Dear James Charles, as you tell laid-off worker to ‘get a job’ here are stories of those helplessly trying

James Charles has gone viral for his response to a woman who reached out to him, and shared her story of being laid-off from her job. Instead of a sympathetic reply, he instead posted an enraged video, in which he called her “entitled” and told her to “get another job”.

After getting a DM from a former employee of Spirit Airlines, who had just lost her job, the influencer said: “I just got a DM from a girl on here that said, ‘Good morning James, I know you’ll never see this but if you could just take on minute to read it would really mean a lot to me. I’m really struggling right now because Spirit Airlines just filed for bankruptcy, and I just lost my job. Here’s a GoFundMe link. Any donations help’.”

James then sarcastically laughed and got visibly angry as he said: “You know what else would help you? Getting another job. Try that, because in the time it took you to copy and paste the same f*ckass message to me…you could’ve applied to a hundred other jobs because you’re a lazy piece of sh*t and you’re entitled. Why would I ever help you?”

The rant didn’t end there. He then went on to say the woman “wasn’t a fan” of his, and said: “You think that I’m going to send you money because you lost your job? Welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every day.

“You’re white, pretty and able-bodied. You’re in a better position than a lot of people out here who are trying way harder to make a better life for themselves. Why would I help you?”

THE FULL JAMES CHARLES DELETED VIDEO pic.twitter.com/CN7ketZLZQ

— richlux713 (@RichLux713) May 9, 2026

The take obviously didn’t land the way he thought it would, and he was called out for the callous, and out-of-touch response. He then deleted the video, and posted an apology.

The irony of James’ comments is that he clearly doesn’t know what the “real world” looks like. The Tab has been highlighting this issue from a grad perspective. But, the problem is much wider than this.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the unemployment rate in the UK in recent months has just the same high it was during Covid. According to recent stats in the US, where James Charles is from, the unemployment rate currently sits at around 4.3 per cent, with the number of unemployed people at 7.4million.

It’s not a case of just “get a job”. People are applying for hundreds of jobs at a time, and they don’t even get a reply. Others are having to get second jobs, third jobs, just to make ends meet.

There are millions of people’s stories to tell. Here are just a few.  I hope you’re listening, James Charles.

‘I have a first-class degree from a London uni, but I’ve still had 500 job rejections’

via SWNS

A London graduate who finished top of his class, shared with The Tab that he hasn’t been able to land a graduate job, despite applying to hundreds of relevant roles.

Khaled Sharif, 21, achieved a first-class degree in digital media technology from Kingston University in 2025. Since graduating, however, he is yet to land a job, despite having submitted 500 applications for film-making roles.

Khaled, who estimates that he paid more than £100,000 for his time at uni, says the problem is not his degree, but the job market, calling it a “broken system” which is “flooded” with applicants.

‘Swansea University graduate applied for 647 jobs after university before finding employment’

In a story covered by The Cardiff Tab, it was found that a Swansea University graduate had applied for 647 jobs after uni before finding one, leaving her questioning whether her degree was even worth it.

Caitlin Morgan applied and was rejected from over 600 jobs, over an 18 month period, before finally finding a position. The economics and finance graduate revealed that she felt “completely unmotivated” and went through some “pretty sad phases” as a result of receiving no feedback and immediate rejections from employers.

150 of Caitlin’s applications were rejected without feedback, and an additional 271 applications she never heard back from.

‘I’m a Cardiff University MA student who’s applied to 400 jobs – I constantly get ghosted’

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via The Cardiff Tab

Karyna Lohvynenko, a 21-year-old postgraduate student, told the BBC that she’s applied to 400 jobs, but simply never hears back.

“If I apply to around 70 jobs per week and only hear back from three, the rest is complete silence – not even a rejection email,” Karyna told the publication. “That uncertainty is worse than rejection… it feels like a void. Like your application disappears before anyone even sees it. The ghosting from employers creates confusion, anxiety, and makes the whole process feel dehumanising.”

She said it’s a common misconception that “experience opens doors” but she’s found that really isn’t the case. There literally aren’t enough doors to be opened at the moment.

‘I’m an Edinburgh grad with THREE degrees – but got rejected 200 times before finding a job’

Sarah Dallas graduated from the University of Edinburgh in July 2024. She has three degrees – a PhD and a Master’s in bioengineering, and an undergrad degree in animal sciences.

Over 16 months, Sarah was rejected or aired for over 200 roles. Hiring managers kept telling her she was “overqualified” for entry-level jobs, but “lacked the industry experience” for more senior roles.

‘I’m an Exeter University graduate who’s applied to 500 jobs, even pubs won’t hire me’

via SWNS

An Exeter University Master’s graduate also opened up about his struggles, after he found himself getting rejected from over 500 jobs. Theo dal Pozzo, who studied computer science with a specialisation in machine learning, graduated with a first class degree in 2024.

Since May 2025, after spending some time working at his family’s hotel in Brazil, Theo applied to more than 500 jobs. He didn’t receive a single offer.

“It’s very demoralising, because every time that you get a rejection it’s back to square one with the next company,” Theo said. “There seems to be less junior positions open than what I’ve heard from the past.”

Theo described himself as an “employable person.” As well as his degree, he speaks four languages, including Portuguese, French and Spanish. “With my Master’s degree and specialisation, it feels kind of alien to me that I haven’t been able to get a job yet,” he said.

Theo tried handing out his CV in person to local business, but even pubs won’t offer him a job. He said: “I’ve been pub to pub, restaurant to restaurant. All around my local area, in one day I went to over 50 places to hand in my CV.”

‘I’ve applied for 80 jobs’: The Leeds students trying to fix a ‘broken’ grad job market

via The Leeds Tab

The problem has gotten so bad, six University of Leeds students felt urged to develop a platform they hope will transform what they have called a “broken” application process. Their site, GradFlow, has recently been shortlisted as a finalist for the UK StartUp Awards 2025 for the North East, Yorkshire and The Humber region.

In 2023 and 2024, the GradFlow team, like many other students across the UK, submitted over 500 applications to jobs between them, and received countless rejections.

Hemant Smart, co-founder and head of product design, told The Leeds Tab about the personal experiences that motivated GradFlow’s development. In his second and third year at university, he applied for 85 jobs in total.

“It was honestly chaotic. I was constantly juggling deadlines, tracking everything in messy spreadsheets, and spending hours trying to figure out where I went wrong after each rejection,” he said.  “It felt like there was no system, no feedback loop, and no real way to improve without burning out.

“We realised students don’t need another job board. They need a system to help them stay on top of applications, learn from failures and stay motivated.” You can access the GradFlow platform here.

Featured image of James Charles (before edits) via CraSH/Shutterstock.