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In corporate work environments, it’s common for employees to leave out-of-office messages to let others know that they may not be checking their email regularly.
But someone with the username @joshfrommarketing recently took to TikTok to share what a Gen Z employee did instead of writing a traditional out-of-office email response: “I wish this was a joke but he’s not here to make videos,” he wrote in the video’s caption.
“Our Gen Z marketing person has set this as an out of office message,” the video began, before a computer screen displaying an Outlook email account simply said, “Hello, please watch the attached video.”
The TikTok user then played a video of the colleague’s absence, which began with a photo of an airplane and the text, “I’m out of town.”
“Are you rolling?” the employee asks the cameraman in the video. “If you’re watching this, I’m on a plane to Europe right now.”
“Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions,” he said.
The first question was when he would be back, but he seemed to skip over the answer.
“Number two: If you’re a recruiter, my personal email address is…” the video continued, “And number three: If it’s an urgent inquiry, please email me and I’ll check it out when I get back.”
The video ended with commercial-style music and the words “I’ll be right back.” The video of his absence also featured various effects, such as a plane flying across the screen and the sound of the intercom that flight attendants use to communicate with one another, while he read out the questions.
The TikTok video had received nearly 6 million views as of July 18. Many people took to the comments section to express how funny they found the video.
“The spirit of Gen Z is incredible,” the comment begins. “Just asking to take annual leave makes me cry with millennial angst.”
“This is a ’90s VHF infomercial,” joked another commenter.
A third commenter wrote that they too have used technology to make out of office emails more entertaining, writing, “Oh wait I’m a Gen Z residency program director and I got an out of office gif sent to me in Outlook that made me LOL!!!”
Other commenters noted that the video resembled the behavior of Michael Scott, who plays a regional manager for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in the sitcom “The Office.” Several TikTok users also drew comparisons to Barney Stinson, a character from “How I Met Your Mother.”
Others explained how the video provided them great inspiration for creating future out of office messages.
“I’ll give you 2 weeks notice and I’ll be sure to send you a video lol,” one comment read.
Another commenter agreed, writing: “I’d love to do this but I don’t think it would work in the workplace.”
