""Get laid off with me." So read the closed captions of a recent TikTok post. "My boss just put a 15 minute sink on my calendar," creator @mbraindump said in the now-viral post. "I can't believe this is really happening. Getting laid off, okay, here we go." It is a sinking feeling that's sadly familiar to myriad workers. In just the past week, thousands have fallen victim to mass layoffs at Amazon, Target, Paramount, CBS, and other large companies."
"The trend of documenting being laid off first emerged post-pandemic and gained traction as mass layoffs hit in 2023 and 2024. Now it is back, as a fresh wave of workers joins the ranks of the unemployed. "Pretty sure I'm about to get laid off from my 9-to-5 right now, so come with me to my meeting," one TikTok user posted in late October."
"Rather than posting a LinkedIn update, being laid off is now lucrative content. On TikTok, the hashtag #layoffs has almost 60,000 videos. Many of these riff off the ubiquitous "Get Ready With Me (GRWM)" genre of content, in which creators showcase their hair, makeup, or outfit while chatting about their inner lives or zeitgeist-y topics. Some, like @mbraindump, go on to turn unemployment into a content series post-layoff."
Thousands of workers have been affected by mass layoffs at Amazon, Target, Paramount, CBS and other large companies, including 14,000 corporate employees at Amazon. The practice of documenting layoffs on TikTok emerged after the pandemic and resurged as 2023–2024 mass layoffs continued. Creators post real-time layoff meetings, day-in-the-life clips ending with firings, and subsequent unemployment updates that attract large audiences. The #layoffs hashtag has almost 60,000 videos. Many videos mimic the Get Ready With Me format, turning personal job loss into shareable and potentially lucrative content. Layoffs are framed as systemic, not individual, failures.
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