Laid-off Google employee cries on TikTok after sharing how lavish her life and job were at the tech giant
By jdheyes // 2023-01-30
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Some Google staffers who earned a degree of fame on TikTok bragging about and showcasing their easy, lavish life working at the tech behemoth are now offering very raw, extremely emotional insights into their new realities after being laid off this week. As reported by the UK's Daily Mail: 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.  Her earliest vlogs revealed life behind the scenes at the company's Los Angeles office, which was once an aircraft hangar. Tsai, who began working for Google in July 2021, provided a video tour of the zero-gravity and Peter Pan-themed rooms, as well as a library, the speakeasy bar, and arcade video games that were set up for employees to use. In another video, she bragged about art installations at the location as well as a coffee shop, a ritzy "confetti room," full-body massage chairs, and provided a look into the free lunches available to all employees.
@nicolesdailyvlog Things in my office that ✨ just make sense ✨ Google edition | Episode 1 #techgirlie #techvlog #officelife #corporatelife #lifeatgoogle ♬ Che La Luna - Louis Prima with Sam Butera & The Witnesses
But all of that ended this week as she became one of the thousands of people laid off by the tech behemoth. In a vlog titled, "A Day In My Life Getting Laid Off At Google," she did a voiceover of the clip, beginning with, "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..." "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 layoff for the first time today too," she continued.
@nicolesdailyvlog The Google layoffs were not how I expected to start off 2023, but I know it’s only up from here ? #techlayoffs #googlelayoffs #techgirl #corporatelife #techvlog #dayinmylife #techlayoffs2023 ♬ Flowers - Miley Cyrus
"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," Tsai added. She ended the clip by saying that she "didn't really know what was next" for her but did tell her followers and fans that she planned to continue to document her life and what happens next. However, she's not the only former Google employee to have documented their before-and-after life at the company following the mass layoff.
@cedonifrancis imagine how upset I was when I woke up early, got to work on time, was prepared to get everything done - then I felt like trashhhh. good thing the doctor was on-site! #minivlog #nycvlog #techtok #googleoffice #nyctiktok #genzlife #corporatelife #corporatebaddie ♬ Sunday - HNNY
"My entire team got laid off from Google. The writing had been on the wall for a really long time," Cedoni Francis, who has more than 230,000 followers on TikTok, vlogged after being let go. "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 layoffs did not just affect people at my level, there were VPs and directors that were also laid off," Francis, who worked in New York City, noted further. She did say she is stable financially and was planning to turn in her notice even before the layoffs, but they did come suddenly. "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," the Daily Mail noted further. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk TikTok.com
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