Published January 21, 2023 Updated January 21, 2023 4:36 PM CST
Recession fears and layoff scares are real in 2023, and a TikToker has used the platform to show that companies could announce online when they will be laying off.
The video is by Seattle-based creator Emma, who generated more than 589,000 views as of Saturday for her information about the Department of Labor’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act — and how you can use it to tell if Your company is about to do this laying people off.
“So we’re definitely on the verge of a recession,” Emma begins in the clip. “And if you’re nervous about being fired and going to work for a big employer, I just want you to know that a WARN notice exists in every state and you can look it up by state through the Department of Labor if you just google it.” .”
She turns off the green screen image behind her and explains, “Large employers must file a WARN notice if they want to make a big layoff. So as we can see, Microsoft filed a WARN notice on January 18th that they will start laying off employees in Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah, Washington starting March 20th. And there will be 878 workers.”
@ddumemma #greenscreen #recession #unionstrong #warnnotice #fired #funny ♬ Original sound – Emma (3 AM Version)
The creator then advises, “So I thought I’d post this as if you might want to look up if you’re going to get fired,” before concluding that “capitalism sucks.”
Since the video’s release, she has interacted with commenters to ask questions and provide more insight into the WARN Act, including creating a separate video for people in Illinois who may have trouble reaching the pending layoffs page .
As one commenter pointed out, “just know they only need to do a WARN notice for 50+ employees, but very good tip!”
Another person claimed: “Part of the WARN process is notifying the affected group in advance. Most if not all of the information found on these pages has already been shared.”
Emma replied in the comments: “Absolutely, but I understand some employers are pretty crappy when it comes to the information; like a flyer in the break room that nobody sees.”
Another pointed out: “One important note, the other option instead of a WARN is to provide compensation for those who have been made redundant.”
Emma agreed on that point, adding, “Yes! As I understand it, workers are paid for 60 days, including benefits.”
While some perused the intricacies of the law with the makers, others came in to share their recent dismissal or to marvel at the list and worry about the economic downturn.
“Looking at this website makes me sick dude,” said one commenter, referring to the list on the green screen in the video.
“It sucks,” Emma remarked. “When you see all of these real people are going to be in that position.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Emma with a comment on the TikTok video.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to.
Sign up for the Daily Dot newsletter to get the best and worst of the web delivered to your inbox every day.
*Initial publication: January 21, 2023 at 4:35 p.m. CST
Phil West
Phil West is a veteran professional writer and editor and the author of two books on soccer, The United States of Soccer and I Believe That We Will Win, both from The Overlook Press. His work has most recently appeared in The Striker, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief, MLSSoccer.com, Next City and Texas Highways. He lives in Austin and is also an instructor in the Writing Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.