QuitTok: Workers are quitting on camera for viral TikTok trend

People are quitting their jobs on camera and sometimes earning millions of views in the process. QuitTok is an increasingly popular TikTok trend where workers are taking to the social media platform to resign from their jobs for the entire internet to see.

According to Arabian Business, the trend can be traced back to TikTok user Marissa Jo (@itsmarisajo). Jo posted a video of her quitting her job back in 2020.

“It’s like an elephant took its foot off my chest, but I’m also sad. Onward and upward,” she captioned the viral video. In July of the following year, a second video went viral. This time, it was footage of McDonald’s workers quitting their jobs mid-shift in the United Kingdom. Now TikTok’s #quittok trend is growing more popular by the day. QuitTok videos have already garnered over 41 million views.

Christina Zumbo, 31, a former Australian government worker, shared footage of her sending her resignation email back in 2022. Speaking to the BBC, she discussed what made her quit her job and what ultimately motivated her to share the moment on social media.

“I really struggled with making this decision to leave, feeling like I was letting my team and manager down, and the thought of being without work without something lined up, into a tumultuous job market at the time,” she said. “I decided to share this journey online because it simply isn’t talked about enough.”

The video quickly became popular, having garnered over 53,000 likes and 3,000 comments.

“I had no idea so many people would see, relate and share their own stories – or their fear of leaving their current workplace, or their strong desire to do what I did,” Zumbo said. “It’s always surprising in the best way, the sense of community you feel if you open yourself up to showing real, relatable vulnerability online.”