The thin line between being a Big Tech employee and a TikToker

A 20-year-old tech’s day on TikTok usually begins with a free breakfast and a cup of hot, aromatic coffee. They don’t work right away, but go to the yard to breathe before returning to the office – a spacious and light-filled space. After “finishing the job”, these people will return home at 5 pm.

A LinkedIn employee’s workday is just as relaxing: it begins with a “self-care” mask, followed by a cup of kombucha tea to purify the body. Meanwhile, Googlers start their workday by enjoying the view on the rooftop, walking the dog and meeting with colleagues.

The vlogs documenting this process get a lot of attention on TikTok – where content creators build their own personal brands. These videos often follow a standard framework, that the background music must be cheerful, upbeat, how to spread positive energy as much as possible. Viewers’ reactions, mockery yes, admiration yes, but mostly the latter. The dream workspace of Big Tech makes everyone after watching the video leave a comment: “Is your company still recruiting?”.

These TikTok clips have millions of views, but the thin line surrounding filming at work has led to many employees being reprimanded and threatened with dismissal. Meanwhile, companies are essentially free to promote. They only take risks when these tiktokers show too much or reveal things the company doesn’t want the world to see.

“Me and my tech creative friends have all been labeled ‘Hey, don’t do that,'” said Chloe Shih, a tech worker.

According to Shih, a youtuber with more than 51,000 followers, content creators must balance branding, freedom of expression, and strict requirements from their managers. Restricted content will be covered in the general policy, but not always explicitly.

Some companies even ban filming and photography. They do not allow employees to record any images of the desk, even if the computer is dimmed. However, despite the strict regulations, these employees still post cropped videos to TikTok as a side effect. This made the security department extremely angry.

However, there are still many companies that are lenient in this regard. Shih, a former Meta, Google employee and now a product development manager at Discord, has posted many videos on TikTok, such as “What does Discord headquarters look like?”, “First week at work?” Discord as Product Manager”…

According to Lucy Anthony, a senior advisor at Discord, it’s normal to post videos like this, because every employee is a content creator.

“Our policies help employees express their individuality, while ensuring the confidentiality of information. All employees must follow these policies if they want to post photos outside,” said Lucy Anthony.

“I think all content creators are doing their best to respect the company. That’s why they can’t be fired,” Shih said.

For many people, that means content may not accurately reflect how a workday goes. An employee working at Google said he only dared to record work meals instead of daily work.

“I received tons of hateful comments for filming too much food content. People have questioned my level of work,” the employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Verge. “Actually, I’m not allowed to film my day job!”

Michelle Serna, who used to work at health technology company Visionable, never reveals her boss’s name on TikTok. Instead, she just dared to share her unique experiences at Visionable. Unfortunately, a video she uploaded in August was mixed with the sound of a meeting from another small room. The video was later deleted, but still caused Serna to be fired.

Serna admits filming the video was a mistake, but said the old company almost never popularized or equipped employees with soft skills when it had a large following on social media. Serna also received messages from many other content creators working for Big Tech, concerned about Visionable’s draconian handling and fear that she might be the next victim.

“I was very shocked. I have never been reprimanded for anything and have never disclosed information about my personal work. I don’t talk about my content creation process,” Serna said.

The story of Nylah Boone – Apple’s seasonal employee who was fired after posting a video shot at the company is also a typical example. According to The Verge, Boone posted a video on TikTok in April with the content “A black girl’s day in the tech industry”, recording the scene of Apple headquarters, her seat and not revealing any. any product information or confidential data.

The clip then attracted more than 400,000 views on TikTok and hundreds of comments asking for job advice and sharing Boone’s daily schedule. They fall under the “tech girlie” category, which aims to encourage women, people of color and certain communities to find suitable work at tech companies.

“About 80% of the people who follow or contact me are women of color. It’s so important to connect and encourage them. You can totally work in this industry, or in a position like this. like this,” Boone told The Verge.

However, in May, Boone suddenly lost her job when her contract was not renewed by Apple. It is known that this corporation often prohibits employees from sharing photos taken in the company’s office. Terms are also clearly stated in the contract or non-disclosure agreement.

This isn’t the first time TikTok videos have gotten Apple employees in trouble. In August, Apple engineer Paris Campbell was also threatened with dismissal after posting a video advising users to be blackmailed for losing their iPhones. In the video, Campbell claims to be an Apple employee, violating company policy.

By: The Verge