While filming a timelapse of his workday, TikTok user @unprochef accidentally captured something unexpected: His own firing.
In a video with over 2.1 million views, @unprochef shows a sped-up version of his workday before documenting the conversation that led to his firing. He then shows the call and the aftermath in which he tells his wife he’s been fired.
“The moment you are documenting your working block style and end up taking a timelapse of you getting fired,” he writes in the text overlaying the video.
In the caption, he adds, “Safe to say, I have more time to cook now.”
@unprochef Safe to say, I have more time to cook now
♬ original sound – Dior Violin🇸🇬
In the comment section, @unprochef noted that his company had “put me on a PIP which is basically a death sentence for your job. I hustled to make sure I did all I could to improve, but didn’t cut it.”
Many users were quick to share their thoughts on @unprochef’s experience.
“Firing you immediately after vacation feels SUPER sus tbh,” wrote one user.
“HR joining MID CALL is so evil,” added another.
A few shared stories of their own firings.
“mine had the audacity to ask me to work until noon after they fired me at 9:00 am,” recalled a user.
“I got fired via zoom in my childhood bedroom,” claimed a second. “that caused psychological damage lemme tell you.”
“My boss went on 2 week vacation leaving me as the only supervisor and fired me the day they came back,” alleged a third.
Several users complained about the American labor system that allows this kind of firing.
For context, almost every state in the U.S. has “at-will” employment.
“At-will means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, or for no reason without incurring legal liability. Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences,” writes the NCSL.
“The U.S. is one of a handful of countries where employment is predominantly at-will,” the NCSL notes. “Most countries throughout the world allow employers to dismiss employees only for cause.”
This upset many commenters.
“America really need to sort out its labour laws so this sort of thing never happens again,” wrote a commenter.
“This is illegal in Ireland,” detailed a second.
We’ve reached out to @unprochef via TikTok comment.
Update 1:16pm CT March 27: In a TikTok direct message exchange with the Daily Dot, @unprochef says that he is currently looking for work.
“I’ve been actively searching for jobs, which has been somewhat difficult since the job market is flooded in the marketing & tech field due to other reasons,” he wrote.
“In general, the conversations in the comments have been so interesting. Everyone’s different takes from different fields, countries, and opinions,” he continued. “The irony of the TikTok is that I was documenting how productive I was being, but then [I got] terminated since I did not improve performance according to my manager and the PIP (performance improvement plan) they assigned me.”
“Coming from a company that promotes transferring cross-team, I was blown away that they terminated me instead of exploring other options. Especially when they relocated me across the country for this role,” he stated. He said that his fellow co-workers were also “shocked” by the outcome.
@unprochef took his experience as a warning against PIPs in general.
“I think that a lot of people think a PIP is a guarantee that you will lose your job,” he shared. “Although my experience is not universal, I would say if you deep down feel like you’re making improvements according to what was marked and you still feel an immense amount of pressure, you should start looking for a new role.”
