Employee Says She Was Suddenly Fired The Same Day Her Boss Gave Her A 'Shout Out' For Doing A Great Job
She wasn't expecting to be out of a job in this economy.
fizkes / Shutterstock A work-from-home mother shared that she was suddenly let go from her position despite constantly going above and beyond.
In a TikTok video, the working mom, who shares the TikTok account @2wfhmomsview with her best friend, revealed that her sudden firing caused her perspective to shift when it comes to how employers view their employees.
She was suddenly fired on the same day her boss gave her a 'shout out' for her great work.
"I busted my [butt] and I was just laid off," she began her video. "These companies do not care about us. They want us to give a two-week notice but can fire us and ruin our lives on the spot any day that they choose."
The young mom tearfully admitted that losing her job out of nowhere has set her back financially, particularly because she doesn't have any savings, which she acknowledged was her own fault. On top of that, she has a two-year-old son whom he needs to provide for.
Now, she has to go job-hunting for remote work in an economy that isn't too concerned about providing people jobs with livable wages.
"I have to get a work-from-home job because I have a 2-year-old son that I have to take care of," she said, adding that she is unable to afford daycare or hire someone to watch her son while she goes to work. Unfortunately for this young mother, a lot of companies have begun switching back to in-person work over the last year.
According to a report from Resume Builder, which surveyed 1,000 company leaders, a staggering 90% of companies plan to implement return-to-office policies by the end of 2024. Nearly 30% said their company will threaten to fire employees who don’t comply with in-office requirements. Only 2% of business leaders said their company never plans to require employees to work in person.
"It’s easier for executives to hold on to the old notion that people are really working if they can see them down the hall," Dan Kaplan, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry, a management consulting company, told CNBC. "It’s almost too hard for some leaders to comprehend a world where that option doesn’t exist, or to consider a radical new approach."
The young mother informed viewers that not only does she have to worry about making sure her next job is remote, but that it pays enough to cover the $2,500 that she needs for rent.
"Now I have to find out how to pay my lease early because there's no way that we can afford to live there," she admitted, getting emotional. "I don't even have a computer, they just locked me out of my computer."
Because of how welcoming the work culture had been, she never expected to be laid off so abruptly.
The work environment at her job had been extremely positive compared to some of the other positions she'd worked in the past. This made her abrupt layoff all the more surprising.
She claimed that the company must've laid her off based on something other than her work performance because her manager had given her a shout out for doing such a great job on the very same day she was let go.
Unfortunately, along with this young mother, many people have recently faced sudden job layoffs. According to CBS News, major corporations in media, retail, and tech have begun conducting major layoffs to cut down on costs as they begin investing in AI. A large number of companies started 2024 by announcing they are slashing jobs on the heels of worker layoffs at the end of 2023.
With all of these companies conducting mass layoffs, more and more people are slowly feeling as if they've been thrown to the wolves by their employers.
What makes this young mother's sudden firing that much more devastating is the simple fact that she felt secure in her position and her relationship with her manager. She was completing all of her projects on time, getting praise from her boss, and felt happy with how her work was progressing.
It's tales like this that make people wonder if big corporations actually care about their employees at all, or simply care about the amount of work they're churning out to bring the company more revenue. It seems that it's becoming rarer and rarer for employees to actually feel valued, not only for their work but also as human beings who are more than part of the capitalistic machine.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.