Layoffs don’t have to be the end of the world

Gather round, whippersnappers, it’s story time.

The year is 2000. I was working for a startup in Silicon Valley, the kind with literal shark tanks in the office and customized inflatable furniture next to every desk so we could nap during our 18 hour, 7 day a week shifts. Yes, that kind is a real thing.

The dot com bubble was bursting. Companies that today would seem like no-brainers were slightly ahead of their time and they were folding. (Pour one out for Webvan, man) And we were one of them. One day the CEO invited 14 of my colleagues to a meeting. One of my friends messaged me on ICQ (that’s slack before there was slack, kiddos) and said “They can’t be about to fire us because there are too many important people in here.” But that’s exactly what they did.

After the ‘firing squad’, as we came to call that mass public layoff, the company held a second round of layoffs in secret, making people say they were quitting in order to get their severance package. And then in the third round, which was finally done right (individually, with respect, and honestly disclosed to the remaining employees) I was cut.

At the time, I had a four year old daughter and no partner to help with bills. No college degree, only five years of experience, and I was dumped into the worst job market — for job seekers — since the Great Depression. I didn’t have a chance. It took me six months to find a job at all, and that job was a short term contract. It would be 5 years before I had permanent employment with benefits, and almost 10 before I was back to my pre-bubble income levels.

I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you this because I’m fine now.

And of course because the tech world is going through some upheaval. As jobs shift from one place to another, some types of jobs are getting replaced and others are becoming possible. We’re going through a wee bit of a sea-change, and if you haven’t been laid off yourself, you know someone who has.

Back in May of 2023, my friend Dr. Mhaire Fraser and I gave a talk on what to do if you’re laid off. And then Mhaire got laid off, so if you’re looking for a brilliant UX researcher and cognitive scientist, contact her. She’s specializing in AI UX these days, but she’s got a broad set of skills.

But this isn’t about Mhaire, awesome as she is. It’s not even about me. This post is about you.

You might be worried that you’re going to be laid off. Or maybe you just got laid off and you don’t know what to do. And you’re not asking me, but I’ve been on this train and I’ve had to lay people off myself, and I’m going to give you some old-lady wisdom that might just help.

First things first: it’s not your fault you were laid off. And there probably wasn’t anything you could have done to prevent it.

When these things happen it’s often our instinct to look for things we could have done. Or blame ourselves. Or feel inadequate. But none of that is true. More often than not, the bean counters who made the decision to lay you off have no idea what your contributions were or what value you brought. When I was laid off back in 2001, and checked in with the other people in that round, we were the highest paid non-executives. They were just looking for the way to cut costs the fastest.

The corollary to that, if you haven’t been laid off, is that there’s nothing you can do right now to prevent it. It’s out of your hands. If you’re going to be laid off there’s a good chance the bean counters have already decided it. It can take months to work through all the legal stuff. So by the time you smell it coming, it’s too late.

So don’t pull all-nighters and spend a ton of your time and energy trying to prove your worth to the company. Keep doing your job. Keep being as awesome at your job as you always are. Support your colleagues. Support your boss. But don’t go into overdrive. You’ll need that energy later, whether you survive the downturn or whether you get hit.

There are things you can do before you’re laid off to prepare.

Update your resume. If you’re like me, you haven’t even looked at it since you got your awesome job. Why would you? But in this case, if the hammer does fall, then you’ll be dispirited and depressed and it’s hard to write a resume (which is really a brag sheet) if you feel that way. So do it now, while you’re secure and strong. Since I usually write to UX researcher/designers, update your portfolio too. If you’re a developer, make sure you have strong code in your Git or CodePen.
(important caveat: if you, like me, work for a company who considers your work secret, then be sure to go through whatever your clearance process is. Don’t break any rules. If they say no, do a personal project that recreates the excellence without giving away company secrets or property.)

Understand your spending. I am a lazy bookkeeper. I spend within my means but I don’t track every penny and I probably could save a lot more. I tend to prioritize having a comfy, fun life over having a big thick savings account. At least, until I see things trending downward.

Make a spreadsheet. Categorize all your monthly expenses. Understand what the minimum amount is that you must spend every month — things like mortgage and car payment, insurance, child care, etc.

Find out what can be reduced. You don’t HAVE to reduce right now, unless you want to. But knowing in advance what can be reduced and how, is helpful. In my spreadsheet, with every line item I have a note about whether or not there’s a reduction method. Things like streaming services can be reduced by cancelling or going to an ad-supported version. Mortgage companies usually have some sort of forbearance program, as do credit card companies. If you’re like me and carry oodles of insurance, your monthly insurance can probably be reduced to the legal minimums for a short period of time. Knowing this in advance can give you a to-do list for day 1 if you’re laid off.

Curtail your recreational spending until you know. I don’t really NEED Starbucks every day. And I can wait to order the newest Murderbot book and read stuff that’s already on my shelf instead. All of that money I’m saving is going straight into my savings account, just in case. If you make it through this downturn and the economy is blooming, you can use those savings to go on a nice trip, or buy a new car, or whatever it is that you like to splurge on. So there’s really no downside to temporary personal austerity measures.

Amplify. If you hear of a job opening, post about it on all your socials. Send it to a friend. If you hear of someone who’s out of work, post about them. If you’re not looking and a recruiter reaches out, refer your friend. We’re all in this together, and we all get out of it together. Those of us who can should help everyone else.

If you get laid off, there are things you can and should do to take care of yourself.

Apply for unemployment. Or in the UK, sign on. Do this even if you got a great severance package. It’ll give you more runway, in case it takes a while to find a new job. Be warned: unemployment is not going to pay all your bills. When I was laid off in 2001, the max benefit was $1200, and my rent was $1600. Even if the max benefit has increased, I bet it’s not enough to pay my mortgage, and might not be enough for you either.

Reduce what can be reduced. Remember that day 1 to-do list you made? Make the calls. Apply to the programs. Tell your landlord what happened. Throw yourself on the mercy of anyone who will help you out, and be open and honest right away.

Then take a moment. Grieve. You just lost your job. This is one of the biggest, most stressful things that can happen to you in your life. It’s as traumatic as having a loved one die. Give yourself the grace of sitting in that trauma for a minute. A week, maybe two. Stay in bed. Cry. Binge trashy Netflix. Stare out the window. Eat rocky road ice cream out of the container. You get a free pass for a short time to do whatever soothes the ouchies, or to wallow in the pain.

Strategize what’s next. Layoffs are a great time to reinvent or adjust your trajectory. Have you been doing the exact right thing for you? Is there something else you’d like to aim at? Can you do what we call a Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) by firing your thrusters in a different direction? Set your sights and aim for where you want to be, even if it’s different than where you were.

Then, start applying. Start with your dream companies. Aim high. Then broaden your search. As you interview, ask them about their business model. Remember you’re interviewing them too. Ask them about their ethics — do they align with yours? Ask them whether they’ve done layoffs, and how they handled them. Ask them why they’re hiring right now. All of these things will help you choose a new place that’ll feel good.

At the beginning of your search, you can be picky. You know your runway because you know what your minimum spend per month is because you did your budget spreadsheet. When you get halfway through your runway, you don’t get to be picky anymore. Start applying to everything you see.

Remember that HP statistic: Women usually only apply to jobs that they have 100% of the qualifications for. Men apply if they have 60%. I think that 60% should apply to you. Remember that job postings are written as broadly and ambitiously as possible. If you think you’ve got a mere majority of the things they need, or if you think they don’t know what they need, GO FOR IT. Literally the worst thing that can happen is that they don’t hire you. Which leaves you no worse off than you are today.

And last but not least, practice self care.

It’s not just for hippies and soccer moms. It bears repeating: job hunting is one of the most stressful things you can do. Take care of yourself. Talk to people about how you’re feeling. Do the things that give you joy, even when you don’t feel like it. Take pleasure in the small things like the smell of rain or sunsets or walks in green places. Get to know all the dogs in your neighborhood, one walk at a time. Do what it takes to keep yourself okay.

It might take a while to get through this valley. But in the end, you may wind up somewhere you never dreamed was possible. At the very least, there will be another side to the valley, and a climb up in your future. I’m rooting for you.