If you suspect your boss is planning to fire you, TikToker Theresa Sue Mubenga shared the main signs to look for at work in order to find out if the thought is actually running through their mind.
Mubenga has acquired this knowledge over nine years in the corporate world, during which she has also been running a tech company.
“I’ve been in the professional sports tech sector for close to a decade just truly learning all about corporate,” she told Bored Panda.
“I always had ambitions to run my own firm, where I can look at corporations differently rather than as an employee or participant. Taking what I’ve learned, I consult corporations and people on how to navigate the tech space.”
Of course, being let go is not something we want to dwell on, but it’s definitely a situation we’d like to foresee. Especially in such uncertain times.
“I only speak on things that people have a hard time facing or addressing but we all share similar experiences. I’m just a vessel of expression.”
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Meet tech CEO and TikToker Theresa Sue Mubenga, who has been in the corporate world for 9 years
Image credits: resasue
Recently, she released a video about telltale signs that you’re getting fired, and it can help you take preemptive measures in such a situation
Image credits: resasue
“Don’t dwell on what could be happening,” Mubenga told Bored Panda. “Take action on what’s next for you. Redirection is the best for us at time.”
Since the 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent European debt crisis, economic and policy uncertainty has been increasing. It surged in 2016 and reached all-time highs in 2020 with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. It fell in 2021, as Covid-19 started to subside in many parts of the world, but has picked up again since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Economists believe that we’ll continue having global shocks and while each event is different, the common theme is greater geo-economic fragmentation and more polarized politics in the U.S. and Europe. These trends are powering the rise in global uncertainty and it doesn’t look like they are going away.
Under such circumstances, contingency planning can go a long way, and being able to tell what is happening in your workplace — in this case, whether or not management is planning to sack you — can mean the difference between making it out in one piece and rebounding and being crushed by the sudden bad news.
The video has since gone viral
@resasue Here is how to know you are about to be canned… #corporatetiktok #techtok #OverwatchMe #corporatetips ♬ original sound – Theresa Sue
And raised some questions, which Mubenga happily answered
Image credits: resasue
Roughly 50% of companies are anticipating a reduction in overall headcount, while 52% expect a hiring freeze and 44% rescinding job offers, according to a PwC survey of 722 U.S. executives fielded in early August.
However, it’s worth keeping in mind that these numbers are executives’ expectations for the next six months to a year, and therefore may change over time.
Job openings, a figure of employers’ demand for workers, saw a near-record monthly decline in August. Openings fell by 1.1 million to 10.1 million, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
Even though there are signs the hot job market is cooling, labor economists believe that workers still have bargaining power. At least for now.
There were 1.7 job openings per unemployed worker in August, down from nearly two openings per unemployed in July.
That said, job openings are still high by historical standards. “I’d say the job market still leans toward workers,” Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, said. “But because things are cooling off, we can’t guarantee that will continue moving forward.”
Here’s the follow up
@resasue Replying to @notrosynatalie are you getting fired? Whats a pip? #corporatelife #corporatetiktok #techtok ♬ original sound – Theresa Sue
Most people in the comments agreed with Mubenga’s assessment
The purpose of a PIP is to improve performance. I am proud to say I have only had two people not survive a PIP and it was because they refused to work with me. Everyone else I have had to perform a PIP did and at performance review they were listed as meets expectations because the expectation was for them to successfully complete their PIP. They all thought I would say they "need improvement" which I do not think would be fair to the process. And all leadership must remember - no one comes in and wants to do a "bad" job. As a leader we need to enable people to be their best self.
And one more thing- If a CEO does not believe in a PIP and giving people a chance to see what they are doing wrong and try to make themselves more valuable, it is a red flag you should quit.
But she's been in corporate for NINE years! Nine!
Load More Replies...I’ve been in the corporate world for 12 years and have issued PIPs to help employees after spending the better part of a year trying to engage them and motivate them before using the PIP as a last resort. The intention is to not fire those employees and when I commented on this tiktokers videos about how she is spreading misinformation, she blocked me within minutes. It just goes to show what kind of “manager” she really is.
This is not true across the board. Many companies and agencies use the PIP as an effort to save poorly performing employees who genuinely want to improve so that they don't have to fire them. It''s a tool to save people's jobs and the view presented here is pretty cynical.
Agreed. I mentioned something similar on her video and she blocked me
Load More Replies...I don't know where you are, but I know this opinion is trash right now. Pity us for bad leadership and a nation of hippies turned warmongers maybe, but not for our business.
Load More Replies...I survived my PIP, my old manager was a b***h that felt threatened. I ended up getting her written up for telling my new Boss about the PIP after I was off probation so he would not hire me.
I survived mine too. Long enough to take voluntary redundancy during Covid :)
Load More Replies...Survived and pip and rescinded all trust in that company and loyalty. I do still work there and managers now talk about how they like me. I found a side contract to transition to if needed and took all of the materials I created and use off the shared network drive. Reason I don’t quit is the company is paying some super expensive training and if I leave I owe them a ton of money. Coincidentally if they fire me, they are out of a ton of money
“Discipline is something you do to HELP people,” and that’s what most PIPs are for. However, oftentimes the organization will need to downsize (due to choices/mistakes made by upper managers who won’t be the ones facing consequences) and employees (often already victims of wage theft since their overtime-exempted salary jobs do not meet the US Department of Labor definition) need to be fired “for cause” so as to further exempt them of unemployment benefits. PIP sets them up to fail in such a way as to protect the company profits.
This happened to my wife. Boss asked her what loans she was working on and to give her the list. Then some lady comes through the office floor and says to the people she’s showing around “‘ these are the offices you’ll be renting”. My wife was known as the fixer of bad loans and saved this company millions of dollars over 8 years. F’ them.
Always watch the corporate strategy. If your department or your team does not seem valued, get your resume ready. If you get moved around for similar reasons, get ready. If you have too many issues with your manager or others. Get ready. Be ready before it happens.
Performance improvement plan. It's in one sentence near the bottom.
Load More Replies...The purpose of a PIP is to improve performance. I am proud to say I have only had two people not survive a PIP and it was because they refused to work with me. Everyone else I have had to perform a PIP did and at performance review they were listed as meets expectations because the expectation was for them to successfully complete their PIP. They all thought I would say they "need improvement" which I do not think would be fair to the process. And all leadership must remember - no one comes in and wants to do a "bad" job. As a leader we need to enable people to be their best self.
And one more thing- If a CEO does not believe in a PIP and giving people a chance to see what they are doing wrong and try to make themselves more valuable, it is a red flag you should quit.
But she's been in corporate for NINE years! Nine!
Load More Replies...I’ve been in the corporate world for 12 years and have issued PIPs to help employees after spending the better part of a year trying to engage them and motivate them before using the PIP as a last resort. The intention is to not fire those employees and when I commented on this tiktokers videos about how she is spreading misinformation, she blocked me within minutes. It just goes to show what kind of “manager” she really is.
This is not true across the board. Many companies and agencies use the PIP as an effort to save poorly performing employees who genuinely want to improve so that they don't have to fire them. It''s a tool to save people's jobs and the view presented here is pretty cynical.
Agreed. I mentioned something similar on her video and she blocked me
Load More Replies...I don't know where you are, but I know this opinion is trash right now. Pity us for bad leadership and a nation of hippies turned warmongers maybe, but not for our business.
Load More Replies...I survived my PIP, my old manager was a b***h that felt threatened. I ended up getting her written up for telling my new Boss about the PIP after I was off probation so he would not hire me.
I survived mine too. Long enough to take voluntary redundancy during Covid :)
Load More Replies...Survived and pip and rescinded all trust in that company and loyalty. I do still work there and managers now talk about how they like me. I found a side contract to transition to if needed and took all of the materials I created and use off the shared network drive. Reason I don’t quit is the company is paying some super expensive training and if I leave I owe them a ton of money. Coincidentally if they fire me, they are out of a ton of money
“Discipline is something you do to HELP people,” and that’s what most PIPs are for. However, oftentimes the organization will need to downsize (due to choices/mistakes made by upper managers who won’t be the ones facing consequences) and employees (often already victims of wage theft since their overtime-exempted salary jobs do not meet the US Department of Labor definition) need to be fired “for cause” so as to further exempt them of unemployment benefits. PIP sets them up to fail in such a way as to protect the company profits.
This happened to my wife. Boss asked her what loans she was working on and to give her the list. Then some lady comes through the office floor and says to the people she’s showing around “‘ these are the offices you’ll be renting”. My wife was known as the fixer of bad loans and saved this company millions of dollars over 8 years. F’ them.
Always watch the corporate strategy. If your department or your team does not seem valued, get your resume ready. If you get moved around for similar reasons, get ready. If you have too many issues with your manager or others. Get ready. Be ready before it happens.
Performance improvement plan. It's in one sentence near the bottom.
Load More Replies...
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