- On TikTok, the accountant Jess Rincon shared the moment she broke the news of her resignation to her "work bestie."
- She said trauma bonding with her colleague had helped her survive the intense pressures of her job.
In a TikTok video with 189,000 views last month, 28-year-old Jess Rincon becomes emotional on a video call with her "work bestie." She breaks the news that she's resigning from her accounting position at Ernst & Young.
"You're the one person I was dreading to tell," Rincon says, wiping away tears. In a caption for the video, she wrote that "trauma bonding" with colleagues helped her survive the intense pressures of public accounting.
"Is everything OK? Are you OK?" Rincon's work bestie could be heard saying on the call.
@jess_rinconn How to survive the Big 4 or corporate world series - Part 1: I cant stress enough how essential having a work bestie is in corporate and public accounting. The grind never stops, its stressful, high pressure and the days can be long but for those truly hard days having someone you can trust to vent to makes a huge difference bc you know youre not going through it alone. Its so much different venting to your significant other or someone else in your life not in the grind with you. Remember, the building block of every friendship in accounting is ✨trauma bonding✨ but for real, make yourself a bestie at work and make sure to thank them for keeping you sane and making work a little better Good luck out there current & future corporate girlies (& bois lol) #workbestie #workbestiesmakeitbetter #corporategirlies #publicaccounting #accountantlife #big4accountant #corporatemillennial #corporatehumor #workhumortosurvive #workhumor ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"] - Billie Eilish
"I just kind of started sobbing," Rincon told Insider of the moment. "I really felt guilty about leaving her to survive the Big Four on her own — and especially busy season on her own — without anyone to vent to."
The moment struck a nerve, with many viewers sharing the significance of their own work friendships.
"I felt this IN MY BONES," one wrote. "Work besties are so underrated," another added. "I literally think I'd leave my job if my work bestie left, we keep each other going."
"I left big 4 this summer for the same reasons," a third commenter shared, referring to the four major US accounting firms Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and Ernst & Young (EY). "I know it's hard bc you're so trauma bonded with everyone lol."
'Surviving your job means building relationships at work,' Rincon said
Rincon told Insider she resigned in October after roughly two years at Ernst & Young. She's currently seeking a new opportunity that will afford a better work-life balance. As a newlywed with aging parents, the stress of tax season, which can mean up to 80-hour workweeks, was unsustainable.
Her work bestie, in particular, helped her get through "really tough times," she said, including pulling all-nighters on filing day.
And being able to vent about professional frustrations to a trusting ear was a form of support she couldn't get from other people in her life outside of the office. "Your work bestie knows exactly what's going on," she added.
Rincon said it's not in her nature to be so vulnerable, and she only posted the video to "remember that moment"for herself. But she's heartened so many could relate, especially as more Millennial and Gen Z employees seek to forge deeper connections at work.
"I think surviving your job means building relationships at work," Rincon said.
And while certain work besties don't last after leaving a job, she's confident this one will. "We're going to have a virtual coffee date sometime this week," Rincon told Insider. "To just catch up."