Reaction Video: Super Awkward Employee Layoff Video on TikTok
The only thing lamer than Gen Z kids crying into their cameras is the gutless cowards at giant corporations who set them up for failure
Here’s something I’ve never done before: a reaction video to one of the viral TikTok “layoff videos” where people record themselves getting fired in real-time.
As someone who has worked in tech and who has been laid off from three—yes, that’s right: three—separate companies in the past, I’ve seen a lot of this before:
The first time I was laid off, I was a marketing director at a home building company and lost my job when everybody in construction went out of business during the 2008 real estate recession. I was the second-last employee to get the axe… I almost survived but didn’t quite make it.
The second time I was laid off, I was a marketing manager at a venture-capital-funded software company started by Canadian billionaires who grew tired of pouring money into it. They pulled their funding and laid off 35% of the staff. I was the most recent hire, so I was one of the first to get canned.
The third time I was laid off, I was a marketing manager at a coding boot camp. The three owners were idiotic assholes who had no sense whatsoever and never listened to anything I said. They ignored all my warnings, then laid me off when they ran out of money. I didn’t cry at all when I found out they went out of business about six months later. Today, I’m still here and they’re not, so I’m dancing on their grave.
This whole video is so cringe-worthy: it shows CloudFlare laying off a new employee, on camera, who cries and documents her experience for the world to see.
It’s super awkward for several reasons, including:
The employee’s utter lack of direction from management - (this is their fault).
A “surprise” firing that shouldn’t have been a surprise - (this is their fault).
A saleswoman who went four months without making a sale - (this is her fault).
The HR department’s refusal to give performance data when asked - (this is their fault).
The employee insisting she’s being fired for “no reason” when they tell her many, many times the reason why - (this is her fault).
Poor communication during the employee’s tenure at the company - (this is their fault).
The fact that I’m a CloudFlare customer! - (this is their fault).
I know how depressing and gut-wrenching it is to be told garbage phrases like “We’re letting you go,” “We’re parting ways,” or “We’re going in a different direction” when what they really mean is “You’re fired, go away,” but they’re just too cowardly to say it.
Having said all that, I have also been on the other side of the table as a hiring (and firing) manager, so I can see it both ways.
Hiring is hard; firing is harder.
Despite what some employees think, nobody in human resources actually enjoys firing people. They really, really don’t. It sucks. It makes them feel terrible… the reason they do it is because it’s their job. If they don’t fire you, someone else will fire them.
It’s just that simple. It’s as “dog eat dog” as it can be. That’s an awful truth, but it is the truth. They do definitely go home sometimes and cry and feel bad. I’ve seen this before: it does affect the people who do the firing.
But, also, it’s very easy for soulless HR hacks who work for giant corporations to fire someone in a 10-minute meeting and say: “I know how you feel,” or “I’m sorry” — even if none of those things are true.
Many of them don’t know how you feel. They’re often insulated from these kinds of “reductions in force.” Also, the odds are that they won’t even remember your name in a few weeks or even a few days.
There are a lot of TikTok firing videos going around the internet right now, but I felt compelled to respond to this one.
I actually created this reaction video almost a year ago when I first saw it. I posted it to YouTube in February 2024, but I keep seeing the original pop up again and again on social media, and it seems some people are just discovering it now for the first time, so I wanted to share it here.
(Note: I don’t believe in TikTok and refuse to support it in any way. If anyone who knows me thinks I’m being hypocritical—I’m not. I found this video uploaded to Twitter/X, so there!)
I do get really annoyed at the countless numbers of videos of Gen Z kids recording themselves crying about everything. It grates on my nerves and makes me want to tell them to just grow up and knock it off like everyone my age did.
But at the same time, I can’t really fault this girl entirely: she was clearly set up to fail. She was also treated poorly in the exit process. I feel for her.
Again, part of me wants to say, “Get over it—we’ve all suffered like this. That’s just the way jobs are.” But another part of me thinks, actually, this is proof that the system is screwed up. Why should I be so cynical to say that it has to be this way?
It doesn’t have to be this way. That’s the whole point.
Corporate America™ is stupid: it’s evil, hurtful, inhumane, and sometimes abusive.
I don’t want to just tell people, “That’s life!” — that’s an awful life. We MUST stop doing this. I hope someone does. In the meantime, some people like me have given up. By working for ourselves, we don’t have to put up with this nonsense.
But I hope we as a society can make it better. It can’t be that the only options are:
A) Serve as a tiny cog in a giant, soulless machine, slaving away until you die or get fired by people who don’t give a shit about you or;
B) Work for yourself, which is statistically almost impossible, involves extreme risk and a very high potential for financial ruin, bankruptcy, and divorce.
C’mon people. Act like people. Treat people like people.