Laid off? You will get past this!

3am?- Can’t sleep. Ugh. Thinking about all the thousands and thousands of people who have been laid off this year in the Tech/Gaming/Online space. Most probably thought they had been working in their “dream job”:

Great pay (cha-ching?????)

Great culture (everyone loves me and I love everyone?????)

Great benefits (unlimited PTO and no co-pay baby!)

And most likely…work from home

And then….<bing!> What!??A 1pm?meeting request from my manager? “Can we connect?” Aw drat…I have a lunch date with friends and then a waxing appointment at 1:30pm…hmmmm…I’ll propose?3pm?and see what happens….woohoo…accepted!! Phew! My aesthetician gets so angry if I have to cancel or rebook.?

3pm: “Hey Pat…how’s it going?” “Great…I’m feeling super productive today…really upbeat…I just love my job so so so much and you’re the bestest manager I’ve ever worked with???????!” “That’s nice….hey listen….your-role-has-been-eliminated-your-package-is-in-the-mail-and-HR-will-be-in-touch-best-wishes-it’s-been-great-working-with-you” <click>???

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG….I have been laid off!!! Oh no!!! What will I do! What will my family and friends say? Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!????????????And then despair….how could they do this to *me*? I have dedicated *my* life to them! This isn’t fair!!!!!!?????

As my dear friend K. Jones would say: calm the f*ck down!!

Your job IS NOT your life!! A company needed a certain skill-set. You have that skill-set. They hired you for said skill-set…and paid you twice a month for the use of your skill-set. And now, they don’t need or cannot afford your skill-set….you are a line item on a huge budget sheet with thousands of other line items, and you have been deleted. Full stop. It’s not personal…it’s business. (Many companies will fold in a handful of “low performers” into a corporate lay-off; it’s an easy way for them to avoid the hassle of a PIP and future termination…hence the reason you will be quizzed about your lay-off in future job interviews…but I digress).?

So, reality check….if you do not have 3+ months of severance or 3+ months of salary in the bank…you are in serious trouble. It’s true, Q1 and Q2 *were* a candidate’s market, but the pendulum has swung back and Q3 & Q4 (and probably into 2023) is an employer’s market. You need to immediately cut back on all your superfluous expenses! A financial diet! Wine club, home-meal delivery service, t-shirt subscription (Wohven is the best BTW and makes a great gift), streaming subs, bi-weekly grooming appointments, etc etc etc. Your new full-time job is to find a new job…M-F…9-5…40 hours a week. Unarchive all those Inmails from pesky Recruiters...cash in all networking favors…update your LI profile (people who work at LI have great profiles), update your resume (#resumeisking for years of tips/advice). You may need to take a part-time gig (Uber, Doordash etc). You may need to lower your title and pay expectations. You may even need to consider…don’t say it Richard…but I have to…it must be said…you may even need to consider going back to the office…??????

I am more than happy to help as many folks as I can…but I am just one person. There are thousands of amazing Recruiters out there who can help you. The next chapter of your life awaits you…get up…dust yourself off…and seize it! You can do this!!???

#MakeMondayGreatAgain?