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In an era defined by rapid technological advancement and sweeping corporate restructuring, a Bengaluru-based software engineer has managed to distil widespread professional anxiety into a single, satirical red button. Engineer Pankaj Tanwar, known on X as @the2ndfloorguy, recently shared a custom built macro pad programmed to simulate a fictional chain of corporate sabotage, triggered by one simple premise: losing your job to AI-driven layoffs.
The Device and Its Features
The custom built setup features a multi button macro pad connected to Tanwar’s laptop, with each key programmed to trigger exaggerated corporate themed actions. The centrepiece is the large red “I Got Fired” button, which in its satirical demonstration triggers a sequence of events including making the company’s internal code repository publicly accessible, pushing sensitive .env files containing API keys and passwords to a public GitHub repository, wiping staging databases, and dispatching a permanent out of office reply reading “Out of office: permanently. Contact my lawyer.” Accompanying buttons labelled “Gaslight Them” and “Decode Corporate BS” round out the device as a sharp piece of workplace commentary targeting corporate jargon and toxic workplace culture.
The Public Response
The post garnered significant engagement on social media, with responses ranging from admiration for its creativity to sober reflections on the state of the employer employee relationship in today’s tech industry. One commenter noted that such scenarios were becoming relatable rather than absurd, observing that this is what happens when employees start feeling disposable as companies grow more automated and detached. Another user acknowledged the humour but flagged that the depicted actions could expose the individual to personal liability, including potential lawsuits for lost profits and downtime. A third commenter pointedly noted that credentials are typically rescinded just before a layoff, highlighting how adversarial the dynamic has become.
Satire With Serious Undertones
It is worth noting that the project is entirely satirical. Carrying out any of the depicted actions in reality would constitute serious criminal offences, including corporate sabotage, violation of intellectual property laws, and breaches of cybersecurity legislation. Nevertheless, the project succeeds because it does not need to be real to be meaningful. In channelling frustration through humour and engineering, Tanwar has sparked a broader conversation about automation, mass restructuring, and the increasingly transactional treatment of human talent in the modern tech industry.
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