Google workers who earned viral fame on TikTok by proudly flaunting their aspirational workplaces are now offering a raw and very candid insight into their new realities after being laid off.
TikToker Nicole Tsai, who worked at the company’s LA office, was among those who had used the platform to share a glimpse into her life as one of the tech giant’s employees.
Her enviable vlogs, which helped her grow her following to more than 36,000, had previously showcased Google’s themed meeting rooms, free lunches and a speakeasy bar that was used during ‘happy hours’.
But her latest social media updates have been far less glamorous after being among the 12,000 workers laid off by the company.
TikToker Nicole Tsai, who worked at the company’s LA office, was among those who had used the platform to share a glimpse into her life as one of the tech giant’s employees
Nicole had been shedding light on what it was like behind the scenes at Google’s LA office (left), which was previously used as an aircraft hangar and featured a speakeasy bar (right)
In her early videos, Nicole had been shedding light on what it was like behind the scenes at Google’s LA office, which was previously used as an aircraft hangar.
The vlogger, who had worked at the company since July 2021, gave a tour to showcase the zero-gravity and Peter Pan-themed rooms, library, speakeasy bar and arcade games all available to employees.
In another of her clips, she boasted of the office’s art installations, coffee shop, glitzy ‘confetti room’, full-body massage chairs as well as giving a glimpse of the free lunches available to employees.
However, Nicole’s Google bubble burst amid the 12,000 lay offs and, in one of her latest TikToks, she documented finding out that she had been made redundant.
Titled ‘A Day In My Life Getting Laid Off At Google’, Nicole provided a voiceover for the clip and said: ‘I woke up to this really ominous text from my boss and I honestly had no idea what it was going to be about so I called her the minute I woke up and saw it…
Nicole’s Google bubble burst amid the 12,000 lay offs and, in one of her latest TikToks, she documented finding out that she had been made redundant
‘I rushed downstairs to find out that I had lost access to basically everything. I couldn’t log into my email or even check my calendar.
‘I called my boss back and we just sobbed over the phone because she was also finding out about my lay off for the first time today too.’
She continued: ‘It just felt like a really bad game of Russian roulette and there was no consistency around who was let go and it was also not performance based so it was really random.’
Nicole closed the video by admitting that she ‘didn’t really know what was next’ for her but told viewers she would continue to document her journey.
But Nicole is not the only TikTok user to have shared before and after videos around the redundancy announcement.
Vlogger Cedoni Francis, who has more than 230,000 followers on TikTok, had been sharing clips of her time at the Google office in New York
The video showcased her having breakfast cooked at the office (left) and visiting the on-site wellness center (right)
Vlogger Cedoni Francis, who has more than 230,000 followers on TikTok, had been sharing clips of her time at the Google office in New York.
In her clip titled ‘Day In My Life: Office Addition’, the 24-year-old said that she had arrived in time to have a breakfast cooked for her at the office consisting of French toast and a creme fraiche egg scramble.
She then filmed herself as she worked on projects from her laptop before saying that she had started to feel unwell.
Cedoni then showcased one of the other benefits of working for Google as she popped down to the company’s on-site wellness center.
The creative, who had been at the company for three years, recently posted on the platform to address the lay offs
But the creative, who had been at the company for three years, recently posted on the platform to address the lay offs.
Sitting at home and speaking directly to camera she said: ‘My entire team got laid off from Google. The writing had been on the wall for a really long time…
‘Lay offs were not performance based. I received an “exceeds expectations” on my last performance review… it was strictly just people had to go because the company needed to save money.
‘The lay offs did not just effect people at my level, there were VPs and directors that were also laid off.’
Cedoni was keen to stress that she had ‘not expressed anger or sadness’ throughout the entire process as she knows she will be ‘perfectly fine’.
She added that she is financial stable and said that she was considering handing in her notice at the company anyway before the news broke.
Google announced that it would be laying of 12,000 people on Friday – equating to around six percent of its workforce.
It is just the latest tech company to announce cost-cutting measures with Meta, Twitter, Amazon and Microsoft among those to have laid off employees.
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