How to Reflect, Recover and Recognize the Career Opportunity in a Layoff
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity. – Sun-Tzu
We are living in uncertain economic times. Tech giants Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Salesforce have joined an already long list of companies who are making significant cuts to their workforce. The issue of layoffs is often puzzling, particularly when it comes to questions of planning your next move.
The tech sector has been the backbone of the US economy for decades, with astronomical company valuations and unprecedented growth in recent years. Now, tech companies continue to lead in layoffs, cutting more than 58,000 jobs in 2023, adding to the already staggering numbers (97,000) in 2022. Corporations in other sectors saw big post-2020 bouncebacks, awarded big executive bonuses and are now cutting anywhere from 5 to 40% of their workforces.
So, how can you shift your perspective to make sense of some of these numbers? And, more importantly, if you’re a casualty of a layoff how do you see yourself through to the other side?
When it comes to layoffs, it’s not you—it’s them
Despite what we have come to expect when facing economic downturns, massive layoffs were a rarity before the 1970s. In fact, they were seen as a failure on the part of a business to uphold its promised exchange of job security for employee loyalty.
Today we need to accept that layoffs are a part of normal business practices. With the rise of venture-backed businesses and the pressure/expectation to return 100x your investment, the focus on profit margin has intensified, meaning if you’re not constantly growing you HAVE TO cut costs.
A few reasons companies are likely cutting jobs:
- Fear of not being able to raise or make money, so they want to hold onto as much capital as possible
- Cutting back on “big bets,” strategic projects and things that will not bring immediate revenue
- Correcting for overhiring due to a temporary uptick caused by the pandemic
- Meeting investors’ expectations–during tough times it will make you look pragmatic to cut costs when everyone else is doing it
- Finally, while you’re cutting, it’s an opportunity to shed projects and people that are underperforming
No one wins in a layoff
Layoffs are a loss for companies as well—high payouts, potential lawsuits, loss of valuable institutional knowledge and disgruntled employees left doing more work with no hope for increased pay. But that is little consolation if you are the victim of labor reductions. (Particularly when a recent LendingClub report indicates that 63% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.)
Finances aside, the significant impact of being laid off is psychological. Everyone responds in their own way, but it is not unusual to feel confusion, self-doubt or even find yourself struggling with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
It’s important to work through those feelings. It’s equally important to remember that your self-worth is not about what you did in your past role. It’s about who you are as a professional AND a person, the sum of your experiences and skills, and what you choose to do as your next steps.
Don’t compare apples to oranges
That’s not to downplay the difficulty of the moment. For high-achieving individuals, a layoff is the worst kind of change. It is not only unwelcome, but uncontrollable and somewhat unpredictable.
You have probably seen tips on “making yourself indispensable” to avoid being let go from your company. These lists may be well-meaning, but they don’t take into account individual, let alone exceptional circumstances, and put an undue burden and sense of shame on a person if they don’t “succeed” at holding on.
It’s important not to compare yourself or your situation to others. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that sometimes things happen that are well beyond what we might have anticipated. And sometimes it’s the push we need to figure out what’s actually most important to hold onto.
Embrace your next new era
Having gone through a layoff and two career transitions myself, what I have found helpful—and encourage my clients to do, after you grieve, is to see sudden change for what it is: an opportunity.
An opportunity to find something new, to build something new or to pursue the dream you’ve never gone after. In any case, it’s an opportunity to combine your interests and expertise into something with new potential.
That shift in view is an important difference between experiencing change and managing transition.
The first opportunity in front of you is the chance for reflection and evaluation. Ask yourself:
- What is waiting in the space where my passion and skills overlap?
- How do I want to work?
- What do I want to achieve?
Creating a new vision and setting new goals is an important step to starting to regain excitement and energy for your career.
Your next opportunity is to figure out a professional growth strategy, then put it into play. Identify the gaps between where you are today and where you want to go. Learn and practice new skills. Expand and leverage your network. Once you reframe your circumstances, you’ll see how setbacks can become stepping stones to your next great thing.
Summary:
When trying to move forward after being laid off it helps to:
- Remember that this work separation is unrelated to your ability.
- Give yourself space and grace for your feelings.
- Don’t stress yourself through comparisons to others–there are always unknown factors.
- Shift your perspective to visualize opportunities that you can act on.
By taking control of what you can, you take some of the fear out of change. Learn from this chapter in your professional life by taking the time to invest in yourself and prepare for the next phase of your future.
If you’re looking for support, or a partner to help you avoid the common mistakes made when navigating a career transition, I can help. Learn more about my coaching services here.
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