Google workers created an aspirational TikTok genre by chronicling their glitzy, perk-filled lives. Now, they're pivoting to 'life after layoff' vlogs as they write their next chapter.
- Enviable day-in-my-life style vlogs by Google employees emerged as a popular TikTok genre.
- Now, some former Googlers have pivoted to a new style of post, focusing on life after layoffs.
Day-in-the-life style mini-vlogs from Google employees have practically become their own genre on TikTok, with creators showing off the enviable office perks Google is known for in clips that caught the attention of viewers.
In one video posted in March 2022 with 250,000 views, Jules Monica, who said she is an account strategist for Google, valeted her car and headed to the nap room. After some work, she visited a fully-stocked snack pantry but ultimately opted for salad with a side of fresh berries. In the afternoon, she held a meeting in a "Harry Potter" themed conference room before joining her colleagues for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.
Such dreamy days on the job are starting to feel like relics of the past amid a hurdling economy in which Google — and other top tech companies — are laying off staff in masses. The tech giant's CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Friday that it was laying off 12,000 employees, or 6% of its global workforce.
Now, some former Googlers have pivoted to posting about life after layoffs.
A new type of TikTok video is emerging as an alternative to the aspirational posts of the past
TikToker Nicole Tsai has extensively vlogged about working at Google for her 33,000 TikTok followers, showcasing the in-office massage chairs, kitchen DJ both, fleets of scooters to traverse between meetings, stationary bikes that double as phone-charging stations, and a Tiki-themed bar for happy hour.
Now, Tsai is vlogging about unemployment.
In her latest video, she films herself crying and saying she was processing the news that she was laid off with her boss. "It just felt like a really bad game of Russian Roulette," she said, "and there was no consistency around who was let go."
She ends the evening by heading to Disney World to eat her feelings with churros and turkey legs. "I don't really know what's next for me," she said, "but I'll be vlogging my journey."
Another ex-Googler, Julie Ramirez, said she served as a technical recruiter at the company for four years. Ramirez has previously shared aspirational vlogs about her time at Google, including playing ping-pong and taking a cooking class on a visit to the Austin HQ.
Now, she says she's been laid off with a "really good" severance package, and plans to continue to focus on herself, as well as to create fashion and lifestyle content for her 27,000 TikTok followers.
"I know a lot of people made jokes during my day-in-the-life-at-Google videos, saying, 'You're gonna be next on the chopping block', 'Can't wait to see this when you get laid off,'" Ramirez said. "Honestly, it happened and it's not the end of the world. And I'm very thankful and very privileged to say that."
Other ex-Googlers are also leaning into burgeoning TikTok fame, despite never posting about their jobs before. Kimberly Diaz, who had 19,000 followers thanks to her curly hair routine videos and luxury shopping hauls, went viral for sharing that she'd been laid off in the middle of a business trip.
Now, inspired by another TikTok creator who has vlogged 75 days in the wake of being laid off by Meta, Diaz has gone on to chronicle "day one of unemployment." Her first vlog shows her coffee and skincare routines. "If I went to Starbucks," she said in the video, "I feel like some of you guys would freak out."
TikToker Rebekah Moran, who said she was laid off after nine years at Google while six months pregnant, is "mindfully writing my next career chapter" by creating cooking videos for her 11,000 TikTok followers.
"When backed up against a corner, this is when amazing things get built," Moran said in her layoff announcement video, which has 1 million views. "I know that really good things are gonna come."