"It made me feel quite rubbish": Man fired for 'Googling stupid things' like Turkey teeth and Simon Cowell

A former customer service administrator admits he was fired from his office job for wasting 50 hours of company time Googling 'stupid' things such as how to get his teeth done in Turkey. Josh Williams says when he was let go in July after just three months in the job, his employers had printed out 50 hours worth of his search history.

The 26-year-old said his employers called him into a meeting and bemoaned him being off three times for 'bloody stupid' reasons such as using nasal tanners. Josh admits his search history included 'stupid stuff' such as 'Simon Cowell botched botox' and 'Does turkey teeth hurt?' as he was going to get his done.

His TikTok clip was met with backlash online after some users suggested he was 'too old' to be getting fired like this and others said he should have just Googled things on his phone. After having spent all his savings on his own Turkey teeth prior to being fired, the TikToker decided to upload a video explaining his sacking to earn himself some much-needed cash. However his videos shared 'in the heat of the moment' after being let go 'backfired' spectacularly.

He claims he has since been rejected from three further roles after he believes the prospective new bosses saw his videos online and did not take kindly to the way he had presented getting fired from his last role. Josh is now warning people to think before they post in the 'heat of the moment' as he says he is 'ashamed' about the clip and the 'backlash' he got from it.

Josh said: "I was still on probationary period [in the job I was sacked from]. I had two or three sick days and the excuses I used were just bloody stupid excuses. It had come to the point where the workload for myself just wasn't enough for me. I just didn't have any work given to me so I found myself googling on the company computer.

"It was just stupid stuff. About Simon Cowell botched botox and stuff. It was quite embarrassing but I felt like because I had been sacked, I'm going to put it online. I felt really rubbish. Obviously I'd spent all my savings going on holiday getting my teeth done to come back to no job.

"Obviously my rent wasn't being paid because I lost my job, I had no income coming in. I got behind on my bills I got behind on my rent. I knew I had no income coming in so I thought the only other source I've got is TikTok so that's why I decided to put it up on there."

Josh said that posting the videos about losing his job on TikTok had made him a combined amount of £450. Josh said: "It's not a life-changing amount, definitely not. But it's the majority of my rent. I received a lot of hateful criticism but as I said it was the income that it was gaining what made me keep it up.

"I suppose when you post I suppose you've got to expect some sort of criticism but obviously it made me feel quite rubbish but I stopped reading them after a while to stop it from getting to me. I massively regret keeping the video up now. I think the sort of two days after posting it I wanted to delete it but I wanted the money so I kept it up there."

About a month after uploading his video on July 22, Josh then took to TikTok again claiming he had been turned down for three similar office jobs because of his digital footprint. He now works as a supply chain coordinator in the food industry but wants to pursue content creation as a long term goal.

Josh said: "When it came to me actually applying for other roles in the same sector, there were two or three jobs where I went in for the interview and they obviously recognised the video and said that my values didn't align with their company. Basically saying we've seen your TikTok and we think you're sh*t and we're not having you here in other words.

"Obviously I didn't feel good about it. It made me feel quite embarrassed to be honest and quite ashamed of myself. It meant I had to jump into a completely different area of work that I've never done before just because I didn't want to go into office based roles knowing that potentially my face would have been seen.

"It really did backlash on me. I'm in a job now that I don't like at all, it's not me. I feel like an idiot. I think I should have known better than to do that. But I think with my sort of ADHD and stuff I don't think things through I just tend to just do it in the moment.

"So yeah it was a silly thing to do, going forwards I hopefully maybe would have learned my lesson. It might seem quite funny but I think looking at my situation and how it's impacted me I'd say it's probably one of the worst things you can do for you know future jobs and your career path and stuff.

"Just be really cautious before you put anything online even if it is just in the heat of the moment."

Many social media users did not see the funny side in Josh filming his sacking. One user commented: "I’ve never been sacked in my life. It’s not normal that you are let go from so many places. You’re getting on mate. It’s not funny anymore."

Another said: "What is the longest you have had a job? Maybe try a supermarket or retail where you can’t be distracted by laptop or search stuff." Another commented: "Who the heck googles stuff like that at work just use your phone."

However not everyone agreed, with one saying 'it's great you've a sense of humour about it'