Generation Z employees surprise their bosses with TikTok trend. Their reactions are priceless

Employees are turning to TikTok for “help” and to watch their bosses – a new trend taking hold on the platform.

The videos typically begin with the TikToker – usually younger than his or her boss – turning to the camera and saying something like, “I’ll be right back, can you look after my boss for a minute?”

The TikToker points the still-recorded video at the boss and leaves, leaving the boss to figure out what's going on and what to say into the camera.

Offices vary from conventional to sleek to open-air lofts. But the reactions of superiors remain similarly perplexed as they try to understand whether their employee actually left them alone with a camera that may or may not be live streaming.

“What are we doing?” asks one in a post shared by the account @dr.rosysandhu. “Watching what? Who is that? Who is that?” The head of the account @anthropologie says: “I don't get it? Who is watching me?”

Some respond with humor. “What are you do?” says a man laughing on the @pepperspecs account. Then he says, “Hi.”

Some try to keep their cool, like the boss in @loxclub's video. He picks up a book to leaf through, but can't stand the uncertainty long enough. “Is this going to be filmed?” he asks. And finally: “I don't know what the hell she's doing, but whatever, if you want to watch, go ahead. Who are you?”

Others immediately start explaining what they are doing, whether it is eating lunch or sunflower seeds or, in Julie Bowen's case, doing research on teenage skin care product use.

The new trend has captured the bewildered faces of celebrity bosses like John Stamos, Jensen Ackles, Rob Lowe, Giada De Laurentiis and TODAY's own Al Roker. In his, Al engaged us in an extended staring contest.

Why do people film their bosses?

The concept is a mixture of everyday office life and playful generational conflict. One caption summed it up as follows: “I confuse my boss with the content.”

“I think (the trend) is meant to be kind of a weird joke about hierarchy,” Jenyce Kimball tells TODAY.com. Kimball filmed her boss, Dr. Rosy Sandhu, for the trend and posted it on the TikTok account @dr.rosysandhu.

After working for Sandhu for 10 years, Kimball said she wasn't surprised that her boss enjoyed the situation.

“Would you like me to talk about the DEP device that I’m so excited about?” Sandhu asks with a smile, then explains how new technologies are being brought into the office.

“Sometimes there can be that discrepancy, either because of hierarchy or education or status or things like that,” Kimball continues. “But (Sandhu) is just so humble, genuine and open. She's not just a businesswoman. She's a medical professional. So I get the best of both worlds from her professionally, and we've been able to get along well personally as well.”

Jasmine Infante, a 24-year-old social media coordinator from Houston, Texas, filmed her boss in a video she shared on TikTok. Initially baffled, he pulls out a packet of sunflower seeds and reads the slogan into the camera. One commenter wrote: “Golden retriever boss.”

Infante says the video reflects their good working relationship as well as her boss's personality.

“Ever since I started, he's been trying to make it clear to me that I can always come to him if I need advice or have questions. He didn't know TikToks were included. He's also a mentor of sorts and wants to help me use social media in my free time to build my own personal brand, so he's very open to continuing the silly TikToks on my personal channel,” she told TODAY.com in an email statement.

“I was pleasantly surprised by his impromptu ad for Bigs Sunflower Seeds because it really added to the video. He used to work in marketing and it just fit his personality.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.