Cloudflare Employee Shares Layoff Experience on Social Media
A Cloudflare employee documented her layoff process on social media, sparking discussions about workplace practices and transparency.
Charlie Kennedy
- 2024-01-12
- Updated 12:07 PM ET
(NewsNibs) - Brittany Pietsch, a former mid-market account executive at Cloudflare, shared a TikTok video that has since gone viral, showcasing her being fired over a call from HR. The video, titled "POV: You're about to get laid off," has obtained over 160,000 views and features an approximately 10-minute conversation with two HR executives. Pietsch, who had been with Cloudflare for three and a half months, was informed during the call that she had not met performance expectations. The layoff notice was not only shared on TikTok but also on LinkedIn, where Pietsch provided additional information about her termination. The Cloudflare CEO, Matthew Prince, later commented that the company cut around 40 salespeople from their 1,500 staff in the last quarter, acknowledging that the call with Pietsch could have been handled in a kinder manner.
Community Reactions and Corporate Commentary
The revelation has attracted attention from social media users, especially on TikTok and Reddit, where Pietsch has been lauded for her composure during the call. Comments from the online community highlight Pietsch's sales skills and suggest that she displayed professionalism under pressure. Meanwhile, Cloudflare has stated through a spokesperson that no widespread layoffs are occurring and that the company engages in regular performance reviews to decide on employee statuses. This incident has brought forward discussions on corporate transparency and layoffs, with experts like Erica Rivera, a career coach, explaining that on average 3.1 months are required to fully ramp up a new sales employee.
Experts Weigh In on Social Media Sharing of Workplace Issues
The sharing of layoff experiences in public domains has prompted responses from various professionals. Ben Voyer, a Business School professor and founder of the Gen Z Observatory, remarked on the generational shift towards expectations of transparency within the workplace. However, HR expert Daniel Space highlighted the potential risks associated with recording and publishing such conversations, indicating that companies might respond by withholding severance pay or taking other actions. A Cloudflare spokesperson emphasized the company's disapproval of such recordings being shared publicly, particularly in states requiring two-party consent for recording conversations.
The video's impact has continued to unfold as users and experts debate the appropriateness and possible repercussions of sharing such private corporate matters on social media. Brittany Pietsch was contacted for further comments on the issue but did not immediately respond. This instance underscores the evolving dynamics of employer-employee relationships in the digital age, as well as the balancing act between personal expression and professional discretion.
