Bengaluru techie’s ‘I GOT FIRED’ panic button goes viral amid industry layoff anxieties

Bengaluru: A tech professional based in Bengaluru has taken social media by storm after debuting a humorous, physical "I GOT FIRED" button. Created by software engineer Pankaj Tanwar, the device was pitched as a playful response to the intensifying anxieties surrounding AI-driven job cuts and corporate restructuring within the tech sector.

Sharing images of the gadget on X, Tanwar joked about the ultimate digital retaliation.

“ai layoffs are getting out of hands so I built ‘I GOT FIRED’ button,” he wrote on X. “one click, and it makes entire company codebase public, pushes .env secrets to public repo, drops staging db and finally notifies my lawyer. I hope I never need it but it’s ready,” he added.

The viral images feature a compact, custom macro-pad attached to his laptop. It features several labeled keys designed to navigate corporate life, such as “Gaslight Them”, “Decode Corporate BS”, and a prominent red switch designated for “I GOT FIRED”.

Tanwar's post also included mock desktop alerts. One pop-up warned, “.env secrets committed and pushed to public repo,” while another displayed an automated departure message: “out of office: permanently. contact my lawyer.”

How the internet reacted

While the project was clearly a satirical joke, it struck a chord with a tech community currently grappling with automation fears and widespread industry downsizing. The viral post sparked a wave of amusement, curiosity and legal warnings from onlookers.

• The legal warnings: Many users pointed out the severe real-world consequences of executing such a program. “The lawyer call should have happened before you made this post lol,” joked one commenter. Another added, “This is the way. Though it’s a federal offense.” A third chimed in, noting the career-ending risks: “Lol you would get sued into obvlivion if not criminally charged, and have a very tough time finding a new job. Cool thing tho.”
• The IT reality check: Other tech workers pointed out the logistics of corporate terminations. “know it's a joke, but this is exactly why credentials are usually rescinded right before a layoff,” an individual observed. Offering a satirical workaround to corporate Mobile Device Management, another user quipped, “You should make it so it automatically activates if your machine receives any MDM commands.”