We are now a statistic

I had a couple ideas of what my first LinkedIn article would be. "Always a contractor, never a FTE" first came to mind. About my life as a perpetual contractor before I landed my full-time position with LinkedIn about a month ago. The weeks passed, coronavirus struck and then I thought it would be something about working from home, a "skill" I've mastered over the past six years, sweatpants, funky socks, pet cameos and all.

Then this week happened.

"Did you get my calls?" My husband dropped his bags at the front door, looking like he'd just witnessed something ghastly.

"No, I was outside in the garden. Are you guys closing?"

Gov. Newsom had just announced a "shelter-in-place" order for the Bay Area that would take effect the next day and I was curious how the aquarium where my husband worked would handle the news.

For background, my husband and I just relocated to the Bay Area in January from Rancho Palos Verdes in L.A. County. I moved so I could join LinkedIn full-time and the timing coincided miraculously and serendipitously (or so we thought) with a job my husband got at the Aquarium of the Bay. He applied for one role and they told him he was over-qualified, but they wanted him to apply for another position that was about to open: Associate Director of Facilities and Life Support Systems. Whenever I shared this stroke of luck with friends, the response was, "Who does that happen to? Go Billy!"

He started on Feb. 3. And he got laid off on March 16.

"They let me go," he said. I could see the tears starting to stream down his face. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen my husband cry in the 10 years I've known him.

"Like temporarily?" I said. The alternative was too much to fathom.

"No, they eliminated the position. They blamed the economic downturn and they had a check ready and everything."

I hugged him. We both cried. Our 3.5-year-old son must have been preoccupied with "Paw Patrol" or "Dinosaur Train" (his latest Amazon Prime/PBS Kids obsession). We had a few moments before we joined him in the den.

I've been covering coronavirus-linked layoffs and job losses in the travel and service industries here for several weeks, and I certainly expected there to be some furloughs at the aquarium, but to let someone go after less than two months and after we moved up here, essentially for this opportunity — I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach with grief. And anger. A lot of anger. Moments ago, I had bragged to a friend on the phone how hard my husband was working, and loving it, and how grateful we were they seemed flexible with his work schedule when our son's school gave us less than 24 hours notice it would be closed for two weeks.

Grief and shock aside, we are no strangers to layoffs. I have been laid off twice, and Billy was laid off almost exactly three years ago in a similar fashion. We had moved cross-country from South Carolina to San Diego for a job back in 2016 with our then-6-week-old-son. The job we moved for got cut less than six months later. We bounced back after that dark time, and I know we will again, but it doesn't make it suck any less.

Monday was tough. We took turns crying off and on. I think our son brought me tissues at some point telling me it would be OK. We rallied to keep him happy and entertained, though my husband did have to step away and be by himself sporadically throughout the evening. Tuesday wasn't much better. I was grateful it was my Sunday as we all benefited from hanging together as a family.

To say these are tough times would be the understatement of the century. And I know many of you out there may be going through similar, if not worse, situations. I wanted to share our story because while I have yet to find the silver lining in all of this, though in time I know we will — we have to — there is a smidgeon of comfort knowing we are not alone.

After we put our son to bed Monday, we had one more good cry together.

"I'm supposed to take care of our family," my husband said.

Our party of three (five, if you include our dog and cat) will be a party of four in May. I know he feels the added pressure of our growing family. We both do.

"Honey, you do take care of our family. And you always will. Paycheck or no paycheck."

*****

Here is a list of a few resources if you, a loved one or a friend are experiencing job loss(es) at this time. In addition, I have some LinkedIn Premium "gifts" to share with those in need. Please DM me for details:

• Who's hiring right now
• LinkedIn's Top Voices on Job Searches and Careers
• My colleague Andrew Seaman runs the newsletter "Get Hired" with fantastic weekly interviews and tips on job-searching. His latest "What to Do if You've Been Laid off or Furloughed is, in a word, timely.