Staff events on Friday nights were bad news even at the best of times. But nearly three years after a pandemic with a workforce turned hybrid, they’re even worse.
One TikToker said she came to work IRL and for drinks – and no one was there, per The daily dot – not even virtual.
“Not even the HR manager who… [organized] it came in,” she wrote in the caption.
The video shows TikToker @kawaiiprincessv looking at an invite to “Barefoot Fridays I Office Drinks” from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM.
“Come back to the office for the culture,” the TikToker captioned the video, suggesting that an employer or leader had said something similar.
@kawaiiprincessv Even the HR manager who organized it didn’t come in #office humor #back to the office #office culture #officelife ♬ Don’t worry, be hurt – that’s where I screwed up
Then they showed the time, 4:47 p.m. “The culture,” she captioned the video — with a photo of the empty office.
The TikTok was posted around 3 a.m. EST. The video showed a dial-up connection to an Australian number, possibly indicating that the creator or company is based here. That would put TikTok’s posting time at approximately 6:00 PM Melbourne time.
Two people even responded to the event as virtual attendees.
“Can confirm the 2 virtuals were not shown. Must have gotten stuck in traffic or something,” the author joked in the comments.
“I can drink at 430 at home (and I do) without worrying about my ride home,” commented another person.
As work rearranges itself for the post-pandemic laptop set, companies have endlessly debated hybrid versus in-person versus completely remote. Some have tried to convince employees to come back to the office with perks or to collaborate more, to mockery or employee anger.
The return to office data from Kastle Systems shows a weekly occupancy rate in 10 US cities, based on average swipe-ins, of 47.4%.
“Office occupancy has stabilized again this week,” the security company wrote.
