A graduate who went mega-viral with a tearful reaction to her first 9-to-5 job says she's been laid off

• Brielle Asero blew up online when she shared a tearful reaction to her first job out of college.

• Now, she says she was laid off from the role, and is not optimistic about finding another.

• Asero said she did everything right, yet has no savings to fall back on.

A college graduate who blew up online after sharing her struggles with working life has announced on TikTok she was laid off.

In October, 21-year-old Brielle Asero went mega-viral and made headlines when she posted a tearful video calling out the struggles of the 9-to-5 work culture she was experiencing for the first time.

In the upload, which has received 3.4 million views to date, Asero, who had recently started a corporate position in the New York area, said the office life and commute meant she had no time or energy by the time she got home.

The video received a mixed reaction online. Some criticized Asero's take, while many more came to her defense, and called out similar issues with the 40-hour workweek.

At the time, Asero told Business Insider in an email statement that she was very grateful to have a job, but that "it is discouraging and understandable why Americans are burnt out and mental illness levels are high."

On December 16, Asero posted once again to TikTok and said she had been laid off from her role, which she said had taken her five months to find and she had moved to New York City for.

Asero said she had been let go from the start-up as they "didn't have the workload or the bandwidth" to train her or give her the work she was hired to do.

In an email statement to BI, she said the layoff had "absolutely nothing to do" with her previous viral video, and said there were "no hard feelings."

In her video, she said her former boss had praised her performance and she expected a good reference.

Still, Asero told her followers she needed a new role by January 2, and she wasn't optimistic about her chances given many companies would pause recruiting over the holiday period.

She also listed all of her achievements including obtaining a degree, working internships, and building a portfolio, but said she still found the idea of re-entering the job application process daunting.

"I have done everything I possibly could have, and it's still not enough," she said.

Asero said she was considering getting a job as a nanny or a server while she waited to see if she could find a new marketing role. She said she barely had enough money to live on in her past 9-to-5 job, which meant she had no savings to fall back on.

She's not alone — over 50% of Gen Zers don't have enough emergency savings to last them three months, according to a survey conducted by Bank of America earlier this year.

Asero's upload received 440,000 views and over 1,580 comments, many of which sympathized with her position, including some who wrote they had also been the subject of layoffs that impacted various industries this year, and encouraged the TikToker to keep trying for a new position.

She told BI she made the video to connect with other people who had a similar experience. "There's so many college graduates being laid off and it's upsetting," she said.

The company Asero was listed as working for on her LinkedIn profile did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

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