‘Knock Knock. Who’s There? Not Me,’ ‘Error 404: Employee Not Found’—These Gen Z Out-Of-Office Messages Are Perfectly Snarky

Alani Vargas
·4 min read

It's a known fact that every generation has its own style, ways of communicating and different senses of humor. Why do you think it's so hard to explain TikTok to your grandma or why internet jokes don't hit as hard for your parents? And with more and more Gen Z heading into professional spaces and the workforce—the oldest Gen Z'ers are 24, with the typically accepted cutoff being 1997—their slang and humor are bound to come off, even in corporate emails. So while millennials or other generations might just do a quick and formal out-of-office message, Gen Z are making it all their own.

Thanks to the gem who runs the Oilshore TikTok account, we have a pretty good list of Gen Z out-of-office messages. Whether they're real or not is beyond us, but they're brutally honest and truly hilarious.

Related: 90 Questions About the '90s You HAVE To Ask Gen Z

Gen Z out-of-office messages

If Oilshore's popularity on TikTok might make you think they're a social media brand or marketing company, you'd be somewhat right. While they originally made themselves known as a company that "is one of the world's leaders in transport fuels," it all turned out to be a fake account made to promote a new, Australian web series, Big Oil. The series is a satire on the fossil fuels industry though, so that kind of tracks.

With that said, Oilshore's account has really cornered the market in understanding Gen Z work-talk and workplace etiquette (or lack thereof). Again, knowing this is a fake account for a satirical show, most of their responses are probably all a bit, but still, it's fun.

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Getting into the first video Oilshore posted about Gen Z out-of-office messages, there are some really honest ones and ones that are kind of rude. The one about having their vacation on the company calendar for months is truly relatable though.

  • On vacation. Hoping to win the lottery and never return.

  • The bad news is that I'm out of office. the good news is that I'm out of office.

  • Do not contact me while I'm on leave or I'll report you to HR.

  • ERROR 404: Employee not found

  • Please enjoy your break from me!

  • If you need me... too bad!

  • I'm unsure why you're emailing me given that I put this on my calendar months ago.

  • I will be OOO from 13/10 - 17/10. If it's an emergency call 000

  • Contact someone other than me.

Related: OK, What Does 'TMI' Mean on Social Media, Exactly?

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Next, Oilshore struck with some more hilarious-yet-snarky OOO messages. Again, these are the e-mail messages that automatically get sent back to someone if they try to email you while you're away for more than a weekend. And honestly? They really did something with the "Right email. Wrong timing" message.

  • Get somebody else to do it.

  • Knock knock. Who's there? Not me.

  • On holiday. Do I have access to the internet? Yes. Am I going to use it to respond to your email? No.

  • Contact literally anyone else but me.

  • Enjoying life! Will be back when I run out of money.

  • I am out of the office currently. Unfortunately, I will be back tomorrow. [frowny face]

  • Right email. Wrong timing.

View the original article to see embedded media.

The Picsart TikTok account—the AI photo editing app—posted its own version of Gen Z out-of-office messages, but this time AI generated them. While the first one is exactly the same as one of the Oilshore ones, the last two are new. AI was not interested in workplace professionalism at all.

  • I'm busy drinking cocktails [cocktail emoji] Catch ya later (or not)

  • I'm not really out of the office. I'm just ignoring you [painting nails emoji]

Related: 50 Gen Z Slang Words You Need to Know to Keep From Becoming "Cheugy"

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This last one is the Gen Z out-of-office message that will immediately become the go-to for all of the Swifties out there.

  • I am currently in my out of office era, I will respond to you as soon as possible upon my return on June 1st, 2023.

Next up, if you thought these Gen Z OOO messages were funny, check out these snarky Gen Z e-mail sign-offs.