The ‘day in the life’ of Nicole Tsai, fired Google worker, TikTok
The ‘day in the life’ video of a fired Google employee on TikTok went viral as it captured her heartbreak after finding out she was one of the 12,000 workers laid off for him tech giant earlier this week.
Nicole Tsai, a TikTok “vlogger” based in Southern California, breaks down in tears in the video as she narrates “a day in my life getting fired at Google.”
“So I woke up to this really ominous text from my boss and I honestly had no idea what it was about so I called her the minute I woke up and saw this,” Tsai says in the 90 second clip uploaded Sunday, which has been viewed more than 4.6 million times by TikTok users as of Friday.
He posted a screenshot of the text message that read: “Hi Nicole, feel free to call me.”
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 saying, “You don’t have access.”
Tsai’s clip then posted a picture of her wiping away tears as she says, “I called my boss and we cried on the phone.” because she was also finding out about my dismissal for the first time today, too.”
The video then shows screenshots of text messages Tsai sent and received to people on her team and others within the company who were also told they were out of work.
Tsai echoes a similar complaint made by fired employees who have been quoted in media reports as saying the decision on who to fire was “not based on performance.”
She says she went online on LinkedIn and noticed that there were others “in the same boat” as her who were also laid off. The experience of logging into LinkedIn and reading about other people being fired “was not good for my mental health,” she says.
“I spent so much of the day crying that I felt so tired of being sad,” says Tsai. So she used her annual pass to Disneyland and headed to the theme park to “eat my feelings.”
Tsai recounts how she gorged herself on two cinnamon fritters, a teriyaki turkey leg, crispy rice, and a corn dog.
“I don’t really know what’s next for me, but I’ll be vlogging my trip and posting more content about it,” she says.
Before getting the hatchet, Tsai had posted regular “day in the life” videos for Google, which have become all the rage among tech employees in recent years.
The Post has sought comment from Google.
During a tense everyone’s 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 that the layoffs were random and urged his managers to stay focused on their jobs as the company navigates difficult economic terrain that has forced other tech giants to sacrifice workers.
“I understand that you are worried about what comes after your job,” Pichai said.
Pichai acknowledged that “I was also very saddened by the loss of some really good colleagues across the company.”
“For those of you outside of the US, the delay in being able to make and communicate decisions about roles in your region is certainly causing anxiety,” the CEO said.
Other tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Meta and Snap have too laid off a large number of employees In recent months.