After Woman Films Herself Getting Fired From Company, CEO Breaks Silence On “Painful” Mistake
A CEO admitted his company’s mistake of lacking humanity when they fired a woman who had gone viral for posting the moment she was laid off on social media.
The video in question saw former employee Brittany Pietsch filming herself while on a video call with two admins.
The clip was uploaded by a second party on the alexyardigans TikTok account, which posts a variety of different videos, and amassed 3.4 million views since it was posted on Friday (January 12).
In the video, the title reads: “Brittany Pietsch, an account executive at Cloudflare, records her layoff experience,” accompanied by a subhead just under it that reads: “POV (point of view): you’re about to get laid off.”
Brittany Pietsch filmed herself getting fired while on a video call, sparking a response from the company’s CEO
Image credits: brittanypeachhh
Brittany seemingly expected the meeting was coming, as she explained in the clip that a number of her colleagues had been “getting random 15-minute call invites all day,” likely getting fired.
As Brittany opened her video call, another subtext explained that her best friend at work had gotten a call to get sacked just 30 minutes before her own virtual meeting.
In the clip, Brittany is subsequently shown speaking to two different voices belonging to people she alleges she didn’t know: “a woman from HR (human resources) and a director man I’ve never heard of.”
As the director could be heard starting his statement and blaming her performance, Brittany cut him off and boldly exclaimed: “Yes, I’m gonna stop you right there,” which she followed in the clip with a text that read: “I wanted to stand up for myself, because what did I have to lose?”
“It must be very easy for you to have these little 10, 15 minute meetings, tell someone that they’re fired, and then that’s it with no explanation,” she told the IT company
Image credits: brittanypeachhh
The discouraged worker went off to explain that she has had the “highest activity on her team” and “done a really great job managing her deals.”
In the video, Brittany asked why she was faced with two strangers rather than her manager, whom she said had given her nothing but positive feedback.
Throughout the call, the now ex-Cloudflare employee was seen trying to understand why she was being laid off without receiving any concrete answers.
In the video, she told them: “It must be very easy for you to have these little 10, 15 minute meetings, tell someone that they’re fired, completely wreck their whole life, and then that’s it with no explanation – that’s extremely traumatizing for people if you can imagine that.”
Brittany expected the meeting was coming, as she explained in the clip that a number of her colleagues had been “getting random 15-minute call invites all day”
Image credits: brittanypeachhh
Watch Brittany “stand up for herself” while getting fired from Cloudflare below
@brittanypeachhh Original creator reposting: brittany peach cloudflare layoff. When you know you’re about to get laid off so you film it :) this was traumatizing honestly lmao #cloudflare #techlayoffs #tech #layoff ♬ original sound – Brittany Pietsch
The representatives, who we later learned from the clip were called Dom and Rosie, replied: “I don’t think there’s anything we can say at this moment or today, Brittany, that’s going to change the way that you feel. Again, it’s understandable, I’m taking notes and feedback. We’ll circle back.”
Cloudflare is an American company that provides content delivery network services, cloud cybersecurity, and other IT services.
Taking to her LinkedIn page, Brittany revealed that her manager had no idea this was happening. She wrote: “My manager was just as blindsided as I was. On the call, you can hear the HR rep admit that they could not attest to what my manager has said about my performance.”
She further stated: “On the call, I was not attempting to save my job, but only trying to understand exactly why I was being let go in the way that I was. I felt like I was in the twilight zone.”
The disappointed account executive questioned: “We as employees are expected to give 2 weeks’ notice and yet we don’t deserve even a sliver of respect when the roles are reversed?”
Upon viewing the now-viral video, the company’s CEO, Matthew Prince, responded to the backlash.
“The mistake was not being as kind and humane as we were,” the company’s CEO, Matthew Prince, said in response to the backlash
Image credits: eastdakota
He also admitted that he found the viral video “painful” to watch
We fired ~40 sales people out of over 1,500 in our go to market org. That’s a normal quarter. When we’re doing performance management right, we can often tell within 3 months or less of a sales hire, even during the holidays, whether they’re going to be successful or not. Sadly,…
— Matthew Prince 🌥 (@eastdakota) January 12, 2024
Taking to his X account (formerly known as Twitter), he wrote: “We fired ~40 sales people out of over 1,500 in our go-to-market org. That’s a normal quarter.
“When we’re doing performance management right, we can often tell within 3 months or less of a sales hire, even during the holidays, whether they’re going to be successful or not. Sadly, we don’t hire perfectly. We try to fire perfectly.”
He continued: “The video is painful for me to watch. Managers should always be involved. HR should be involved, but it shouldn’t be outsourced to them, no employee should ever actually be surprised they weren’t performing. We don’t always get it right.”
The CEO also committed to handling such situations better in the future. Matthew said: “Any healthy org needs to get the people who aren’t performing off. That wasn’t the mistake here.
“The mistake was not being as kind and humane as we were. And that’s something @zatlyn [Michelle Zatlyn – COO of Cloudflare] and I am focused on improving going forward.”
Many readers blamed HR for the poor delivery
Valerie Vadala, an experienced global talent acquisition leader told Forbes: “There were a few missteps here. I think the biggest is that her manager was not present.”
After seeing Brittany’s TikTok, Valerie explained to the publication: “It’s a sign of leadership to be present and to let the employee know that the company realizes it is personal.
“It’s incredibly painful to be laid off. To make it something cold and transactional is denying the reality that you have just gut-punched a person’s career trajectory.”
The HR executive further said that Brittany’s firing was “incredibly egregious” by making it performance-based. “If you are doing a companywide layoff, which this clearly was, don’t make it about performance,” she added.
Some readers thought the incident was the product of “feral capitalism at work”
Getting let go for performance reasons is fine, but you need to have the metrics to back it up. If you're letting someone go because you're cutting resources based on anything, like random selection, compensation, etc. All you have to do is let the folks know why. That's all she wanted, that and to hear it from someone she actually had worked with in the past 3 months. Having an assassin squad is never a good look.
When I watched Up In The Air I thought the assassin squad thing was fake. Lesson learned: never underestimate how low an American corporation will stoop.
Load More Replies...
The CEO told on himself: they always have a quota of rank and yank. She was brought on three months before their annual budget was used up, then let go. They know people try extra hard at the beginning, and then blame themselves for failure. Human Resources exploits human nature. She expected a real job, but this was no more than those carloads of kids they drive around to knock on doors and sell magazine subscriptions
I guess they don't have to give a reason for firing someone where she is (US?). That must be super frustrating. If you get fired here in Germany they have to give you a reason (and it has to be in writing) and that reason also needs to hold up to the laws. Otherwise you can sue for compensation or reinstatement.
I was fired for being pregnant, despite being the 2nd top performer in my office. In many states, it's completely legal to fire anyone without giving a reason. It's very frustrating. The U.S. has few laws protecting workers, and any time a bill is brought up to change that it gets dismissed almost immediately. What's really sad is it's very cheap to buy a politician. If workers banded together we could easily buy a few senators.
Load More Replies...
There is no pit of Hell deep enough for this person: "Getting fired is tough, but it’s important to handle it with dignity. Firing someone is also hard, requiring compassion and respect. Total disaster on both sides here." The terminated employee remained respectful and kept her questions relevant. The answers to her questions are simply, "We don't know; we didn't care enough to find out. We don't know of any authority we have to reverse the decision, but see no reason why we question our blindly followed orders. After all, you're only a little-s**t peasant; you don't deserve answers or truth or fairness."
I don’t understand why some people have to be rude. Finding a decent job in this economy is hard and when you’re finally land a job and you work hard only to be let go it is traumatizing. I use to work collections, do you know how many people just had bought a car because they thought their new job was it only to be fired months later? I swear lack of empathy is something in this society that makes me wonder are we even human. I’m impressed with her for standing up for herself. Being fired over performance can hinder her search for a new job so it’s best if they’re honest.
Maybe it's different in the US, but in the UK if the manager has been giving only positive feedback and then the person is fired for poor performance, and not by said manager, what you have is a legal case for unfair dismissal. At appraisals and exits, there should never be any surprises: they rubber stamp what has been said already.
The CEO had nothing to apologize for. She hadn't closed one deal. She is a sales person for goodness sake. Also she lacks integrity. Recording a video without letting the other party know so that she could throw a pity party on social media. I would never hire someone like this and the good news is that she has just ruled herself out for virtually every job for which she will apply in the future since every recuriter worth their salt starts with a Google search.
She recorded her dismissal and posted to TikTok. Now she's get to relive a painful life moment for years. Sounds very therapeutic.
Every time someone posts something like this, it's a benefit to society. Workers, especially younger ones, get clued in to how employers operate, and are better able to look out for themselves. I don't know what her intentions were for herself, and likely neither do you, but I'm willing to bet that part of her intention was to inform her peers.
Load More Replies... Please stop posting tiktoks. The content is boring and bad. Nobody likes them.
Ah good old America. Here in the UK getting fired for "performance issues" without any evidence of how these 'issues' have been calculated, how they have been communicated to the employee, and how they have been reviewed over a reasonable amount of time through performance management processes in order to allow the employee a fair chance to address those issues would straight-up land a company in court for unfair dismissal. And if it wasn't a problem with an individuals' performance, but a necessity for the company to cut back on employees, they would have to follow a statutory redundancy process- 90 days notice and a legal commitment to not back-fill the the now-redundant post. Sometimes it's nice to live in a civilised country.
I don't know who in the corporate world ever gets fired by anyone other than HR. I've been laid off twice in my career. The first time, some rando came over to me with a cardboard box and said I had 30 minutes to pack and go. The second was a call from HR saying I was being laid off. Both times it was because the company sold, but my manager was not involved in the letting go at all.
Reminds me of the movie "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. Short version: he worked for a company that 'fired' people. Up and comer new hire decides it's more cost efficient to do the process by video (coughZoomcough) vs having an in-person human element. The idea is sacked after a fired employee jumps off a bridge - which she says she's going to do in the interview. Guess they were on to something. Classic line I still remember is "How much did they pay you to give up on your dream?"
If this happens to you, document it, and use the HR call to negotiate better severance. This is the only time you’ll have any leverage.
I’ve been through this twice. The first time, after exceeds expectations reviews, I had a meeting scheduled w/the lead medic, w/whom I hardly ever worked. Call starts, and HR is on it. Medic starts in with we’re letting you go, it’s a “bad fit,” etc. the bad fit is he disliked me bc I asked questions. I asked why my manager wasn’t doing this and was told she wasn’t available. Later learned she so massively disagreed so she refused to participate. Boo effin hoo. Have the balls to break the bad news and say you wouldn’t have made this decision. I know there’s no point in arguing, so I interrupt and ask HR to tell me what the severance package is. Ended up negotiating 8 months pay and full company insurance plus a positive reference. Exercised my options at $15and company is currently at $6.23 and has had almost complete turnover.
they're just f****n around trying to hide the fact that corporate doesn't care about anything or anyone. They wanted to dump some staff without a thought, so they sent some snakes to try to make it look nice. If you can fire anyone at any time without explanation, you don't have to bother calculating your hiring. Simple as that. Laziness and irresponsibility. For-profit parasites don't care if they threaten the livelihoods of slave drones, as they hire and fire without regard for survival needs, because the profit motive doesn't produce responsible co-operative members of society, it produces predators, beholden to no one but themselves. The solution is to support our people's survival needs as a collective with a UBI. THEN people can dabble in private businesses to make some extra luxury income. That way death by starvation is no longer a factor in what should be an amicable business negotiation. Improving everything for everyone; As a wealthy working class IS the economy.
I'm Canadian so I'm not sure how it works there, but I know most companies here (like mine) have a 90 day period when you start that's like a trial period. You can be fired without cause within the 90 days, so you'll see a lot of people, probably like this woman, fired on the 89th day, because then they don't have to pay benefits or anything
At least she's worked over 3 months so she should definitely get unemployment. I've been let go for no reason before, it is important that you establish there is no valid reason you're being fired; nothing you did wrong.
I kinda have the same experience.. Praised for my performance then laid off.. But, that is life..
she says, she says, she says and has no evidence to back up any of her claims. She says the manager gave her good reviews - they aren't there to support that assertion. She says she's the best of her team (who seemingly also all got fired) best of the worst isn't all that great is it? I lost count of how many times she admits to not closing any sales in her time there, blames it on holidays but states she came on in late August. Not closing ANY sales basically makes you a waste of resources better spent on people who can get the job done. They aren't wrong - they tried her, she failed at meeting their expectations and was let go. 3 months is a pretty standard 'trial' period and by my math, they gave her 4.
i mean she won’t let them finish a sentence, she’s acting like a child trying to impress people but she’s got zero clue
Getting let go for performance reasons is fine, but you need to have the metrics to back it up. If you're letting someone go because you're cutting resources based on anything, like random selection, compensation, etc. All you have to do is let the folks know why. That's all she wanted, that and to hear it from someone she actually had worked with in the past 3 months. Having an assassin squad is never a good look.
When I watched Up In The Air I thought the assassin squad thing was fake. Lesson learned: never underestimate how low an American corporation will stoop.
Load More Replies... The CEO told on himself: they always have a quota of rank and yank. She was brought on three months before their annual budget was used up, then let go. They know people try extra hard at the beginning, and then blame themselves for failure. Human Resources exploits human nature. She expected a real job, but this was no more than those carloads of kids they drive around to knock on doors and sell magazine subscriptions
I guess they don't have to give a reason for firing someone where she is (US?). That must be super frustrating. If you get fired here in Germany they have to give you a reason (and it has to be in writing) and that reason also needs to hold up to the laws. Otherwise you can sue for compensation or reinstatement.
I was fired for being pregnant, despite being the 2nd top performer in my office. In many states, it's completely legal to fire anyone without giving a reason. It's very frustrating. The U.S. has few laws protecting workers, and any time a bill is brought up to change that it gets dismissed almost immediately. What's really sad is it's very cheap to buy a politician. If workers banded together we could easily buy a few senators.
Load More Replies... There is no pit of Hell deep enough for this person: "Getting fired is tough, but it’s important to handle it with dignity. Firing someone is also hard, requiring compassion and respect. Total disaster on both sides here." The terminated employee remained respectful and kept her questions relevant. The answers to her questions are simply, "We don't know; we didn't care enough to find out. We don't know of any authority we have to reverse the decision, but see no reason why we question our blindly followed orders. After all, you're only a little-s**t peasant; you don't deserve answers or truth or fairness."
I don’t understand why some people have to be rude. Finding a decent job in this economy is hard and when you’re finally land a job and you work hard only to be let go it is traumatizing. I use to work collections, do you know how many people just had bought a car because they thought their new job was it only to be fired months later? I swear lack of empathy is something in this society that makes me wonder are we even human. I’m impressed with her for standing up for herself. Being fired over performance can hinder her search for a new job so it’s best if they’re honest.
Maybe it's different in the US, but in the UK if the manager has been giving only positive feedback and then the person is fired for poor performance, and not by said manager, what you have is a legal case for unfair dismissal. At appraisals and exits, there should never be any surprises: they rubber stamp what has been said already.
The CEO had nothing to apologize for. She hadn't closed one deal. She is a sales person for goodness sake. Also she lacks integrity. Recording a video without letting the other party know so that she could throw a pity party on social media. I would never hire someone like this and the good news is that she has just ruled herself out for virtually every job for which she will apply in the future since every recuriter worth their salt starts with a Google search.
She recorded her dismissal and posted to TikTok. Now she's get to relive a painful life moment for years. Sounds very therapeutic.
Every time someone posts something like this, it's a benefit to society. Workers, especially younger ones, get clued in to how employers operate, and are better able to look out for themselves. I don't know what her intentions were for herself, and likely neither do you, but I'm willing to bet that part of her intention was to inform her peers.
Load More Replies... Please stop posting tiktoks. The content is boring and bad. Nobody likes them.
Ah good old America. Here in the UK getting fired for "performance issues" without any evidence of how these 'issues' have been calculated, how they have been communicated to the employee, and how they have been reviewed over a reasonable amount of time through performance management processes in order to allow the employee a fair chance to address those issues would straight-up land a company in court for unfair dismissal. And if it wasn't a problem with an individuals' performance, but a necessity for the company to cut back on employees, they would have to follow a statutory redundancy process- 90 days notice and a legal commitment to not back-fill the the now-redundant post. Sometimes it's nice to live in a civilised country.
I don't know who in the corporate world ever gets fired by anyone other than HR. I've been laid off twice in my career. The first time, some rando came over to me with a cardboard box and said I had 30 minutes to pack and go. The second was a call from HR saying I was being laid off. Both times it was because the company sold, but my manager was not involved in the letting go at all.
Reminds me of the movie "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. Short version: he worked for a company that 'fired' people. Up and comer new hire decides it's more cost efficient to do the process by video (coughZoomcough) vs having an in-person human element. The idea is sacked after a fired employee jumps off a bridge - which she says she's going to do in the interview. Guess they were on to something. Classic line I still remember is "How much did they pay you to give up on your dream?"
If this happens to you, document it, and use the HR call to negotiate better severance. This is the only time you’ll have any leverage.
I’ve been through this twice. The first time, after exceeds expectations reviews, I had a meeting scheduled w/the lead medic, w/whom I hardly ever worked. Call starts, and HR is on it. Medic starts in with we’re letting you go, it’s a “bad fit,” etc. the bad fit is he disliked me bc I asked questions. I asked why my manager wasn’t doing this and was told she wasn’t available. Later learned she so massively disagreed so she refused to participate. Boo effin hoo. Have the balls to break the bad news and say you wouldn’t have made this decision. I know there’s no point in arguing, so I interrupt and ask HR to tell me what the severance package is. Ended up negotiating 8 months pay and full company insurance plus a positive reference. Exercised my options at $15and company is currently at $6.23 and has had almost complete turnover.
they're just f****n around trying to hide the fact that corporate doesn't care about anything or anyone. They wanted to dump some staff without a thought, so they sent some snakes to try to make it look nice. If you can fire anyone at any time without explanation, you don't have to bother calculating your hiring. Simple as that. Laziness and irresponsibility. For-profit parasites don't care if they threaten the livelihoods of slave drones, as they hire and fire without regard for survival needs, because the profit motive doesn't produce responsible co-operative members of society, it produces predators, beholden to no one but themselves. The solution is to support our people's survival needs as a collective with a UBI. THEN people can dabble in private businesses to make some extra luxury income. That way death by starvation is no longer a factor in what should be an amicable business negotiation. Improving everything for everyone; As a wealthy working class IS the economy.
I'm Canadian so I'm not sure how it works there, but I know most companies here (like mine) have a 90 day period when you start that's like a trial period. You can be fired without cause within the 90 days, so you'll see a lot of people, probably like this woman, fired on the 89th day, because then they don't have to pay benefits or anything
At least she's worked over 3 months so she should definitely get unemployment. I've been let go for no reason before, it is important that you establish there is no valid reason you're being fired; nothing you did wrong.
I kinda have the same experience.. Praised for my performance then laid off.. But, that is life..
she says, she says, she says and has no evidence to back up any of her claims. She says the manager gave her good reviews - they aren't there to support that assertion. She says she's the best of her team (who seemingly also all got fired) best of the worst isn't all that great is it? I lost count of how many times she admits to not closing any sales in her time there, blames it on holidays but states she came on in late August. Not closing ANY sales basically makes you a waste of resources better spent on people who can get the job done. They aren't wrong - they tried her, she failed at meeting their expectations and was let go. 3 months is a pretty standard 'trial' period and by my math, they gave her 4.
i mean she won’t let them finish a sentence, she’s acting like a child trying to impress people but she’s got zero clue
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