A woman claims she was laid off by a company that was named a “Best Place to Work” in 2022—ironic even in this economy.
The video detailing the encounter comes from @anniesanalytics, with more than 546,500 views in a week.
“I had my boss’s boss put a one-on-one sync onto my calendar … and I got laid off,” she begins her nearly three-minute video. That’s reminiscent of a Daily Dot story covering a boss’ boss engineering a layoff, with the boss being left unaware of the move until after it happened.
In the video, she relays the experience of what it’s like to be laid off. She recorded herself being laid off in real time because she knew it “would make a good storytime.”
@anniesanalytics Storytime of what it was like for me to get laid off! 😬 I had an interview lined up later that day so I wasn’t heartbroken. It was just strange to experience a layoff like that. Reminds me as I job search that employment is a business decision ✨ #storytime #layoff #techtok #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Annie
She said, “I just sat back, disassociated and let them lay me off.” They used the phrase “business decision,” an observation that struck a chord with her. At several points in the TikTok, she emphasized, “Your employment is no more than a business decision,” and, alternately, “Just remember your employment is no more than a business decision.”
As she relayed, “My company loves talk about, like how much they care about their people and all that stuff. … They won Best Places to Work last year. We’ll see about next year.”
“To add to that, in February when the company was struggling, they said, ‘OK, we need everyone to be all hands on deck. We need you to be you know, really doing your best here, and so I was in New Zealand at the time, and I was canceling plans. I was changing plans around, I was really doing a lot. They were asking us to upskill on our own free time, to do things that would benefit the business—that they aren’t paying us for, and they weren’t intending on giving us a raise to do.”
The caption accompanying the video noted, “I had an interview lined up later that day so I wasn’t heartbroken. It was just strange to experience a layoff like that.”
In a part two video, she shares that her biggest concern around the layoff concerned health insurance.
@anniesanalytics Here’s how I’m doing post-layoff as I launch into my second job search in data. So many people wished me well upon hearing the news ❤️ I’m doing well! Networking has been the key to success this time #layoff #dataanalytics #jobsearch ♬ original sound – Annie
Commenters had thoughts on layoffs they took to the table.
“I’m 25 and I’ve been laid off twice,” one confessed. “Back in the day layoffs were seen as a business failure. now it’s a savvy business move. I hate it here.”
The creator responded, “Yes omg that’s a great way to put it.”
“I worked 9 years at a company and boom I was done,” another revealed. “I was just a number in a spreadsheet at the end of it all.”
“Exactlyyy,” the creator responded. “I think it’s so important to know this is how the business world often works.”
“It’s so funny when a company says, ‘We’re a family,’” someone else shared. “Uh, no, we’re not. That is when I hang up the proverbial phone.”
“Never give more then 50%,” one advised. “Boss knew the whole time.”
That’s where the creator disagrees, though—in a sense. “But yeah I realized back in February if I was giving 110% it was FOR ME.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.
