#1 - Let's talk about Layoffs

In a time of upheaval, here are some thoughts from someone who's been there.

Hey friends,

This is a difficult time. The only topic on everyone’s mind these last few weeks has been the coronavirus. People talk about how to flatten the curve, how this pandemic is overwhelming hospitals, and how social distancing has destroyed service businesses.

But the disruption to the economy didn’t just affect restaurants, airlines, and hotels. It has come for software as well.

Last Thursday, US jobless claims hit a mind boggling 3.28 million.

A crowdsourced database compiled by Candor shows which companies are still hiring, which ones are not, and which ones have had layoffs:

As of the time of writing, 206 companies in the database have had layoffs. Layoffs are painful - for everyone involved. Trust me, I know.

My Story

On Tuesday August 29, 2017 - I was laid off from my job of about 3 years. At the time, I thought I was indispensable - a well-liked and central contributor to my company. I had a number of successful projects to my name, been promoted, and universally received strong reviews from my peer assessments.

When my manager sent me an email the night before that read “Urgent, do you have time for a 1:1 tomorrow morning?”, I had a strong suspicion for what was about to happen - but almost couldn’t believe it. Why me?

The 1:1 was not a 1:1. In addition to myself and my manager, there was a third person. At the time, I was on vacation in Houston (which coincided with Hurricane Harvey), and so this meeting occurred over a phone call (not even a video conference). I was told that the company was making hard decisions. A change in corporate priorities, a need to “focus”, and that I was being let go.

They told me about my benefits. I inquired about them. And then the call ended. I felt composed during the call, but I wasn’t prepared for how I would feel next.

Being laid off is one of the worst feelings. Especially for a young employee with little prior work experience, being let go via a phone call is world shaking.

It’s a form of shame that you previously couldn’t imagine. Telling my parents was painful. Discussions with my friends were painful. Talking to my coworkers who were staying at the company was painful. Only talking to friends who had been laid off before was any consolation.

Recovering

Layoffs put you in a vulnerable position. No matter how many jokes people make about how nice the severance pay is, you can’t just laugh off the shame.

In my experience, the only way to come back from a layoff is to talk about it. Gingerly at first, and with people that you trust. But later - more openly and casually. There are people who will see it as a weakness and they might plot to use it against you. But the vast majority of people are either sympathetic or don’t mind that you were ever laid off.

You will start to recover when you talk about it. Once you can say “I was laid off” in casual conversation, then you know you have fully recovered. The first steps will be painful. But you will find that the vast majority of people will help you heal.

Next Steps

If you’ve been laid off, the next steps for you are to find a job. Or so you might think. But the best piece of advice I’ve ever received came from a mentor who told me “Don’t look for a job just yet. Go travel. Take some time off”. I did - I took 5 months off: 2 to relax and 3 to travel. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Right now, you can’t travel. But you can take some time to be with family. Repair broken relationships. Invest further in great ones. Be around people. And take some time off. When you’re ready for that job hunt, I have a story for you as well.

If you’re part of a team that did layoffs, but are still at the company (something I have experienced twice) then things are going to suck for a while. Motivation is going to be bad for at least a month. You’re going to miss your friends. And morale may never recover. But after a mourning period of about a week, if you start shipping - things will get better. It’s difficult because you can’t really help your friends who were let go, your experience and theirs have diverged too drastically. But you can still tell them how much they’re missed - they’ll appreciate that.

Wrapping it up

This is a heavier post than I intended. I want this newsletter to be about advice that can accelerate your career as a junior engineer, but during this time of economic disruption, I felt that it would be best to share my experience about layoffs.

The data tells me that a lot of people are going through that experience right now - and I hope this can be useful.

Until next week,

Phil