Planning to post a video of your layoff online? You may want to think twice
A technical sales worker recorded a meeting where she was laid off to 'inform her followers and demonstrate how volatile working in tech is'. Another worker posted a video of the moment she was laid off, including her 'savage response' which earned her 'huge amounts of praise from social media users'.
It's the latest viral social media trend: recording yourself being laid off.
These employees are viewed in a mostly sympathetic light. And those giving advice generally direct their counsel towards business managers on how to handle this issue. Like the career expert who tells employers to 'treat layoffs as emotional events, not just administrative tasks', and 'personalize career support'.
It's good advice for employers. Thank you. I'd like to give some advice to those who are recording their layoffs. But let me start with a question: why are you recording your layoff? What do you hope to accomplish by this? Is the goal to shame your employer? To make yourself a TikTok star? To 'educate' others? To comfort yourself? There is no good reason for doing this. Don't do this.
For starters, if you're part of a layoff, please understand the situation. Employers lay off workers for a reason. It's usually economics. No manager or business owner wants to lay people off. No one is hiring someone with the intention of firing them in the future. No one is happy about this. For a big business, a layoff could mean an adjustment in overhead. But for a small business – where every employee is critical – a layoff is probably much more serious. So please don't be so quick to shame the company.
Next, don't overthink this. This is clearly not about you. You're probably doing a decent job. If it was about you, then you'd be the only one being fired. But unfortunately, you're part of a mass event, caused by circumstances probably not in your control. This is bad luck. Sure, there may be others who – in your opinion – are more deserving of such a fate. But life is not fair. And you probably got caught up in its unfairness. Move on. Don't record your layoff.
Also, try to think ahead. The world is smaller than you might think. If you don't believe me then check how many '2nd' and '3rd' connections you have on LinkedIn. Everyone you know knows someone else that you know … or may need to know in the future.
Recording your layoff and – God forbid – becoming internet famous for it is not the kind of professional reputation you want to build for yourself. The trend may be viral but 99.9% of normal people don't do this. They may like your post or make an anonymous comment. But that doesn't mean they would act in the same manner.
One woman who quit her job at a tech company and went viral for the video couldn't find employment after six months, despite all the messages that people would 'hire her in a heartbeat'. Don't do this.
I know that sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn from them. But let's agree that not making a mistake is still the best avenue. So please: don't make the mistake of recording your layoff. You'll regret it.
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