(San Francisco) “I’m about to be fired,” Folashade Ade-Banjo says to the camera as she positions her phone, “and you’re going to see this.”
In a five-minute TikTok video in January, we see Mme Ade-Banjo, 30, marketing employee for a tech giant in Los Angeles, sitting at her desk and staring at her computer with a troubled look. She nods as the call begins. Then she gets fired. The video was viewed half a million times in just a few hours and attracted thousands of comments.
“One of my 2024 resolutions is to be much more open and honest about my personal issues and therefore show parts of my life that are perhaps not as glamorous,” said Mme Ade-Banjo New York Times.
Wave of layoffs
The entire tech sector is going through a period of layoffs and some fired workers have shared their experiences on social media: many of these videos have gone viral. We see them crying while speaking with human resources or we follow them during their daily routine before an appointment that appears on the calendar and which risks leading to their dismissal.
This is part of a strong trend among Generation Z and millennials, who discuss every aspect of their lives on social media, from disappointment on Tinder to deeply personal revelations. Their videos on LinkedIn and
There are no longer any boundaries between the personal and professional spheres.
Sandra Sucher, a Harvard economist who studies layoffs
Some say their video helps them deal with the emotions of losing their job. Joni Bonnemort, 38, of Salt Lake City, filmed herself crying when her marketing position was terminated in April 2023 by a credit score improvement company. She thought she would only send the video to her family, but she put it on TikTok after discovering the company had paid bonuses to remaining staff shortly after the layoffs. His video generated more than 1.4 million views and supportive comments.
“It was not meant to be bitter or a denunciation, but at the same time, it is my experience,” said Mme Bonnemort. “It’s happened to so many people. »
Vanessa Burbano, a professor at Columbia Business School who studies the effect of business practices on employee behavior, says telecommuting has emboldened people to express themselves online: “It has fundamentally transformed the employee-employee relationship. employer. »
His last day before unemployment
After being summoned in January by a new manager, Mickella Simone Miller, then project manager in Salt Lake City, filmed her teleworking day: we see her serving herself a coffee in a cup on which is written: “The world collapses around us, and I die inside. » The video finally shows her being told that her position is abolished.
A therapeutic video, she says, which also earned her around thirty invitations to apply – although she has not yet found a new job.
Companies need to understand that everything can be recorded and shared in this age when people put everything online, said Lindsey Pollack, author of books on multigenerational workplaces. According to her, publishing experiences of layoffs is a good thing and will not harm the search for a new job.
In one case, Matthew Prince, CEO of cybersecurity company Cloudflare, reacted on X to a nine-minute TikTok video showing a firing. He defended the decision to fire the employee, but said the company should have been “more caring and more humane.”
Brittany Pietsch, the former Cloudflare employee who posted the video, claims to have received more than 10,000 LinkedIn messages, many from recruiters.
I have no regrets. I was simply being transparent and showing a conversation that was not scripted.
Brittany Pietsch, ex-employee at Cloudflare
While these videos are unlikely to harm job prospects, people who post them must accept the notoriety that can result, experts warn.
Mme Ade-Banjo made her video private shortly after posting it online, to protect the identities of the managers who fired her. Her goal was simply to highlight and destigmatize the process, she explains.
“When you go through this, it’s good to know that you’re not alone. »
This article was published in the New York Times.
Read this article in its original version (in English; subscription required)