I’ve been in tech for about 7 years now, somehow dodged all the mass layoffs at the companies I’ve worked for.
Now my 9 lives are up and I got caught up in a layoff today.
I’m uncertain about my severance package at this point, still waiting, but wondering what to do here going forward? I haven’t been unemployed since I was in my early 20’s so this is tough for me (I’m 33 now.)
Part of me feels I deserved this for slowing down at work over the last year, but hell I was just promoted last month! Weird timing.
Any advice/support would be great.
26 comments
Go travel and do things you couldnt have done.
Come back fresh if you can.
File for unemployment asap.
Take some time off. Do something you find fun. Seriously, for your own sanity, take time off.
Update your LinkedIn profile and set it to open for work . This will make you pop up in recruiter feeds.
Also suggest indeed.com for job leads.
You got this – the industry isn’t dead.
While you can, see if you can get some reference letters from co-workers or supervisors. They are handy for future applications.
Take a little time and figure if you want to do what you’ve been doing or aim a different way. Do NOT count on starting an independent contracting business, that’s a tough hill to climb, but maybe a different angle on your industry or learn a whole different skill.
It’s tough to be specific about what you should do – but do take quiet time to think about where you’d like to be in a year (or 5 or 10) and that might help set a direction.
Good luck, sorry this happened.
* Don’t panic. This isn’t your fault.
* Read your severance package carefully and don’t do anything that will jeopardize it.
* Don’t sign a no-compete. (If you live in California, absolutely do not sign it.) If they make you sign anything to get the severance, read it carefully.
* Get everything (that’s yours) off your machine immediately. Even if they say you’ll be around for the rest of the week/month/quarter, assume you will be escorted out and your machine bricked at any moment.
* Contact everyone you can on LinkedIn or get non-work contact info. Offer profusely to help anyone else out in finding a new place to land, give references, or anything else.
* Empty your FSA account immediately. You can use the rest of your plan year without contributing to it again, so you just got 11 free months of money to blow on new glasses and sunscreen.
* If you’re married, this is considered a qualifying event on your spouse’s benefits, so look into your options on jumping to their insurance.
* If you’re offered any placement services, take a look at it. Some of them are mostly dumb contracted-out “here’s how to start a LinkedIn” courses, but it might be worth getting a second set of eyes on your resume.
* Consider taking time off if you can afford it. But it’s still a good plan to flip your LinkedIn to “searching” and let the robots start contacting you while you’re off.
* If you’re an SE, DM me.
Enjoy the break. You have the rest of your life to work. Every time I lose a job I write a new issue of my zine. I put my free time and unemployment checks to good use and then got a job so I could afford to print it. YMMV but use the time wisely.
Know it’s not something you did. Being promoted recently probably put you on the bottom of the totem pole for that level employee so you were first out. They didn’t fire you off, they laid off your position. The worst employee at the company, or the best employee would have the same fate in that position in those circumstances. Get your confidence back and go get more money somewhere else.
Happened to me once. Take a couple of days off to unwind, and then make job hunting your full time job.
The tech industry as a whole is still pretty healthy. There are more jobs out there than job seekers (I know b/c I’m actively hiring). So if you have a pretty decent work history make sure your resume is up to snuff and you shouldn’t have a hard time getting a job.
The one thing I’ve seen with the recent layoffs and rumors of upcoming ones, is that the super high paying gigs are starting to get more rare. I feel like for a while over the last year they were just sky rocketing as companies competed against each other, and they’re calming back down. Once again, I’ve been hiring a lot over the last couple years so I’ve been actively involved in it.
That being said, you can still get a pretty damn good paying job in the industry, exactly how much varies by what your specialty is. But you got this.
Don’t put that job on your resume? 🤷♂️
You’ll be fine. Take a minute to breath, get your head on straight again, then start applying. Interviewing. Remember, you’ve gained experience during your years of employment that will make you quite valuable to a new employer, also you have plenty of time to work in your life…So they’ll get a solid return on any investment in you.
If you have a decent savings, and can try to enjoy yourself for a few minutes with little other commitments could be a great opportunity for you too.
Went through my first layoff in 2020, and it was rough. I was 37 years old, and had always worked full time since I graduated college at 22. No breaks in employment, and missed all the downsizing. I wish I’d put in the effort to contract my services out. Could have made as much money or more, while setting my own schedule and being my own boss. But, same time, wife got cancer, and I needed medical insurance. So, I took a job…made 50% of my former salary, and eventually got back to about 60% of my salary before leaving for another job, was making about $30k less than my previous job…and guess what, old job struggled to find a good fit to replace me, and the other guy they let go from my department…2 years later, hired back at the original company, salary has increased SIGNIFICANTLY over my previous salary (which was really good as well) and all is well.
You got this!
Take a couple days to just really relax and also understand that this wasn’t your fault. After that, begin leveraging your LinkedIn and your overall network to try to find a new opportunity. I know people have said to be direct here and ask if anyone knows of any opportunities vs posting to say you got laid off and then thanking your former colleagues.
I think what’s “nice” about recent tech layoffs is ideally your future employer will understand that layoffs happen as opposed to viewing you in a negative way for being unemployed.
Good luck! Unfortunately I have also been in your shoes and if you don’t take care of yourself mentally, it can lead to massive frustration.
I’ll touch on mental health, since logistics are already very well covered by other responses.
Before the layoff hit (we had some notice), I hit up our Employee Assistance Program and found a psychologist to talk to. (The EAP covered 6 sessions per issue in a 12 month period.)
That was utterly and indescribably useful. So helpful in processing how the notice made me feel, deciding on next steps, and carrying through some of the fallout.
What was your role? I think it may be happening to me soon
You’ll be okay. I have a friend in tech sales with barely 5 years exp and it has not been difficult for him finding a job in the last 6 months. (He’s been job hopping a little due to WFH concerns and some red flags at some startups he joined).
I think if you have at least 3 years exp in tech you’ll be golden as long as you know your worth and can sell yourself. So take some time to collect your thoughts, accept that you’ve been laid off, move on, and look forward to the future. GL.
First, you didn’t deserve this. Nobody does, it’s just numbers from businesses that practice this scummy practice (I remember as a kid layoffs being a sign of a business being in trouble because it was a last resort. Now it’s the default go to money saver.
I was laid off twice in 13 months during the Great Recession. Just remember to breathe, pace yourself while applying, and know you will get through this.
Also, apply for unemployment immediately, and make multiple copies of your resume/cover letters designed for different roles you’re interested in. That is my biggest advice.
First of all: I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
After that, I hope you got some amount of severance. Regardless of getting a severance, you need to apply for unemployment.
Hopefully, you have an emergency fund saved up, even if for a few weeks. Start looking at your budget and see where you can make cuts in the short term.
Besides financials, take a few days to sleep in, eat like shit, be lazy, and accept some calls from friends to take you out for dinner/drinks.
Update your LinkedIn and resume. Send to friends for review. Start reaching out to your network directly to let them know what happened and that you’re open to new opportunities.
Block off a few hours a day to find a new job, because this is your new job. But also get out for a walk, hit the gym, and check out things in your town/city that you never had time to see. Read the book you’ve been wanting to read. Take a road trip.
I remember once when I got laid off that I slept for almost 10 hours per night. Woke up refreshed, didn’t have to commute, didn’t have to worry about reports or numbers or quotas. I was let go on August 1st and didn’t look for a new job until after Labor Day. I used that month to recharge myself and started a new job on September 20th.
1. leverage your network more than anything
Don’t half-ass interview prep. Things are extremely competitive now.
Set fire to the building and don’t jump to any conclusions.
>Part of me feels I deserved this for slowing down at work over the last year, but hell I was just promoted last month! Weird timing.
No, you are not at fault. This is simply a case that the company you worked for simply could no longer to afford you or anyone else they had laid off. They either looked at your position and decided it could be dropped or they were basically flipping a coin to decide which position got axed. They weren’t looking at your performance.
Give up
Search the sub. This comes up a lot and there’s good info from past posts.
What sort of skillset do you have? Degree?
I don’t have a lot of great advice, but I give you my sympathy as someone who’s been there. I was laid off from my job at 37, after starting with the company at 22 straight out of college. It was the only full time job I’d ever had.
I was fortunate that my wife already made double what I was bringing home, and after a futile search for a new job that paid well enough and didn’t require working nights, I gave up and became a stay at home dad.
I’m now looking to get back into the workforce in my mid 40s, and we all know how rough that is in today’s world. Good luck to you.
Once you let the world know you’re looking, you’re going to get a lot of job interview requests right away.
From personal experience: don’t take the interview until you’re ready. Once these dry up, it’s going to be harder to get interviews.
Have your mind right about your layoff. Get any bitterness or insecurities out of the way.
Get some interview practice and/or prep. Have your resume polished.
I gone through a similar process myself earlier unemployed for three months (recruiting industry). I hope your experience will be shorter than that.
I heard a lot of helpful advice, but one thing I believe is missing is the suggestion to use this downtime to get certified and to keep a journal. Keeping a journal helped me stay grounded in reality as I was receiving many calls and emails about my résumé, but the actual number of interviews and job offers was not as high as I hoped.
The process of getting certified kept me motivated to keep studying, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone as I kept learning new things that I was not familiar with in the industry.
I wish you all the best in your job search.
> I’m uncertain about my severance package at this point,
Likely 2-3 months.
> Part of me feels I deserved this for slowing down at work over the last year, but hell I was just promoted last month! Weird timing.
Layoffs are rarely based on merit. It’s too expensive to assess in mass layoffs and they expose themselves to discrimination cases so it’s pretty typical to just fire randomly or entire teams. I have seen random number generators applied to employees before, they exclude those they consider essential and everyone else is fair game.
My buddy actually messaged me this morning to see if I could hire his entire team as everyone other than him got the boot yesterday (including his manager and his managers manager). My company is in a hiring freeze right now.
It’s a totally absurd situation because it’s only an equities spiral and demand numbers for software remain strong so it’s just boards panicking for no good reason at this point.
> Any advice/support would be great.
It feels like a big deal right now but I promise you it is not. I contracted for 8 years and the first couple of times that 4-9 months were up I panicked inside a little but then I got used to it. Only been caught in one layoff on the last 23 years but it wasn’t a big deal then either. My record between one job ending and having my next was 17 hours.
Take a few days-week to decompress, tidy up your resume and then find a better job. Hitting up people you have worked with before is the best way to find something good. Second best is to find some companies you would like to work for and hit up their recruiters on LinkedIn. Distant third is third party recruiters, some of them rock but they are really hit and miss.
If you have the financial resources to hold out for something you like do that. Also don’t be afraid to consider a sideways transition if you want to do something different. Since 2010 I went consulting > embedded systems software > QA automation > DevOps > K8 arch and moved in to general cloud arch about 4 years ago. Tech skills apply to more then what you were already doing.