A remote worker sparked outrage in a viral TikTok after sharing she was laid off via email and was locked out of her account while in the middle of reading the termination letter. Viewers criticized her former employer’s actions and shared their own experiences with being laid off and locked out of computers while working from home.
As previously reported by the Daily Dot, TikToker Eve (@adminandeve)—who shares work-related advice on her account with over 100,000 followers—posted videos in July describing tell-tale signs a company is about to lay people off, including upper management acting “funny;” managers asking lots of questions around budget and performance; and freezes on office moves, renovations, and hiring. She says she predicted her company would have layoffs two months in advance due to these signs.
In July, the TikToker posted another viral TikTok, which has over 82,700 views, saying her prediction was correct and that she was soon laid off via email. She also says her employer locked out of her email account while she was in the middle of reading her termination announcement.
The viral video shows the TikToker walking around IKEA to “numb the pain” and telling the story of getting fired. She says the CEO announced in a morning meeting there would be layoffs and that workers would all get emails letting them know if they’ve been fired.
“We all go into a meeting at 11:30 with the CEO where he basically gives a whole spiel about ‘blah, blah, blah, it’s all my fault,’” the TikToker says in the video. “Ten minutes later, what do I get? An email that says my position has been impacted. But guess what happens after that? So I’m in the middle of reading this email, right, as one does as a normal person would, and I get locked out of my email.”
The TikToker then says that although the company copied workers’ personal emails in termination notices, she did not personally receive the email to her personal account.
“How embarrassing that you would shut off people’s emails, the only place that you would send their thing to, right?” the TikToker says in the video. “So then I had to embarrassingly go back to Slack after being fired and be like ‘Hi you guys, I can’t access.’ And then like 75 other people had the same thing.”
@adminandeve Replying to @verovero3120 #CVSPaperlessChallenge #careertiktok #hrtok #laidoff #remotework #techtok ♬ original sound – Admin & Eve | Career Wiz
The viral TikTok sparked controversy in its comments section over the email firing and lockout. Users criticized the company for its actions.
“Noooo HR and your immediate supervisors needs to do their jobs. Email is not okay,” one user argued.
Some users related to the TikToker’s experience as a remote worker.
“Happened to my husband to they cut his permissions during the zoom call laying them off,” one user shared.
“When I got laid off, I got locked out of my entire laptop and then they called me 2 hours later to tell me,” another described.
Some users took shots at the company’s CEO for saying it was “all his fault.”
“It’s all my fault but I won’t take a pay cut,” one user speculated.
“If it’s his fault then [why] isn’t he out of work?” another criticized.
Others sent the TikToker encouraging messages for her hunt for a new job, saying there are “better things” ahead for her future.
“Rejection is the universe’s redirection,” one user cheered on.
In other follow-up videos, the TikToker says she could not give viewers “the full tea” about the layoffs because of reasons she was “not allowed to discuss.” She also has been updating followers on her new job search process: working on her resume, applying to new jobs, looking for red flags in job postings, and more.
Update 12:25pm CT Aug. 11: After the publication of our article, the Daily Dot spoke with TikToker Eve on a phone call. The TikToker, who says she is bound by an NDA and cannot comment specifically on which company she was employed with at this time, said she appreciated our coverage of her story and hopes others can learn from her situation.
She also said she thinks these learning experiences are at the “core” of what makes TikTok valuable to workers. She said the response on TikTok has so far been empathetic and understanding, with other people—especially young people—relating to the experience. She said although being laid off is difficult, she thinks there is more to peoples’ “purpose” other than their jobs and capitalism, and she is leaning into her other purposes in life.
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