The ‘day in the life’ video of a fired Google worker on TikTok has gone viral as she captured her heartbreak after finding out she was one of 12,000 female workers fired by the tech giant earlier this week.
Nicole Tsai, a TikTok «vlogger» based in Southern California, breaks down in tears in the video as she recounts «a day in my life being laid off at Google».
“So I woke up to this really disturbing text from my boss and honestly I had no idea what it was about so I called her as soon as I woke up and saw this” , Tsai says in the 90-second clip uploaded on Sunday. , which was viewed more than 4.6 million times by TikTok users on Friday.
She posted a screenshot of the text message which read, «Hey Nicole, please give me a call.»
Tsai says in the clip that her boss told her to «check the news and my email.»
When Tsai tried to log into her work email and calendar, she received a message that read, «You don’t have access.»
Tsai’s clip then posted an image of her wiping away her tears, saying, «I called my boss back and we just sobbed on the phone because she also found out about my layoff for the first time today. «
The video then shows screenshots of text messages Tsai sent and received to his team members and others within the company who were also told they were unemployed.
Tsai echoes a similar complaint filed by terminated employees who were quoted in the media as saying the decision on who to fire was «not based on performance.»
She says she took to LinkedIn and noticed there were others «in the same boat» as her who were also made redundant. The experience of logging on to LinkedIn and reading that other people were fired was “not good for my mental health,” she says.
“I spent so many days crying that I felt so tired of being sad,” Tsai says. So she used her annual Disneyland pass and went to the theme park to «eat my feelings.»
Tsai recounts how she stuffed herself with two cinnamon churros, a teriyaki turkey leg, crispy rice and a corn dog.
«I don’t really know what’s next for me, but I’m going to blog about my journey and post more about it,» she says.
Before getting the axe, Tsai regularly posted «day in the life» videos for Google, which have become trending among tech workers in recent years.
The Post has sought comment from Google.
During a tense town hall meeting earlier this week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was bombarded with questions from anxious employees who feared more layoffs were on the way.
Pichai denied the layoffs were random and urged his managers to stay focused on their jobs as the company navigates tough economic terrain that has forced other tech giants to lay off workers.
«I understand that you are worried about the continuation of your work,» Pichai said.
Pichai acknowledged that he was «also very sad about the loss of very good colleagues throughout the company».
«For those of you outside of the United States, the delay in being able to make and communicate decisions about roles in your region is undoubtedly causing anxiety,» the CEO said.
Other tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Meta and Snap have also laid off large numbers of employees in recent months.