A growing number of young employees are filming their resignations live and millions of people are watching it. While many workers still formally email their managers to announce their resignation, a growing number of younger employees are choosing to quit on live video. Unhappy workers are now severing their relationships with their companies in loud and attention-grabbing ways, signalling a change in the industry. Notably, there is a revenge component attached to the practice. The trend is now being called “Quit-Tok,” as per a report in BBC.
Each of these videos captures real-time moment when workers resign. It can take several forms- it could be departure on a Zoom call or when they hand the letter of resignation.
Former Australian government employee Christina Zumbo described in September 2022 the moment she sent out her resignation email and nervously awaited her boss’s video call. After revealing snippets of her issues with mental health related to her job to her 140,000 TikTok followers, Ms Zumbo said she thought other users would be able to identify with the post, BBC reported.
She told the outlet, “I really struggled with making this decision to leave, feeling like I was letting my team and manager down, and the thought of being without work without something lined up, into a tumultuous job market at the time. I decided to share this journey online because it simply isn’t talked about enough.” She continued, “I had no idea so many people would see, relate and share their own stories – or their fear of leaving their current workplace, or their strong desire to do what I did. It’s always surprising in the best way, the sense of community you feel if you open yourself up to showing real, relatable vulnerability online.”
While these employees might find the experience entertaining or fulfilling at the time, job experts say that those TikTokers who participated in the craze now regret it. They warn that there are serious long-term repercussions. Paige, a 24-year-old hospitality worker from Florida, told Fox News that she made fun of her previous employer on TikTok after being asked to stay late at events on several occasions while other “favoured” employees were allowed to go. She quit her job live on TikTok and now she regrets it.
“It was not the mature thing to do and my parents were on my back about it. I now have a new job. It seems like a cool way to show that you have power over others but the next day I felt like it was stupid,” she said.
Neil Costa, the Boston-based founder and CEO of HireCli said that this behaviour “would come at a cost.” “The world of work is much smaller than you’d think. As the way we look at work shifts, in terms of blurring the lines between personal and professional, it’s more important than ever for employees to think through the potential long-term repercussions of posting on the internet,” he said.
Jessica Roper, director of career services at the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, added, “There is a reality that employers today are making fewer hires. This means that the job market is increasingly competitive. Workers are no longer in the driver’s seat, so it is a difficult environment in which to be choosing to burn bridges.”
Mr Costa said that the best way to quit is to inform your manager via an email or letter. “If you have done good work, there is always an opportunity for your colleagues and managers to want to work with you again, opening future opportunities that may not be available to you if you engage in Quit-Tok,” Mr Costa told Fox News.
