LAYOFFS -TIKTOK- LADDERS : PRIME PRECIS

 

Turning to TikTok to cope with layoffs. Tech workers are using the platform to share stories about job cuts, or to find new roles.

Bailey Harris, 25, worked as a recruiter for a big tech company for more than a year and a half before she was laid off in January.

After the initial shock wore off, she decided to tell her story three days later on TikTok. ''I was never really worried about layoffs,'' she said in the video, which she recorded from a car. ''I just didn't see this coming,'' she added.

It was only the second TikTok video Ms. Harris had ever made, but within a day it had more than 100,000 views. That number has since quadrupled.

She continued to boost about being newly unemployed. In one, she shared how she was saving money. In another, she told her viewers about a new side hustle helping a friend flip real estate.

[These videos performed much better than the others she later posted, which focused on topics like dating, fitness and nutrition.]

'' I was like, ' This is relevant - why not speak about it because I know a lot of people have been going through the same thing? ' '' She said.

The videos, she continued, were ''getting a lot of comments about how people like my attitude toward my situation.''

As tech workers continue to get laid off across the United States.- more than 50,000 employees were let go from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft alone in the last few months - some have turned to TikTok to share their experiences.

An emerging microgenre on the platform, layoff vlogs can be a source of validation and community, or a self-esteem boost, for young workers who have recently lost their jobs.

In some videos, some creators vent about their former employers or perceived wrongdoings.

Others have a more practical objective in mind using the platform to find their next gig.

The Publishing continues. The World Students Society thanks author Alyson Krueger.