” Huffington wrote on Linkedin.

“That was the sort of imagery that reflected a toxic hustle culture in which burnout and being always on in a perpetual fight-or-flight state were celebrated — not the ideal state from which to access our inner stores of humility and grace,” Huffington added. “And given that the workplace is now all about sustainable performance, it’s hard to sustain something if we’re constantly killing it. Unless it’s the Batman franchise.”

Even though Axios reportedly has a staff that is 60 percent women, the company ultimately agreed with its critics, believing the phrase ultimately sends a “beware” message to anyone who dares to apply.

“There’s a huge cultural fight over word choices. Some of the points are wise, some silly,” Axios said. “A simple rule we try to live by: If something is offensive to a group of people, you can find a better way to say it.