Federal employees turn to TikTok to chronicle government shutdown

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“Hello, my fellow furloughed federal employees! »

This is the start of one of the scores TikTok videos posted by federal officials in the two weeks since the government shutdown began.

A growing number of affected employees – whether furloughed workers or essential staff who must continue to report to work without pay – have chronicled their shutdown experience on the video app to inform other users of the situation. Some hope the videos might earn them a little extra money, since they don’t have a timetable for their next paycheck.

The videos open a window on the human impact of budget struggle this is playing out widely among lawmakers on Capitol Hill and on television screens, with little apparent progress towards the reopening of the government.

About 1.4 million federal employees have been furloughed or are now working without pay. A lot recently received their final salary in the foreseeable future.

“I really want people to see that federal workers are real people and their lives are affected…I felt like no one heard us or saw us,” Aubrey, a federal government employee working in public health, told CNN of her decision to post TikTok videos about the shutdown.

CNN agreed not to use staff members’ full names in this story to protect their jobs.

The hashtag #federalemployees has racked up nearly 10,000 posts on TikTok, including videos from employment lawyers and other service providers looking to reach a broader audience.

While not all of these posts are from federal employees, the increase in content highlights the extent to which TikTok has become both a forum for federal employees in limbo and a source for the general public seeking information about the shutdown.

Aubrey’s “A Day in the Life” videos include information on topics like what it means to be an essential or nonessential federal worker, and what the shutdown could mean for Americans who don’t work for the government.

She also explains how she applies for new jobs. Aubrey was assigned to a short-term assignment that she initially hoped would lead to a permanent position. But she is no longer optimistic about that possibility after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Effectiveness made sweeping cuts earlier this year.

She hopes TikTok could turn into a temporary side hustle, even though her account doesn’t yet meet the size requirements to receive payments from the app’s creator fund.

“I never thought I was going to be really financially successful through this,” she said. “Obviously, I hoped it would reach a lot of people, but that was another desire: to be able to help supplement the (missing) income. »

Ashton, an air traffic controller, has gained several thousand followers in recent months on the TikTok account he runs with his wife by posting content about home repairs, thrift shopping and budgeting. But when the government shut down, the page offered Ashton the opportunity to explain what the situation meant for essential public servants like him.

“Today is day 11 of the government shutdown and I just received my last paycheck for the (foreseeable) future,” Ashton said in a recent post. “As expected, a day went by because of how the pay period worked…after I received that last check, I literally knew this was the last time I would be paid” until the shutdown was resolved. The video has been viewed more than 70,000 times.

Ashton and his wife are currently dipping into their savings and rethinking their upcoming travel plans, he told CNN.

Other videos on his page address fears and misconceptions about how the shutdown could impact air traffic control — including what it could mean for safety and why employees like him can’t just stop showing up for work, as some comments on his page suggest.

“It is technically illegal for federal officials to take any form of action against the government or voluntarily call in sick in retaliation for the government shutdown,” Ashton said, adding that his videos are intended for broadcast. “about education. We just can’t do that.”

The White House created additional uncertainty last week when it questioned whether furloughed employees should receive back pay after the government reopens, as during previous shutdowns. Thousands of the workers concerned have already started to receive dismissal notifications.

“If I hear one more person or read one more comment that says, ‘Oh, you’ll get paid when this is all over, I don’t know why you’re worried.’ Getting paid when it’s all over isn’t paying my bills today,” a TikTok user who said he was a government official said in a video earlier this week. “Have a little compassion.”

Another user, who said he was classified as essential and still going to the office, said in a post that his team had set up an office pantry for colleagues who might make it. having difficulty affording the essentials without being paid.

Because it’s TikTok, not every video is deeply serious. A series of federal workers summed up their experience with videos using a popular voiceover from comedian Bo Burnham who says, “How are we feeling out there tonight?…I don’t feel good!”