The Financial Times reports on the rise of TikTok layoff videos... Deloitte mentioned...
In April, Heather Haynes recorded her redundancy meeting, which gained 10 million views. She was told, “The lack of growth and the decline in our client revenue has negatively impacted our business beyond what we can sustain... [including] your role.” Haynes cried on camera, later explaining she filmed it because she suspected the meeting’s purpose.
Kelly Lim, a tech sales worker from Singapore, also recorded her layoff, garnering over 10,000 likes. She posted to show “how volatile working in tech is” and because “watching layoff videos helped me feel normal and that this is just part and parcel of being in the corporate world.” Lim avoided naming her employer, but others have included names and voices.
Katherine Loranger of Safeguard Global says Gen Z is driving the trend, using platforms for “loud quitting” and to “call out their views of toxic workplaces, poor management, or unfair treatment.” Employment lawyer Lucy Gordon of Walker Morris notes covert recordings are becoming common. Audrey Williams of Keystone Law explains that in the UK employees must be consulted before redundancy, while in the US rules vary, and action against public recordings is limited, though privacy rights may apply.
- Companies like Deloitte, Google, and Meta have been featured in such videos. Cierra Desmaratti’s video about being laid off by Deloitte drew 71,000 views. She described an “intimidating environment,” feeling inauthentic, and said, “Of course, nobody wants to get that surprise [layoff] email, [but] I have never felt so much peace.” She told the FT that “this is going to put more pressure on companies.” Deloitte declined to comment on individual cases.
Career coach Margaret Buj warns that viral layoff videos may hurt future job prospects, as employers might see them as a “red flag.” She cautions, “Being associated with a viral layoff story could make some companies hesitant to hire them, even if they are otherwise highly qualified.”
https://www.ft.com/content/ad52fba2-536d-4211-b08d-2f6b2a8cb7a3?