Where there’s smoke there’s fired.
Not sure if you’re going to get the boot? No fear. A New York comedian has revealed the telltale signs that someone is about to get sacked — which include keeping tabs on an employee’s every move.
A video detailing these “fire alarms” currently boasts 5.1 million views on TikTok.
“I wanted to illustrate the phoniness of middle managers,” Ben Sweeny told Jam Press while describing the warning signs of a pending axe-pocalypse.
The Brooklyn native frequently makes satirical videos that aim to “expose the irony and hypocrisy of the corporate world,” including parodies of managers telling their employees to return to the office and bureaucratic “burnout.”
Sweeny said his channel was reportedly inspired by various bosses he had during his eight years in the corporate world.
In his latest “Office Space”-evoking sketch, created in honor of the “massive layoffs that are currently stampeding the workforce,” the Brooklynite decided to shed light on how a manager behaves “one week before he fires you.”
Red flag number one? Keeping track of everything you do. “Whatever it is you’re doing keep doing it, it is not going unnoticed,” says the comic while adopting the role of a stereotypical passive-aggressive boss.
“By the way, I’m going to share a document with you that I need you to start filling out on a weekly basis in detail.”
He added, “It is essentially an activity tracker so it just tells me exactly what you’re focused on Monday through Friday, hour-by-hour.”
Sweeny’s boss character then assures the imaginary employee that there’s no “cause for concern” but that he’s going to schedule a meeting for “one week from today” to check their progress” (with the implication being that they’re going to get sacked).
The New Yorker observes that this corporate helicoptering doesn’t mean someone’s about to get fired, just that they have a “weak manager.”
“Having a manager like this means you’re most likely not going to have a good time or advance your career,” said Sweeny, who advises affected employees to switch careers immediately.
He added that it’s best to let corporate fire them rather than outright quitting, explaining: “On a serious note, never sign a PIP and never quit. Make them fire you if need be. Stand up for yourself.”
“Never let a spineless corporation weaken your own backbone,” Sweeny commanded.
Needless to say, the satirist’s corporate commentary resonated with the online masses with one fan writing, “This is verbatim what my old boss did. Hope she’s not doing well.”
“For anyone watching who doesn’t know, this is not good leadership,” said another. “Employees should be given feedback on performance regularly before it gets to this.”
“I am 1000% convinced quiet firing is happening regularly in many places,” a third wrote, referencing the disturbing trend in which managers drive employees out by making their job hell instead of outright firing them.
Unfortunately, mass layoffs seem to be affecting multiple sectors of the job industry. Last month, media outlet Barstool Sports furloughed a whopping 25 percent of its staff, which amounted to around 100 lost jobs.
And, as part of ongoing purges in the banking sector, Goldman Sachs announced that it was preparing for another round of layoffs starting as early as next month.