It appears that layoffs have been far more common across industries over the last several years. A woman in Wichita, Kansas, felt this deeply after she discovered that the restaurant that employs her decided to renegotiate its lease and terminate its entire staff on the same day.
According to the woman, the suddenness was accompanied by no severance or additional information regarding the next steps to compensate the staff. It is also implied in the video that the corporate employees knew about this change well in advance, but still chose not to tell the staff until the week after.
The above video was posted to the TikTok account @blissfulbeautyict, who also goes by the name Ash, as she discovers that the restaurant she works at, Jose Peppers, is closing down. She claims that she had been notified that very same morning, and went to the restaurant to speak with the corporate staff who were on site. After walking into the restaurant, you can hear her speak with a man and a woman who are talking about the decision.
Ash is told that a new operator wanted to move into the space and that the owner was given the opportunity to renegotiate their lease to leave immediately, instead of waiting until it ended in December. Ash immediately gets emotional about the information, and you can hear the two corporate employees apologizing, though staying firm in their decision. In reference to her reaction, one commenter said, “I would cry too if I gave a company 6 years and they didn’t give no notice at all.”
In an update about the situation, Ash clarifies a few things about the restaurant, including that there are locations only in Kansas and Missouri. She also explains that she had been notified of the situation by her cousin after they discovered that the company that delivers towels to the locations had been notified not to deliver to Jose Peppers because they were permanently closed.
She also claims that while she was driving to the restaurant, which she had been scheduled to open that day, she received a silent notification on their scheduling app that the store had officially closed starting on March 15. However, this message was sent on the morning after, on March 16.
Commenters were all just as angry as Ash, with one person even pointing out the irony of it all, saying, “but when employees don’t put in a 2 weeks it’s an issue.” Others were focused on how unprofessional the entire situation is, with another commenter saying, “They didn’t tell you Friday bc they wanted you guys to still work your ass off over the weekend and make them that last bit of money!!” It is hoped that Ash and all her former co-workers land on their feet as the story continues to make its rounds on social media.
