Gen-Z Junior Lawyer Sacked From Melbourne Firm After Posting Viral TikTok Complaining Job Was Soul-Sucking

A junior lawyer in Melbourne, Australia, has been fired just three weeks into her first job after posting a viral TikTok in which she described the role as 'soul-sucking' and criticised workplace culture, according to her account.

The video, made by 20-something law graduate Natali Curukovski, has since been viewed more than 500,000 times and ignited a sharp online argument about generational expectations, long hours and what modern work should look like.

Curukovski says she had barely settled into her new role at a Melbourne firm when she decided to speak candidly on TikTok about the realities of life as a junior lawyer.

She told followers she felt misled by the legal profession, after seven years of intense study and training left her facing what she saw as an endless treadmill of deadlines, evening work and professional development requirements, with little time to breathe.

'It's my third week practising as a lawyer in Melbourne and I knew this was coming, and I knew I'd feel this way, but I'm really just not loving it,' she said in the original clip.

She described 'constant deadlines, the pressure, the working after hours, doing all these CPD events, reading extra books,' and questioned why it felt like she had 'did seven years of all of this to just go back and do the same thing.'

Natali Curukovski's Viral TikTok and Its Fallout

In the video, which does not name her firm or any clients, Curukovski alleges that being a lawyer 'isn't really supportive of a lifestyle,' saying she was hardly able to take a lunch break.

She claims she entered law school with the classic idealistic ambition to 'make a difference to people's lives' but discovered that, in practice, the job was about 'making profits for that business, and if you don't produce profits, you're not of value to the team.'

'So it becomes less about helping people and more about making businesses richer and restricting your own time and freedom for a paycheck,' she added, before summing up the experience as 'sucking my soul out.'

The reaction was harsh in parts. Many commenters lined up to tell her this was simply what adulthood looks like. 'Welcome to becoming an adult,' one wrote. Another added, 'Welcome to life. You start at the bottom.' A third dismissed her perspective entirely with 'Oh lord, this generation...,' while someone else shouted in all caps: 'IT'S CALLED HARD WORK! YOU CAN'T GET INSTANT GRATIFICATION OVER EVERYTHING THESE DAYS!'

Yet the video also struck a nerve among younger viewers, particularly other Gen Z professionals who are tired of being told that exhaustion is a rite of passage. Some backed Curukovski's stance that 'life should be balanced,' warning that 'too much stress will make you sick and put you in an early grave.' One supporter praised her as 'very brave to advocate for yourself,' adding: 'Your wellbeing should not be compromised for a paycheck that's not real success, it's performance success.'

A week later, Curukovski returned to TikTok with an update. In a new clip, which has now outstripped the original in views, she told followers she had been 'fired' because she 'posted a TikTok that got a lot of traction about the experience of junior lawyers.' She described an 'awkward' and 'confronting' conversation in which her employer allegedly asked her to take the video down. She says she refused, 'stood [her] ground,' and received an 'effective immediately' termination letter.

Curukovski maintains she was 'merely talking about the experience of junior lawyers' and insists she was prepared to walk away from the role 'the second [she] started getting more engagement' on TikTok. She also acknowledges she knew there was a good chance the clip would 'come back around' to the firm, which, in her words, it 'well and truly did.'

Nothing in her account has been independently verified and there is, at this stage, only her version and the firm's general response.

Her former employer has reportedly contested aspects of her story. While declining to comment directly on her case, the firm told News.com.au it is 'very proud' of its 'workplace culture and mentoring program with regards to all lawyers, and specifically junior lawyers.'

The firm said all staff are contracted to work from 9am to 5pm with a fully paid one-hour lunch break.

'Some staff choose to work more hours than that, or take lesser lunch breaks. That is of their choosing and is not an obligation,' the statement added. It went further, claiming it 'actively discourages staff from working beyond 5pm because we do not believe that it is healthy or necessary.'

A Wider Clash Over Work, Values and Gen Z

The sacking of Curukovski has fed into a broader and increasingly bitter debate about Gen Z and work. Younger employees are routinely accused of 'not wanting to work' and of being too focused on mental health, fair pay and clear boundaries. At the same time, there is mounting evidence that they are weary of being asked to sacrifice years of their lives on the vague promise of stability that older generations no longer even enjoy.

Education psychologist Dr Adam McCartney told Metro that today's young workers have 'grown up through several major economic shocks: the global financial crisis, the economic uncertainty and disruption following Brexit, the pandemic, and the continuing cost-of-living and housing crisis.'

They have been urged to pour money and time into their education, often taking on sizeable debt, yet find that 'secure employment, affordable housing and steady financial progression no longer feel guaranteed.'

'This is not simply laziness or entitlement; it is a rational response to the world they have inherited,' he argued. 'Delayed gratification only makes sense when people believe that sacrifice today will create prosperity tomorrow. Many young people no longer believe that bargain will be honoured, so they are understandably less willing to surrender their evenings, relationships and mental health in exchange for a future that may never materialise.'

McCartney also warned against romanticising unpaid overtime as a badge of honour. The idea that 'excessive hours are simply a rite of passage,' he said, reflects an older workplace culture rather than a healthy approach to professional development. In his view, young workers 'are not necessarily rejecting hard work; they are increasingly questioning why excessive demands on time and energy should be treated as evidence of commitment.'

Whether Curukovski's TikTok was an act of reckless self-sabotage or a bluntly honest snapshot of a profession in denial depends almost entirely on who you ask. What is clear is that a short video, recorded by a junior lawyer barely out of law school, has exposed just how wide the gap has become between what firms think they are offering and what a new generation believes it is signing up for.