Amid recent waves of restructuring primarily in tech companies in the United States, the MZ generation is creating a new culture by posting “layoff proof” videos.
On the 30th (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported an article titled “Watch Me Get Fired on TikTok”.
The NYT continued, “As American tech companies announce restructuring one after another, some employees who have lost their jobs are posting their termination scenes on social media.”
According to the report, Paula Shade (30), a marketing expert recently fired from a big tech company, said, “I’m about to get fired. And you’re going to see it soon.” She meticulously captured the process of being fired while sitting at her computer in a 5-minute TikTok video she uploaded. The video went viral, surpassing hundreds of thousands of views and receiving thousands of comments within a few hours after being posted.
The “Layoff Vlog”, where people post their termination scenes on TikTok and other social media, is attracting attention among American workers. In relation to this, the NYT analyzed that this culture has spread as restructuring has been carried out mainly in tech companies recently.
In fact, if you search for the hashtag “layoffs” on TikTok, about 189,000 videos are found. The total number of views for videos uploaded with this hashtag reaches over 411 million. Most of the videos capture the moments of arguing with the person in charge during a video conference when being notified of their termination or shedding tears. Scenes of people working even when they know they are about to be fired are also included.
The NYT mentioned the “MZ generation culture” as the background of the “Layoff Vlog” trend. This generation’s culture is to share even failures and negative experiences as part of their daily life.
They are boldly publicizing even their private aspects by posting “public job seeking” posts on LinkedIn, X, etc. in addition to their layoff videos. They believe sharing their layoff experiences helps them overcome the pain.
Johnny Bonemort (38), who was working at a credit recovery company last April, filmed herself crying when she was notified of her termination from her marketing job.
Johnny initially filmed it to show her family but decided to post it on TikTok after finding out that the company that fired her gave bonuses to the remaining employees. Her video recorded 1.4 million views and received numerous supportive comments.
Johnny said in the video, “I’m not trying to say something bitter like an expose, but this is my experience,” and “This has happened to many people, not just me.”
Some of the people in the layoff videos even received job offers. Simon Miller, who worked as a project manager in Salt Lake City, filmed himself working on the day he was notified of his termination and reportedly received about 30 job offers. Brittany Peach, who used to work at a tech security company, said she is reviewing about 10,000 LinkedIn messages she received after posting her layoff video.
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