Ex-Google Employee Documents the Day She Was Let Go Amid Mass Layoffs: 'A Really Bad Game of Russian Roulette' The TikTok video showed a candid view into what nearly 12,000 Google employees experienced last Friday.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There's a whole category of influencers making a name for themselves using the "Day in My Life" format on TikTok. In these videos, employees take viewers on a journey through their entire day, from morning to night. Tech employees using this format to showcase their lavish lifestyles have become especially popular on the platform.
One such TikToker is a former California-based Google employee named Nicole, who would often take her followers through a day working at the tech giant.
@nicolesdailyvlog Episode 4 | A Day in my life working from Google LA #dayinthelifevlog #dayinmylife #dayinthelife #dailyroutine #workroutine #techgirlie #techgirl ♬ kill bill by sza - lyrics e traduções.
Her most recent video, however, has gone viral for its brutal honesty and comedic spin on what can be a traumatic occurrence — the day she was laid off from the company.
Related: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Addresses Layoffs in Town Hall Meeting
The clip, which has now been viewed over 4.5 million times, begins with the TikToker receiving an "ominous" text from her boss telling her to check her email and the news, which shows an article explaining that the company was initiating its biggest round of layoffs in its history.
Nicole then says that she was promptly disconnected and locked out of her internal Google systems before calling her boss back and having a good old-fashioned crying session — she claims they both were being let go at the same time.
@nicolesdailyvlog The Google layoffs were not how I expected to start off 2023, but I know it's only up from here #techlayoffs #googlelayoffs #techgirl #corporatelife #techvlog #dayinmylife #techlayoffs2023 ♬ Flowers - Miley Cyrus
"I think the worst part is it seems like no one was consulted on this decision, and everyone was just finding out about the layoffs at the same time," Nicole told viewers, explaining that she and other former colleagues all began to talk to one another to find out who had been axed. "It just felt like a really bad game of Russian Roulette, and there was no consistency around who was let go. It was also not performance-based, so it just felt really random."
After scrolling LinkedIn to see more news of employees being let go, Nicole treated herself to a trip to Disneyland where she could "eat [her] feelings" and get her mind off the news.
Related: Google Laid Off Employee Who Is 8 Months Pregnant
Viewers in the comment section were furious on behalf of the laid-off worker, asking if it was even legal and offering their condolences.
"Sorry to hear that," one viewer offered. "They clearly don't value employees if they don't even consult prior to lay-offs."
"I still can't believe it all happened how it did," another said. "For a company that preaches employee culture, I'm shocked!"
Nicole was one of about 12,000 employees that were let go last Friday during a mass round of layoffs at Google.
"The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a memo to employees last Friday morning. "While this transition won't be easy, we're going to support employees as they look for their next opportunity."
Google's parent company, Alphabet, is expected to announce Q4 2022 earnings on February 2.
