A lot of people are worried about layoffs these days. So let’s talk about layoffs

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been glued to a workplace gossip site — mostly for people in tech, finance and media — called Blind. You need a company email address to sign up, and you can see where people work when they post. Moreover, the things people are talking about are topics only people on the inside would know or care about. The site feels legit. Now what’s the tea being spilled??

Lately almost every post seems to be about layoffs, especially in tech. Across the industry, people are trying to guess which departments or job titles might be more at risk. The H1B visa holders are particularly worried; their ability to live in the U.S. is at stake. If they get laid off, they may have to uproot their kids or move back to a country where their gender or sexual orientation makes life more difficult, if not more dangerous, for them.?

But people who need good health insurance are worried too. So are new hires, especially if they’ve just relocated to a new city. So are people paying expensive rent or mortgages. So are people who suspect they’d be at a disadvantage in the labor pool.?

The rumors fly. Which departments are most vulnerable? Is engineering affected?

I read the site mostly with a journalist’s eye; another journalist actually recommended it years ago when I started covering workplace issues. But the posts also feel relatable, the same way it felt vaguely unnerving working for a financial news organization in 2008 and 2009. With everything so interconnected, the specter of layoffs looms over all of us in a bad economy. And the closer the bad news hits home, the more people identify with the employees who have been losing their jobs — and the more they can’t help but think about the what ifs.?

There’s a natural urge to take stock of your own situation at a time like this, similar to how Californians instinctively start thinking about emergency go-bags during a bad wildfire season. For some people, the exercise helps, making them feel calmer and more in control. It allows them to sleep better at night. For others in shakier situations, however, it can ping their anxiety in an acute way.?

So it’s understandable that there’s a lot of antsiness on Blind these days. What are you hearing? How do I know you’re telling the truth? Let’s check our share price and see what investors think. Speculate. Ruminate.?

Tensions are ramped up most acutely for the people who know layoffs are definitely — or almost definitely — coming at their company. But it’s an undercurrent that runs throughout the site, no matter where people work. It’s the counterbalance to the “quiet quitting” conversations that are still getting play.

That collective anxiety can stir up weird emotions. For every post about layoff worries, there’s someone claiming to have no sympathy whatsoever, delivering a warped sort of reality check or maybe what they think is tough love. Come on, they say. Have some perspective. You’re not going to starve. And what good does worrying do anyway? Do what you can to prepare, but accept that you can’t control everything. You’re already luckier than most. Can’t you see that?

Others usually rush in to push back though. Show some empathy, they chide. Put yourself in the OP’s shoes. How would you feel if it were you?

Layoffs, after all, are people’s futures in the balance. Their career paths. Their financial health. Where they choose to live. Where they raise their kids. Even their identities, in a sense.?

That doesn’t mean that layoffs always lead to the worst case scenario. Who doesn’t love a story of triumph — like those former Lehman Brothers’ bankers who left life in the fast lane and are now living their best lives operating an artisanal bakery, or otherwise pursuing opportunities they might have never tried if it weren’t for the serendipity of having their careers upended? Blind is filled with those sorts of stories too. So is LinkedIn for that matter. People post to help. To offer referral links to complete strangers. To say: I’ve been there. I turned out okay. After all, who knows what can happen in the span of a career — life is full of twists and turns, not all of them bad. Against the shared angst, social media — anonymous or not — provides the pep talk that many people are seeking these days.?

I can’t read tea leaves. The intel on anonymous message boards is by definition unreliable, just a starting point for investigation. Like everyone else, I’m watching this recession unfold in real-time. I can offer this though: if you’ve been worried about layoffs, know you’re not alone. The secrecy and stigma around job cuts can make discussing them feel a bit taboo, even when it’s normal to want information. That’s why gossip sites flourish. I’m not saying anyone should indulge in the panic there, because going down the rabbit hole of rumors and speculation is not good for anyone’s mental health. But whatever you’re feeling these days — nervousness, sadness, denial, relief, gratitude — it’s all understandable. And it should be okay to voice these things, even if just to acknowledge that times kind of suck right now.?

Because the story in tech — and tech-adjacent industries — isn’t just about the size of the layoffs. It’s about what the shadow of layoffs means for the people working in those industries — and their families as well. Because once you look past the headlines about stock prices and corporate strategies, stories about layoffs are stories about people. But I don’t need to cite anonymous sources to tell you that.?