Navigating Layoffs and Leading Through Uncertainty

Bouncing Back After A Layoff

We know many people have been impacted by layoffs this season, and we are here to help.?

If you have found yourself unexpectedly back on the job market, let recruiters and your network on LinkedIn know you’re?#OpenToWork . If you specify the types of job opportunities that you’re interested in and your preferred location, we’ll help your profile show up in search results when recruiters look for suitable job candidates.

With?#OpenToWork ?you have control of who is able to see that you are ready to take on a new opportunity. It also adds the?#OpenToWork ?photo frame to your profile picture for other members to see. Learn more about how to enable this feature?here .

For tips on how to come up with a recovery plan after being laid off or how to approach a resume gap, check out this?free course on LinkedIn Learning ?to help you through. If you have specifically been impacted by tech layoffs,?this course ?can help you develop strategies for gaining reemployment in the field.

Career Cushioning

Due to the current state of economic certainty, we’re seeing professionals begin to prepare for a potential economic downturn - topics like layoffs are trending on LinkedIn, in fact conversations around recession are up nearly 900% since last year and people are starting to take action to prepare for what's next. The good news? There are things you can do now to get prepared.

“Career Cushioning” – a term that gives a hat tip to a?trend from the world of dating ?– means taking actions to keep your options open and cushioning for whatever comes next in the economy.?Just think of it just like your insurance policy to prepare for economic uncertainty. You can start by:

• Seeing who’s hiring in your network when you visit the Jobs home page.?You’ll also be notified of relevant jobs when people in your first or second degree network are hiring, and you can also see members of the hiring team in job descriptions, making it easy for you to reach out directly and apply early.
• Demonstrating the scope and scale of your expertise?by updating your LinkedIn profile with your latest experiences and skills.
• Keeping your professional network warm?by tending to it like a garden - you don’t only want to call on your network when you need a favor.
• Thinking through your next steps?by evaluating what your ideal next role would be, and outlining a plan going forward.?
• Starting to put feelers out there for new roles?by signaling to only recruiters that you’re open to new opportunities with?#OpenToWork .?

To learn more about career cushioning, check out the first edition of?Career Companion : A new newsletter by LinkedIn Career Expert Catherine Fisher.

Insights on Leading Through Change from LinkedIn’s CEO

LinkedIn’s CEO,?Ryan Roslansky , sat down with the Editor in Chief of?Harvard Business Review ?to talk about leading through uncertainty, why we all need to shift to a skills-first mindset, and what LinkedIn is focused on to help professionals navigate the new world of work.?

They also talked about why culture and values are so critical to running a successful business in today’s landscape where everyone has been rethinking how, where, and why they work. This is an edited excerpt from their conversation.?

ADI IGNATIUS:?How important is where you are? How important is it that people are present to establish and build on these cultural definitions and values?

RYAN ROSLANSKY:?This is the question that everyone is asking themselves. This is where culture and values are really important. When you make a tough decision, like where should our company work, you don’t want it to be some subjective thing. You want it to be built on top of a foundation.

I’m not your dad. I’m not your babysitter. I trust you to get your job done based on where it works best for you. And we’ve seen a lot of success. Our offices are open. A lot of employees come into the office. We have great tools that help collaboration, and video conferencing makes it easy. Again, it’s rooted in our values. It doesn’t work for every company, but based on who we are and who we aspire to be, that’s how we operate LinkedIn.

ADI IGNATIUS:?There are plenty of companies who don’t buy that. And there’s still a fear that if workers aren’t there and present, somehow they won’t be giving their all. What would be your advice to people who are thinking that way?

RYAN ROSLANSKY:?87% of employees report they are productive in a hybrid work environment, yet 85% of managers believe their employees are not. And it’s what Satya [Nadella] coined as “productivity paranoia.”

When everyone was in the office years ago, a lot of the role of the manager was to make sure that you’re physically present. And we moved to a hybrid world that requires a much different management and leadership style. You can’t ground yourself in the idea that someone’s physical presence determines whether they’re being productive and effective. It has to be based on whether someone is being effective at the job.?

So that requires ensuring that, if you’re a manager, you have clarity on what a role entails. Why do I have this role to begin with, and what’s required for the person in this role to be successful? And then you need to focus on outcomes. You focus on whether that person is being successful in the role, versus whether they are in or out of the office. But I think in order to be successful in a hybrid world, it’s all about managers and leaders thinking differently about their role, and based on outcomes instead of time in office.

You can also watch the full interview on?LinkedIn Live ?or read the transcript on?HBR .

Member Story: Paisley Simmons

Earlier this year,?Paisley Simmons ?left her tech job to make a career pivot. Soon after—amidst moving out of her hometown and buying a house—she landed a job as a copywriter in the beauty industry, only to be laid off soon after. Shaken and concerned, she turned to LinkedIn, relying on her existing network while growing it exponentially. Eventually it paid off when a recruiter sent her InMail that led to her rebound gig post-layoff. She writes, “Listen, layoffs are never easy (especially while going through big life changes). We all know that. But the community that rallied around me during this time (those I knew and those I didn’t) helped me to see this as an opportunity to redirect, to pivot.”

Learn on LinkedIn

Impacted by layoffs? Our LinkedIn Learning courses are here to enable you to gain the knowledge to help you through this uncertain time.

• How To Manage Feeling Overwhelmed ?by Heidi Hanna
• A Career Strategist's Guide to Getting a Job by Jenny Foss
• Recession-Proof Career Strategies by Jason Schenker
• Recovering from a Financial Setback ?by?Jane Barratt
• Find A Job In The Hidden Job Market ?by?Sarah Johnston

Live on LinkedIn

Video Events

• December 2 - Creating Accessible Content by?Jamie Shields ?RSVP
• December 6 - Accommodating Neurodivergents | Leveraging Neurodivergence by?Judy Katz ??RSVP
• December 6 - Confidence and Wellness Rituals: Strategies to Achieve What You Want by?Stage 4 Solutions ?RSVP
• December 17 - How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech by?Alex Chiou ?and?Rahul Pandey ??RSVP

Audio Events

• December 3 - Principles of management and how we work by?Arpit Arpoova ?RSVP
• December 5 - The Antisocial Social Club - You're at the networking event, now what? by?Liz Hamlet ?RSVP

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