A tech worker reports being part of a mass layoff at the company she worked for—after they were all told in a call that things were going great and that they could expect raises and bonuses soon.
The concerning TikTok video about the tech layoffs comes from creator Lindsey (@linzilla.reads), who put it up on April 15 and received more than 490,000 views since then. The video is a departure from the book reviews that make up the bulk of her content and appears to have been deleted Wednesday morning. In the most recent video on her account as of publication, she notes that the original video garnered more attention than she expected, and her comments section had become flooded with racists and conservatives telling her that she and “anybody who works in tech deserves to be laid off.”
She begins the initial video by assessing, “So today has been good fun,” before getting right to the crux of her message. “85 to 90% of my company has been laid off, and I was part of that. They told us via mass email—so that’s fun.”
She continues, “And this was even after meetings where they’re like, ‘Hey, financially, we’re hitting our goals! We’re good. Let’s talk raises. Let’s talk more bonuses.’”
She concludes, with a dash of earned sarcasm, “It’s a fun time to be in tech.”
Indeed, TechCrunch confirms that sentiment with an article tallying, per its title, “A comprehensive list of 2023 & 2024 tech layoffs.” The article begins, “The tech-wide reckoning that began in 2022 and ran throughout into 2023 has continued into this year. And while 2024’s losses are not at that scale, they’re still significant, driven by big names like Pixar, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and TikTok.”
April’s layoffs include more than 10% of Tesla’s global workforce amid declining sales, even as Musk boasts, according to an article in The Verge, that he’s “not quite betting the company, but going balls to the wall for autonomy is a blindingly obvious move”—referring to backing the fully autonomous robotaxi project over a more affordable $25,000 electric car consumers might find more appealing.
Commenters had thoughts about the layoff content, with some finding it distressingly familiar.
“My coworkers told me it’s when the company says ‘you guys are doing great don’t worry’ that layoffs happen,” one shared. “3 times they’ve seen it.”
“Odds are, they will replace most positions with less pay or, depending on what ya did, implement some AI that can handle said things,” another offered. “Companies have zero compassion, but love to say ‘we a family.’”
Someone else asserted, “THIS is why the terms’ quiet quitting’ and ‘act your wage’ became so popular. They will chop you and not care.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Lindsey via TikTok direct message.
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