Workplace training invites are dropping in many employees’ inboxes now that the new year is underway. Most employers require staff to complete multiple HR modules annually: training on harassment, workplace relationships, or conflicts of interest, for example, followed by a quick quiz.
Recently, however, a new TikTok trend imagining fake workplace “training modules” is going viral.
“It’s 5 pm and you notice one of your colleagues is crying at their desk,” creator @pepsimasc posted in November. “Do you A: check in and ask how they’re doing, or B: tell them to shut the fuck up?” the skit begins.
He continues on to the next imaginary scenario: “You’re in a meeting and notice one colleague bullying another. Do you A: stand up for them, B: report it to HR, C: offer them a lift home and crash the car, or D: all of the above?”
In the final scenario, he explains: “You’re walking to the lunchroom and notice someone has smashed a glass on the floor and left it there. Do you A: contact facilities, B: clean it up immediately, or C: spill baby oil around it so someone can fall onto the glass?”
For those well-acquainted with this type of training, the multiple-choice framing should be painfully familiar.
The videos even share that familiar elevator music that plays in the background as you click your way through the slides. (Listen long enough, and you can feel your brain slowly powering down.)
Across TikTok, creators are posting their own parody “HR trainings,” riffing on the fact that after years of mandatory workshops and assessments, they’ve got the scripts practically memorized and the tone down to a T.
Another creator parodies a common phishing prompt. “You get an email with a link that you think might be a scam. What’s the appropriate course of action? A: tell HR, or B: throw out your laptop.”
Another, in a video watched more than 8.2 million times, asks viewers to “select the example of harassment.” Option one: Jane gives you a high five. Option two: Marcus gives you a pat on the back. Option three: John runs at you fully erect.
The comments are filled with corporate workers who feel seen by the skit. One said: “And then they’re like, ‘actually it’s ALL of them.’”
“This is so funny,” another wrote. “And unfortunately, accurate.”