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Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

bbc.com

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Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#31

Post by acdha »

hightrix wrote: post #26
Kon-Peki wrote: post #18

This young lady may or may not have destroyed her career prospects. I have no idea. But, if the outcome is that all employers need to think about whether their firings/layoffs are broadcast for everyone to see and critique, I’d say that she made the world a little bit better :)

Did she make the word a better place, or a worse one? In my opinion, after seeing this video, any HR department will simply say “you are being laid off” and give no other information. I imagine this could only reduce the amount of information that an HR dept would give. This is my cynical point of view, at least.

That’s better than lying to people claiming that it’s their fault. Losing a job is traumatic and anyone who isn’t supremely self-confident is going to be hurt by those false claims. We’re not going to get executive accountability easily but it’s still better if HR doesn’t make a bad situation worse trying to coddle senior management’s egos.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#32

Post by acdha »

wizerdrobe wrote: post #3
anigbrowl wrote: post #2

On X, Conservative commentator Candace Owens called Pietsch "young and stupid" after her video went viral: "Now any company that googles Brittany Pietsch will come across this video of her secretly recording the company she was employed at to expose them for doing their job. Unbelievably shortsighted." Candace Owens is also known for her flippant suggestion that 'Hitler was trying to make Germany great again'. If the…

Regardless of bad commentary, it’s a cogent point. Debate the idea, not the idiot.

It’s not a cogent point but a distraction: as an authoritarian, Owens is naturally predisposed to assuming the company is in the right but a more accurate framing recognizes that this was not HR doing their jobs but HR lying about someone to make it sound like they were being fired for cause. Doing their jobs would have been “we’re doing a layoff, here are the terms of your severance”, and recognizing that Owens is an unreliable source is important for not letting her framing shape the discussion.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#33

Post by hightrix »

LiquidSky wrote: post #27
hightrix wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did she make the word a better place, or a worse one? In my opinion, after seeing this video, any HR department will simply say “you are being laid off” and give no other information. I imagine this could only reduce the amount of information that an HR dept would give. This is my cynical point of view, at least.

Which would be fantastic and exactly what she asked for in the video. She just wanted them to drop the obvious bullshit.

This and the other response make perfect sense, thanks.

You’re right, that is what I’d prefer also.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#35

Post by StreetChief »

iamleppert wrote: post #28

I had an old roommate who was the political whistle-blower for NYC police when they lied about the number of minorities they arrest. He was instrumental in getting attention to the disproportionate number of minorities adversely affected by stop and frisk. As an analyst, he had access to the actual raw data and was the one actually creating the reports internally and decided to do speak out when, despite his reportin…

Whistle-blowing is unfortunately very dangerous.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#36

Post by chaosmonger7 »

legitster wrote: post #19

As a millennial, why does every aspect of our life have to be so performative? People are mistaking attention seeking for "transparency". If you spend every waking of your moment on camera or making everyone around you paranoid about being on camera, no one in your life including yourself is every going to be genuine. Besides, it's a dumb thing to do. Depending on the state you or the HR person is in you could be vio…

As Gen X, I don't think many young people can help it at this point. I don't use social media because I hate the way it invades my thoughts and mediates my experiences into a judgement of post worthiness.

If you grew up filming the most trivial aspects of your life it should not be a surprise if you feel the need to film something as important as losing a job.

Personally, it wouldn't even occur to me to film such a thing let alone to post it online. I would have assumed it would be illegal to film without the other side having a clue you are filming.

If I grew up filming literally everything though the idea of it being illegal I am sure would sound ridiculous and not even enter my mind. I am sure the thought process didn't go beyond this being some potentially really good "content".

The strangest thing to me is I have been let go from a job before. It is surely not a moment I wish to relive.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#37

Post by StreetChief »

acdha wrote: post #32
wizerdrobe wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of bad commentary, it’s a cogent point. Debate the idea, not the idiot.

It’s not a cogent point but a distraction: as an authoritarian, Owens is naturally predisposed to assuming the company is in the right but a more accurate framing recognizes that this was not HR doing their jobs but HR lying about someone to make it sound like they were being fired for cause. Doing their jobs would have been “we’re doing a layoff, here are the terms of your severance”, and recognizing that Owens is a…

I find the whole article to downplay and minimize the impact of CloudFlair's actions.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#38

Post by lopis »

hightrix wrote: post #26
Kon-Peki wrote: post #18

This young lady may or may not have destroyed her career prospects. I have no idea. But, if the outcome is that all employers need to think about whether their firings/layoffs are broadcast for everyone to see and critique, I’d say that she made the world a little bit better :)

Did she make the word a better place, or a worse one? In my opinion, after seeing this video, any HR department will simply say “you are being laid off” and give no other information. I imagine this could only reduce the amount of information that an HR dept would give. This is my cynical point of view, at least.

That was entirely her goal. She wanted the company to admit that she was just being laid off for no reason. Instead they tried to make her feel like it was her bad performance. That need to end.

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#39

Post by sugarplant »

sitkack wrote: post #25
legitster wrote: post #19

As a millennial, why does every aspect of our life have to be so performative? People are mistaking attention seeking for "transparency". If you spend every waking of your moment on camera or making everyone around you paranoid about being on camera, no one in your life including yourself is every going to be genuine. Besides, it's a dumb thing to do. Depending on the state you or the HR person is in you could be vio…

What a poor take that projects your own biases onto the situation. Every layoff should be recorded and she broke no laws.

>and she broke no laws.

in this same thread you replied to someone with "You offer no support for your claim."

Re: Workers are filming their layoffs, then posting to TikTok. What could go wrong?

#40

Post by sitkack »

sugarplant wrote: post #39
sitkack wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a poor take that projects your own biases onto the situation. Every layoff should be recorded and she broke no laws.

>and she broke no laws. in this same thread you replied to someone with "You offer no support for your claim."

"Could be", should have said verifiable to keep you happy, Brittany Pietsch is in a one party consent state.

https://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/georgia-recording-law

The thing that rubbed me the wrong way is that @legitster most likely knew this, and this why they said, "could be violating ..." and then the whole comment comes off like a pro-corporate scare post to not call out shitty tactics. It is disingenuous. It is shallow and dismissive to call what she did the act of a performative millennial.

By the point this article came up, it was widely known for those paying attention that Pietsch committed no crimes in recording this.

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