The wave of layoffs sweeping through the tech sector this winter is hitting a generation of workers for the very first time.
Thus it comes as a shock.
It is entirely natural for their self-confidence to take a hit, and for them to wonder what they might have done differently to avoid this fate.
To a few, it will seem like the end of the world.
But as with other traumatic events, like breakups and losing big games, the shock of being laid off wears off over time. During my 57 years in the chaotic media industry, I was laid off at least a half dozen times.
I realize my case is an extreme one, but the general principle of how to adjust to being “let go” holds — take a breath, consider your options, and get ready for the unenviable task of job-searching in a down market.
In modern life, so much of our identity gets wrapped up in what we do for a living and where we do it that many of us can temporarily forget that we are so much more than our jobs.
In fact, being laid off, especially during recessionary periods, probably says more about your former employer than it does about you. And it just might be your big break; in any event, over time most people are going to be just fine.
Of course, for some being laid off will prove to be disastrous. It happens. Losing a job at the wrong moment can create a crisis that some people don’t recover from. So I won’t make light of that.
Perhaps because my own work history is such an open secret in my own social circles, some laid-off people ask me for advice. But it’s difficult to offer them anything much different from the usual cliches.
“Change is good.”
“It’s the company’s loss.”
“You’ll land on your feet.”
In vast majority of their cases those cliches will prove to be true. Many will find better jobs; some will find new careers. It is to a large degree up to them. Besides, ultimately in life it’s not how you fall down but how you bounce back.
And that’s a cliche worth remembering.
LINKS:
The shock of mass lay-offs is only the beginning for companies (Financial Times)
Laid off in your living room: The chaos of remote job cuts (Economic Times)
Lonely layoffs in the work-from-anywhere world (Axios)
A 31-year-old vlogged her job search on TikTok after she got laid off from Big Tech: ‘I’ve never felt like more of a loser in my life.’ (Fortune)
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