Gratitude and Professional Opportunities

This morning in my LI feed, I saw the attention given to the recruiter who likened people being laid off and thanking their (former) employers for their professional opportunity as a form of corporate "Stockholm Syndrome". Um...REALLY??

First of all, as someone who has been LAID OFF 3 times in 5 years (due to restructuring, covid, and Elon Musk/economy) I can say that this is utter codswallop. I AM grateful for the opportunities each of my professional roles has given me - to learn, grow, create lasting relationships (including lasting friendships and even romantic partners along the way), make a good living, and challenge me to become better in my profession.

That doesn't mean I am unaffected by losing my job - but it's a JOB. There are more out there. I'm lucky in that I have had a very lucrative career, and these RIF's (Reductions in Force) have been more annoyances than anything else to me. BUT: there are plenty of people out there that had HUGE impacts to their LIVES via their most recent employer(s).?

• The new grad who had their first job out of school
• The immigrant on a visa who had their first job in a new country
• The SAHP/child returning to the workforce after an extended absence as a primary caregiver
• The cancer survivor that needed to get back on their feet after a long illness
• The career pivoter that landed a role in their new industry
• The bootcamp grad looking for that first role to showcase their skills
• The newly divorced adult who had to pick up the pieces of their life after it shattered
• The single parent without a true support structure from their ex/family
• The young professional who took a job across the country in a new city/community that turned out to be "home" unasked for
• The trans/queer professional who finally felt able to be their authentic self after years in a closet

There are as many stories about people who really DID benefit from their jobs and the opportunity it afforded them as there are grains of sand on a beach.

Being grateful does not diminish the grief, shock, hurt, and anger that naturally will accompany a layoff.

But to cast aspersion on someone who publicly expressed THANKS for a chance to have a job they love with people they admire and like? That's unfair and unwarranted, in my opinion. Let's not continue the whole trend of devaluing someone else's feelings; I've seen a LOT of this on LI in the last couple of years. Let people grieve - or express gratitude - without shaming and blaming. Or, in other words, swim in your own lane.?