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Get laid off with me. So read the closed captions of a recent TikTok post. My boss just put a 15 minute sink on my calendar, creator @mbraindump said in the now-viral post. I cant believe this is really happening. Getting laid off, okay, here we go. It is a sinking feeling that’s sadly familiar to myriad workers. In just the past week, thousands have fallen victim to mass layoffs at Amazon, Target, Paramount, CBS, and other large companies. After Amazon laid off 14,000 corporate employees last week, or 4% of its white-collar workforce, a number of workers started cropping up on social media to document their experiences. The trend of documenting being laid off first emerged post-pandemic and gained traction as mass layoffs hit in 2023 and 2024. Now it is back, as a fresh wave of workers joins the ranks of the unemployed. Pretty sure Im about to get laid off from my 9-to-5 right now, so come with me to my meeting, one TikTok user posted in late October. The video has over 670,000 views. Day in my life as a software engineer, except I got laid off before I could finish it, another posted around the same time, which has almost 250,000 views. Rather than posting a LinkedIn update, being laid off is now lucrative content. On TikTok, the hashtag #layoffs has almost 60,000 videos. Many of these riff off the ubiquitous “Get Ready With Me (GRWM)” genre of content, in which creators showcase their hair, makeup, or outfit while chatting about their inner lives or zeitgeist-y topics. Some, like @mbraindump, go on to turn unemployment into a content series post-layoff. In an era of mass unemployment, layoffs are no longer seen as an individual failing. Instead, they are an unfortunate fact of life. For many, its not their first rodeo. Some are on their secondor even thirdlayoff in just one year. Amid the job losses, a new culture around layoffs has emerged. As more layoffs have hit in the past year, the stigma has lifted. Studies have shown that employees are more disengaged than ever, making them more inclined to hold their employers accountable, even on the way out. @mbraindumps video has received hundreds of comments of support and solidarity since it was posted. “Im so sorry. This sucks. These companies really dont view us as humans. Something has got to change. Sending you a hug!” one person wrote. “Living in this constant state of anxiety at your job is AWFUL. My God, they couldn’t have made this any less humane,” another commented. “Ive dealt with 2 layoffs within 12 months. I am really sorry youre in the club now,” a third commiserated. Of course, filming and posting workplace meetings to social mediafor former and future employers to seedoes come with some risk. It could give hiring managers pause, or even put severance packages at risk. And while watching others get laid off online might help destigmatize the process, it certainly doesnt make it any easier when a call with HR gets added to your calendar.
Category:
E-Commerce
Ann Hummond knew the office software like the back of her hand. Based in Yorkshire, England, she could untangle any spreadsheet snafu in her sleep. Over the past 23 years, she had worked her way up from a data entry clerk to her finance companys administrative director, quietly becoming the person everyone relied on when things went sideways. She was, in short, indispensable. And then, one Tuesday morning last year, during a quarterly team meeting attended by directors, colleagues, and a team leader, her bosswho is nearly 10 years her seniortold her publicly, in a roomful of people: Youre too old to do this job. I must have looked like a goldfish with my mouth open, says Hummond, whose name and location have been changed for job security reasons. I felt like I had been hit on the head with a shovel, she says. Hummond, who speaks about her experience for the U.K.s Age Without Limits campaign to raise awareness of ageism in England, says she didnt break down in the meeting. I didnt want to give him the pleasure of seeing how much he had hurt me, she says. Instead, she coolly finished her work day, gathered her belongings, and then went home and fell to pieces. Although she took two weeks off work, quitting at the age of 64 was not an option. I cant afford to give up working. I have lots of responsibilities and a family to support, and I need to build up more savings. She also knows the prospect of finding a new job often collides with the cold reality of age bias, and is still working at the company. Age discrimination is one of the last accepted prejudicestolerated in jokes, embedded in hiring, and often brushed off as pragmatism rather than bias. In the U.S., legislation against it has existed since the passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967. Yet, Between 1997 and 2024, the number of age discrimination charges filed with the EEOC exceeded 15,000 in every year except fourthree of which were right after the pandemic, which caused a dip in all employment discrimination litigation, says Nicole Buonocore Porter, law professor at William & Mary Law School. Research suggests ageism is underreported to begin with. Jobs, across cultures, are quietly coded by age. Regardless of industry, workers experience age discrimination across their careers: negative stereotypes, discriminatory recruitment processes, being passed over for training opportunities, not being recognized. Some studies suggest a staggering 77 to 93% of older adults report experiences with ageism, and 42% of hiring managers admit they consider age when reviewing résumés. And most insidious of all: it compounds mentally and emotionally for those experiencing it, to the point where they really do feel like they might be incapable of doing great things at work. Its illegal, its wrong, and its bad for business, says author, speaker and activist Ashton Applewhite. Older people make up the fastest-growing segment of the workforce, both because they need to work and because they want to. Everyone, everywhere, is living longer, and everyone is old or future old. Microaggressions, major consequences The rules are there, tucked neatly into HR handbooks and federal law. The trouble is, they rarely make it off the page, and holding people answerable is complicated. Weve made progress in policy awareness, but not in accountability, says Sheila Callaham, cofounder and board chair of Age Equity Alliance. Many policies that would strengthen age protections at work have languished in Congress for years, leaving outdated frameworks in place. Even when cases do make it to the courtroom, such as 63-year-old James Barrios recent lawsuit against Atmos Energy Corporation and its affiliate, Atmos Energy Services, LLC, there are myriad reasons his case, and many others like it, will probably fail. Most large employers require workers to agree to binding arbitration, which moves age discrimination claims out of court and into private proceedings, limiting transparency and reducing external enforcement of anti-age-bias rules, Callaham explains. Another reason may simply be because of how deeply we internalize socially constructed beliefs. A 2024 study found employees mimic the age discrimination they once experienced themselves, practicing negative observed and learned traits in a self-perpetuating cycle. Age discrimination varies from other types of discriminationspecifically race or ethnicity discrimination, and perhaps sex discriminationin that most age discrimination is not based on animus, but rather, it is based on stereotypes about declining competence as one ages, explains Porter. Age discrimination also persists because of the subtle, covert ways it slips into daily life. Ariane Froidevaux, associate professor of management at the University of Texas, Arlington, cautions research of overt age discrimination can overlook subtle “microinsults.” Seemingly innocuous comments like the once-ubiquitous Okay, Boomer! or Youre pretty tech-savvy for someone your age, she explains, can be insulting. Froidevauxs recent research about the changes in perceived age discrimination over time followed Swiss employees with the mean age of 42.64 over a six-year period. She examined how workers sensitivity to age discriminaton is shaped by their cognitive frameworks: Those who see the world as fundamentally fair”belief in a just world”appeared to be less sensitive, and less likely to perceive increasing age discrimination at work, she explains. Surprisingly, some older workers may also perceive decreased age discrimination over timenot necessarily because of a tangible reduction in patterns of behavior, but because, darkly enough, repeated exposure gradually numbs their response and desensitizes them. For instance, an older worker repeatedly passed over for high-profile projects may start to notice it less over time, as bias fades into background noise. Yet, even when repeated exposure lessens its sting, other research finds that age discrimination still quietly chips away at workers confidence and perceived work abilitymaking it one of the more insidious forms of bias. Hummond says it poisons even things like sick leave. My advice is try not to take too much time off for anything, she says. If you’re ill, you’re ill, but I feel judged in a way that youngsters aren’t.” Nothing personaland everyones next We know discrimination against older workers has impacts on their well-being, mental health, and motivation. But it reshapes workplace dynamics for others, too. When exclusion of a certain group is embedded into the work culture, the safety of belonging is threatened, explains Callaham, who calls this the “shadow threat” of ageism. She coined the term after a 31-year-old tech worker told her that his 38-year-old manager was stockpiling savings in case he was fired for “being too old,” stoking the younger employees own fears of being next. Collectively, this spawns a frenzied attitudeyoure never too young to start running out of time. What we can do Research suggests age diversity statements have a positive impact, while Applewhite makes a case for blind interviews. Many orchestras use blind auditions, where musicians perform behind a screen, in order to diversify their ranks. How about replicating this in business practice? Conducting virtual interviews with the camera off? Callaham adds debunking age stereotypes starts with awareness, which can in turn increase accountability. When organizations talk openly about how age bias shows up, theyre better able to build systems, habits, and expectations that make inclusion real, she says. Managers and HR professionals can do a lot to prevent age discrimination at work by modeling and adopting an age-inclusive culture, says Froidevaux. In Hummonds case, she was (and still is) the person the office turns to for her technical prowess and knowledge of the company, but things have turned pretty sour. Over the past year, her responsibilities have been reduced and flexible work arrangements withdrawn. I dont feel trusted, she says, Ill knock on a door and hear the conversation stop. For her colleagues, too, the atmosphere in the office is different, more guarded: You go in on a Monday and nobodys talking. With its innate universality, few realize how toxic age discrimination can make workplaces, with everyone wondering Whos next? Hummond keeps working, still indispensable, still sidelined. Im working down to retirement, but its not fun anymore, she says.
Category:
E-Commerce
If one founder is good, then more must be better, right? Not necessarily. New research shows that the benefits of cofounding a startup with strangers can be eclipsed by the risks. Yes, cofounders can bring their own perspectives, along with access to wider networks, greater capacity, and access to funding, says Monique Boddington, a management practice associate professor at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, whose research includes early-stage venture formation and startup strategy development. And yet: An increasing number of individuals have been setting up businesses with no intention of taking on employees, she explains. Thats because more people are identifying as solo entrepreneurssolopreneurs”since the pandemic, Boddington adds. And while the distinction between self-employed, freelancer, and solopreneur is still murky, the way to spot [solopreneurs] is whether their venture pursues novelty and scalable opportunity or mainly income replacement or replication, she says. For those running startups, many such workers are choosing to go it completely alone. In 2022, 84% of all U.S. firms had no employees, meaning there was just the one person running the business. These 29.8 million “nonemployer businesses” accounted for $1.7 trillion, or about 6.8% of the economy. And the momentum hasnt slowed; in 2023, Americans filed over 5.5 million new business applications, and Gustos 2025 New Business Formation survey suggests more than 4 in 5 small businesses in the U.S. have no employees. Why people do it According to the same Gusto survey, over 50% of solopreneurs cite career autonomybeing ones own boss”as the reason for adopting a lone wolf, owner-only business model. Many, like growth marketing consultant and content creator Kevin Fernando, do so because of the unmatched freedom it affords them. Fernando, who is the founder of Solopreneur Digital, where he helps entrepreneurs and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies grow, says that you get to move quickly, make decisions that align with your vision, and build something thats fully your own. Of course, going solo, and starting a venture with no cofounder or employees, doesnt come without its challenges. The flexibility and autonomy of being your own boss often come with the vulnerability of being on your own, says Filip Majetiæ, sociologist and senior researcher at the Ivo Pilar Institute in Croatia. While strong social support from family and friends can improve solopreneurs overall mental and physical health, he explains, this support does not buffer specific stress-related health problems such as exhaustion and headaches. Like many others, Fernando finds everything falls on him, and the constant context switching can be draining. When youre a solopreneur, youre not just the strategist. Youre the marketer, customer support, designer, and operations managerall rolled into one. You have to be self-motivated and resilient because theres no one else, he says. Thats especially the case if youre not sharing responsibilities with a cofounder in your ventures early days. But new research posits that this may be a good thing. Stranger danger Conventional wisdom would suggest that bringing on a cofounder with a vastly different network from your own leads to more potential funds, as the chances of overlap in who you know would be lower. While that may be true, an analysis of over 3,500 Kickstarter campaigns in a study titled, “The ‘Devil’ You Don’t Know,” reveals that new ventures that include strangers on the team are less than half as likely to deliver the product or service they pitched, and almost twice as likely to cease operations. Studies challenging beliefs that resilience is universally beneficial to entrepreneurial teams are gaining traction, suggesting the very advantages that seem so compelling on paper can also introduce frictionmaking teams less reflexive, slowing decision-making, and complicating execution. While having people with diverse skills and experience on a founding team has significant benefits, their ability to work together effectively is just as important, explains Kimberly A. Eddleston, the Schulze Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Montoni Research Fellow at the DAmore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. They need to be compatible, trustworthy, and able to communicate. Its one of businesss oldest truths: If you work with the right people, everything else falls into place. The problem? Nailing the people part of the equation is really hard. The limitations of going it alone Solopreneurship can be a great starting point to get an idea off the ground. A single person can bootstrap with greater resource efficiency, greater control, rapid iteration, and hire-in capabilities, Boddington says. But to scale, she explains, a team is critical. Founding teams are also more likely to attract funding in the first place, and the Kickstarter research revealed that teams comprised of strangers garnered more crowdfunding backers because they served as novel bridges to resources. Crucially, operational struggles (such as coordination breakdowns, delays in delivering promised products or services, differing work styles leading to relational uncertainty, misalignment of vision and goals, and potential early stage dissolution) appeared in teams with strangers in the boardroom, not businesses bound by strong family or friendship ties. Not all cofounders are a liability, Eddleston says. In ventures with family, for example, team members can rally quickly in a crisis, and [they] have a ‘survival’ advantage because family members are willing to work for below-market wages, and even for free, to keep their business float, she says. Still, entrepreneurs can thrive totally alone, without a cofounder or a team. With AI revolution, the next wave of entrepreneurship wont be about bigger teams, but smarter individualsAI-powered solopreneurs who turn technology into their growth partner, says Areti Gkypali, an assistant professor at Athens University of Economics and Business in Greece. The strategy has worked well for Fernando. By automating repetitive tasks and building systems to handle things like client communications, lead generation, and content distribution, hes shaved 20 to 25 hours off his workweek, freeing him to focus on strategic priorities. Ultimately, for anyone eyeing a new startup, its worth being strategic about who, if anyone, to partner with. As Fernando says: Its a lifestyle that rewards focus and leverage more than raw effort.
Category:
E-Commerce
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