The True Story Behind This Viral McDonald's Mass Resignation TikTok

If there's one thing that the internet does well, it's ensuring that people never run out of behind-the-scenes footage of the fast food industry. According to Newsweek, certain videos that have been making the rounds of late demonstrate what appears to be several McDonald's staff members all deciding to leave their jobs at the same time. As per the Independent, a few videos have been shared online that seem to indicate that workers at a California McDonald's restaurant had a walk-out, leaving a sign on the door that read, "Everyone quit, we are closed." 

A TikTok user, zoey.isback, claiming to be a McDonald's staff member, said that this particular restaurant "was run by teenagers and it was a terrible work space." They went on to insist that this was not a decision that was related to pay concerns. They explained, "Ya'll—we didn't quit from our pay ... the higher ups had trouble helping us when needed," per Newsweek.

As explained by Newsweek, the videos aren't exactly an accurate representation of the truth. While it's true that the video was recorded inside a McDonald's restaurant in La Mesa, California, it's not true that all the employees decided to leave at the same time. Someone from the company stated, "The video misrepresents the events that unfolded at this McDonald's restaurant."

Newsweek did confirm that a couple of employees did resign on June 27 and left their jobs after their notice period ended. Others, as shown in the second video that was posted, were working as usual at the restaurant and didn't quit (via TikTok). In fact, due to the quick cuts of the video, it's hard to get a clear picture of events.

However, viewers have definitely been affected by the videos to a great extent (via the Independent.) Someone wrote, "I just visited a McDonald's yesterday where their AC was out and a worker told me it has been out for two weeks and they still haven't gone out to fix it." Another commenter wrote that they needed more updates on the story and couldn't help being invested in it. This isn't the first time a video or photo allegedly posted by a disgruntled McDonald's worker has gone viral. According to a Twitter post from June, an ex-employee came up with a dramatic sign that read, "We are closed because I am quitting and I hate this job."