Karlee Rea had a intestine feeling she was going to get laid off.
In February, there have been whispers amongst coworkers that layoffs had been coming for workers at LTK, the creator e-commerce platform the place Rea labored for almost 5 years. The Dallas-based 26-year-old determined to vlog her day: She awakened early, hit the fitness center. Then it was time for work. Seems, Rea’s intestine feeling proved to be appropriate.
That morning, she was a part of workers cuts that the corporate mentioned impacted a “low, single-digit percentage of LTK’s overall head count,” from software program engineers to creator-facing roles. Rea determined to incorporate the devastating growth in her vlog.
“This was my first big-girl job after school. I by no means actually noticed myself doing the rest,” Rea said in the video. “I do not know what tomorrow will appear to be, however I do know that I’ll be taking you guys alongside each step of the way in which.”
That video has greater than 18,000 views and dozens of feedback from different just lately laid-off individuals who apparently can relate. Seeing the response, Rea determined to begin posting movies as a part of an “unemployment diaries” collection on daily basis for a month: In them, she talks about doomscrolling on LinkedIn and touchdown interviews—solely to have the joy of latest alternatives slip away when rejections land in her inbox.
“Immediately is three for 3 for [job] rejections,” Rea mentioned on day 20. “Immediately simply left me feeling actually defeated.”
Rea’s not alone. There are greater than 400,000 TikTok posts with the hashtag #unemployed; some 800 of them bear the hashtag #unemploymentdiaries.
The pattern displays the bigger struggles younger persons are experiencing in at the moment’s workforce: In February, the unemployment rate for Gen Z was at 8.3%—double the nationwide common. Entry-level jobs seem to be vanishing. Gen Z adults are relying on their parents for monetary help. Extra younger professionals are selecting up side hustles to remain afloat.
Mar Rosa, a public relations skilled from New York Metropolis, was laid off from a midsize company again in December. “You simply by no means actually suppose it’ll occur to you,” she advised Quick Firm. “At first I used to be like, fully candidly, ‘Holy shit, my life is over.’” After spending the night time crying, she determined to submit a video of what a day within the lifetime of a newly unemployed 25-year-old seems to be like.
In her videos, she talks in regards to the methods she retains a way of normalcy amid the hours spent job searching—like working errands along with her mother and going to the fitness center. “It’s essential that [since] I not have a 9-to-5 that I’ve some type of consistency inside my routine,” she mentioned in a single submit.
At first Mar—who requested to be recognized by her on-line nickname—felt embarrassed about being unemployed. However after posting her first video to TikTok, she mentioned mates reached out to her sharing their very own struggles with a shaky job market. “There are some not-so-glamorous issues to life, and being laid off is one in all them,” she mentioned.
Posting her unemployment diaries on TikTok has introduced advantages, too, like serving to Mar get out of her condominium, really feel productive, and even apply to extra jobs.
Between a shrinking pool of alternatives and an inflow of “ghost jobs” (positions firms submit however don’t have any rapid intent to fill), job seekers might really feel an rising sense that securing a full-time function is out of attain.
“The job market is so exhausting, and it’s actually intense,” Mar mentioned. “No person tells you ways a lot of a full-time job it’s to discover a job.”
When she’s not spending hours on LinkedIn, Mar stays afloat by counting on help from household, unemployment sources, and aspect hustles (together with babysitting on weekends, which she mentioned covers a couple of third of her electrical energy invoice).
Sabel Harris, a 36-year-old marketing skilled from Washington, D.C., labored at an ed-tech firm earlier than her function was eradicated in February. That, after having already been impacted by layoffs at a fintech firm in 2025, led Harris to begin her personal “unemployment diary” on-line.
“There’s quite a lot of grief round it,” Harris advised Quick Firm. “Folks will discuss find out how to search for a job, however I don’t suppose lots of people are naming the feelings behind it.”
Sharing her day-to-day life on TikTok to her viewers of 10,000-plus followers has allowed Harris to really feel much less alone and remoted in her expertise, she mentioned. In one video, she talked in regards to the totally different aspect hustles she’s taken on to satisfy her hire, like promoting garments on Poshmark. “You will be within the thick of it and nonetheless be transferring,” she mentioned within the clip.
Since posting movies on TikTok, Harris has landed a couple of paid partnerships with manufacturers. She additionally makes a couple of dollars right here and there from internet affiliate marketing, although it’s not sufficient to cowl the cost of living.
Nevertheless it’s not all doom and gloom on the unemployment TikTok entrance. Many creators are capable of kind communities on the platform and even make skilled connections. They provide help, evaluation résumés, and share interviewing suggestions and job leads. And when employment gives ultimately do come, they’re there to rejoice one another.
“There’s a complete world on the market of this taking place to so many different individuals,” Rea mentioned. “We actually are capable of share one another’s plight of getting laid off.”
