A TikToker by the name of Michelle V (@michival_) received the dreaded email that so many corporate employees warn their fellow co-workers about: the impromptu same-day meeting invite from a supervisor.
Michelle joked in an initial TikTok about the meeting that she was probably getting fired, only to confirm in a follow-up video that this was the case. The most shocking part about her termination, however, is that her direct supervisor wasn’t the one who handled it, but her boss’ boss.
Michelle says in her first video: “So, I got an email this morning from my boss’ boss. I don’t know who it is I have never heard of his name, but I found out he is my boss’ boss, right? Email reads: Michelle, I am scheduling this mandatory meeting to discuss an important and time-sensitive business update with you I appreciate it if you make time for it.”
@michival_ #stitch with @michival_ that took a turn #corporate #worktok #work #thetea #layoff ♬ original sound – Michelle V
She looks into the camera with an expression that emotes she thinks something is afoot. “For today. In ten minutes. The email was sent at 7 AM but the meeting is gonna be in 10 minutes. So, am I getting fired? Or this is something my boss does not know about?” Michelle asks.
She stitches the end of the video where she speculates about the intentions behind the ominous-sounding email with an update. The clip transitions to the TikToker sniffling as a teardrop rolls down one of her cheeks.
“I got fired. Laid off,” she says. “They’re getting rid of a lot of people right now, my boss didn’t even know.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Michelle via TikTok comment for further information.
It appears that Michelle’s company isn’t the only one being adversely affected by what sounds like mass layoffs in 2023.
According to Time, there have been a number of major companies already laying off throngs of people in early 2023. The outlet announced that there is currently “an avalanche of layoffs in some sectors of the U.S. Job Market,” which includes Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which is cutting a massive 12,000 positions.
It’s the most significant downsizing Big G’s ever performed and accounts for roughly 6% of the company’s global workforce. CEO Sundar Pichai said the initial hires for personnel in these positions were first conducted during a time when the company predicted a different economic climate than the one the company currently finds itself in. U.S.-based Google employees who were fired all received a severance that includes 16 weeks of salary along with another two weeks for each year they’ve worked with the company.
The Time article stated that John Van Reenen, a professor at the London School of Economics, claimed a “general economic situation” across the globe is the biggest reason behind such big layoffs at Google. He added, “With the war in Ukraine and all the world in, or entering into recession, their companies are trenching as demand is falling, belt-tightening is going on. One part of this is just a general reflection of what’s happening in the economic situation around the world.”
He stated that tech firms have been taking massive hits as of late. Yahoo also reported that other huge companies like Intel, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are also performing mass personnel culls of their own. These moves could be made as part of a greater strategy to help make their respective businesses better navigate the incoming “recession” some analysts have predicted will come in 2023.
TikTokers who saw Michelle’s post couldn’t believe that her boss wasn’t notified of her own firing and some speculated that this may be the case because her direct supervisor’s job could be next up on the chopping block.
Michelle said in a comment she was surprised by the amount of severance she received from her job in response to one TikToker. Other commenters remarked that they, too, were laid off from their job towards the end of 2022.
