Latest news with #VictoriaChege
Axios
7 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Meet the former federal workers documenting their unemployment online
Former D.C.-area federal workers job hunting after DOGE layoffs are documenting their unemployment journeys online. The big picture: Washington's job market has become uber-competitive as swaths of laid-off feds vie for the same positions. And employers nationwide have slowed hiring to the lowest rate since March 2020. Meanwhile, young workers across the country are increasingly sharing their layoffs via viral social media posts — in some cases, the actual moment they're let go. State of play: Some locals are sharing their experiences being fired by the government or their subsequent job searches, while others are documenting the new paths they've taken after the federal shakeup. Zoom in: Victoria Chege, 25, got over a million views on the TikTok she posted in February, in which she does her makeup as she details her layoff from the Department of Health and Human Services, where she worked as an analyst. Since then, she's posted TikToks sharing resources for fired federal employees and updates on the job market, as well as pivoted to making content commenting on political news. Chege has moved back in with her parents in Northern Virginia as she job hunts — she estimates she's applied to over 100 positions and only received a couple of first-round interviews. But sharing her experience has helped her mental health. "I was doing it so other people don't feel alone," she says of her TikTok. "[But] it's definitely helping me not to feel alone." Nicole DeCastro, 34, has had a similar experience while documenting her unemployment on Instagram and TikTok after being let go from her USAID program officer job in March. Her posts about the competitiveness of the employment landscape and how she spends her days working as a fitness instructor while job hunting are filled with comments from viewers in similar boats. "It's cathartic to put out what I'm going through and see how other people are feeling the same way," says DeCastro, who also estimates she's applied to over 100 jobs, but only received a few interviews. "There's some sense of community in that."
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former federal worker shares frustration on TikTok after losing job in less than 2 months
WASHINGTON () — A federal worker who lost her job after being in her position for less than two months hopped on TikTok to tell her story as well as share information and resources to help other federal workers in the same position. 'I was one of the thousands of federal worker terminated this weekend, let's talk about it,' said 24-year-old Victoria Chege in her video on TikTok with over a million views. Chege worked for the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services after graduating with her Masters. 'Honestly, I feel like people just think that we're just a number to some people… But these are real people with real lives that are being impacted, real pockets being impacted, and some people don't really know where their next check is going to come from,' said Chege. She had been working in her new position for about 6 weeks before she noticed something something was wrong on Valentine's Day. 'My email stopped refreshing and said that I can't log into my email anymore, and when I tried to log back into my compute it said my access was revoked. An hour later I tried again and I was able to access everything again, everything was reinstated,' she said. On Saturday at around 2 p.m., Chege was one of many to receive an e-mail stating that they were 'not fit for continued employment' because their 'knowledge and skills do not fit [the] agency's current needs and performance has not been adequate to justify.' 'That was really, really heartbreaking to see because I was in this role for about six weeks and I haven't received a performance review yet. I didn't hear from anybody until [Tuesday] morning, my manager called me, and I don't even think he knew that I had been terminated,' said Chege. 3 Maryland drivers sued by DC Attorney General for over $90k in unpaid tickets This comes as the Trump administration tries to reduce the size and cost of government. 'We didn't even take taxpayer dollars to fund our mission. So, if you're actually looking line by line as to where to cut costs, my role would not have been cut at all,' she said. Chege tells me she understands why the administration is downsizing, but she doesn't agree with how it's being done and how it's being handled. 'It's very chaotic, very rushed, it was really frustrating to see, again, the lack of overall communication we've been receiving is just really frustrating for this whole process,' she said. Chege is now using her TikTok platform to keep people informed and share resources for those who need it. 'I'm just going to do what I can as far as getting the information out there. Some people don't know where their next meal is going to come from, where the next source of pay is going to come from these are real lives being affected.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
