The recent tech layoffs, paired with the current economic downturn, have put more eyes on the tech industry, its hiring practices, and the actual work being done by employees.
Former employees from tech giants like Meta have claimed they were paid six-figure salaries to “do nothing.” Another tech employee sarcastically described the actions of a 6 hour workday as “chang[ing] a button from blue to a slightly different blue.” A recent Wall Street Journal article details numerous complaints from former tech employees about the lack of work given to them on the job, with one employee saying they received only one assignment in nearly 8 months with the company.
A recent TikTok from tech and lifestyle TikToker Gabrielle (@gabrielle_judge) describes the reality of working at a tech job from 2021 to 2022, claiming that employees were able to determine their own bonuses during this period.
“I had my base salary, and then I had the variable bonus that I could make,” Gabrielle details. “We didn’t have any tracking tools — mind you, this is a very big, public tech company that’s been around for quite a while…The whole department would just self-report what we did to get our income.”
“You basically just, like, named your salary,” she summarizes.
@gabrielle_judge #stitch with @chriscoxtoks like no one actually did any work in tech in 2021. My variable salary was so easy to get paid with and everyone barely dod anything and no one went into the office. Its so interesting to hear meta hired all of the best recruiters and had them not work at all and still make their bonuses…. #overworkedunderpaid #layoffs2023 #quietquitting #firedfrommyjob #corporatetech ♬ original sound – Gabrielle👸🏻
“It was, like, the weirdest thing ever, and it happened for, like, quarters and quarters on end,” she continues. “No one was actually working ‘cause we didn’t even know what we were supposed to be doing.”
In the caption, Gabrielle elaborates further, writing, “Like no one actually did any work in tech in 2021. My variable salary was so easy to get paid with and everyone barely [did] anything and no one went into the office.”
Gabrielle has made oblique references to this lack of work before. In August of last year, she discussed a story in which someone was reprimanded for using a “mouse jiggler” to appear online at their job. In another video posted earlier this week, she offered tips on how to seem productive while working from home.
In the comments section under this video, many users expressed jealousy at the idea of getting paid for doing nothing.
“I’m just gonna go cry over there in essential worker poverty,” one user wrote. “sub 18k take home,after moving an avg of 6metric tons of freight a week.”
“I need to get one of these jobs,” another added.
“If only I was in tech I could have beat the system,” a third stated.
We’ve reached out to Gabrielle via email.
Update 3:32pm CT, Apr. 16, 2023: In an email to theDaily Dot, Gabrielle said that her experience in tech hasn’t soured her on the business.
“I’m actually a huge fan of the earning and learning potential in tech,” she wrote. “It’s a great way to receive a reasonable salary with flexible hours. After a few years, you can gain a lot of valuable skills and begin freelancing or working for yourself to some capacity. I encourage my young followers to consider tech in their early career decisions. I do not regret starting my career in the tech industry.”
That said, she says she’s now left the industry.
“I no longer work in the tech industry,” she stated. “I now work for myself as a full-time content creator, investor, and founder of Anti Work Girlboss.”
