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Rising Star
I've transitioned to the post lay off fear of never getting back to work, almost 7 months into unemployment.
2 years, 1 month, 11 days
Yes. Welcome to fascism.
Call it whatever you want, dude. The system isn't listening.
At this point, I am under the assumption that I will be laid off any day now. Almost an achievement to get through another day unscathed.
Same. Everyone is worried, it's like a constant game of cat and mouse trying to dodge the constant reorgs and political drama infecting every company.
With my history, I'm constantly in a state of worry, waiting for the axe to fall. Since 1984 I've been laid off 7 times (2x in 1984, 1987, 2000, 2005, 2014, and 2017.) Six of the seven jobs were in tech. One was in medical devices/pharma. All were in California (if that matters.)
Based on my experience and observation, I've concluded that this is the the business model most companies employ to cut costs and make Wall Street happy. To me, it seems very short sighted. Within a year they hire a replacement for the laid off employee -- usually a contractor.
My parents -- who entered the job market in the early 1950's -- could never wrap their heads around this concept. For them, layoffs had a different meaning. It was just another word for furloughs, which were temporary. The employee always went back to their job within a month or two.
Essentially, unless you were a really poor performer, or the company went under, you had a job until retirement
Yes. Also, you've been in this state for some time but didn't understand this until now.
What to do?
Live within your means. Save money. Build side gigs. Keep you resume current. Upskill. Maintain positivity.
Your title is based on running a software board where everyone else does the tasks but you.
Respectfully, we don't need more Scrum Masters. Every studio I've worked in just has the Artists/Devs run their own board(s) in sync since Jira has basically become the MS Word of project management/analytics tools.
In your case, perpetually posting about it every day
Check out the WARN act. Legally a company has to give notice before mass layoffs unless they are a very small company.
avoid moral strikes against the face. aim for structure. he's not a coward. he's an empathy emulator.
AI is a major problem not just in Tech but its also not the only problem and any young people going to school for coding etc will find themselves on welfare in the near future while also being in debt up to their eyeballs. Jobs like customer care service are all being eliminated by AI in massive waves. As a consultant I see this every where I go. In Tech, the other issue is if AI doesn't take your job it will eventually be farmed out to countries like India where coders are a dime a dozen and work for peanuts. This is what happened to my job back in January and its very difficult to even find full time work now with AI even evaluating CV's. Listin your experience, its also telling your age and in my case at almost 60, I am not even getting interviews for jobs I am more than qualified to do. This is all nothing more then corporate greed but what I don't understand is if we are all unemployed or working for a wage that's barely livable, who will buy their product? How does no one see this is a major problem that ultimately will end very badly and no one is doing a damn thing about it.
35 years ago I joined a Fortune 25 company right out of college. I had my pick of companies and I chose the one I wanted to stay at for the rest of my career. That was a time when it was highly unusual to see layoffs except in line manufacturing. One year after I started, so did the layoffs. I survived 10 layoffs over the course of 4 years before I left on my own. I've been laid off five times in my career. That's what life is in IT now. You need to build a cash safety net and a plan just like if fire breaks out in your house. And keep your heart open to new opportunities even if they differ from what you were looking for. Keep an open mind about your job search. Getting some income going is more important than your pride, and often a step back leads to a step forward. And keep learning, keep increasing your skills in areas that are in need. Use some of your time off to upskill on Udemy or other course platform, many courses are very deep and inexpensive.
Also, there are companies out there still that never or rarerly lay people off. You may need to make some trade offs like location, pay, or position but they are out there.
I would suggest transitioning to being contractor. I was laid off from my last full time job two years ago and was unemployed for 5 months before switching to contracting. I would suggest being careful about which contracts you take and fully understanding the benefits being offered. If its straight time, then up your hourly rate. If there are benefits (ie health, dental, vision, 401k, vacation, etc), then the hourly rate can come down. If you are a good worker, then they will keep renewing your contract. And, if you do take this path, then I wish you the best of luck ;)
Until we get to a point where everyone has a basic level of income, food, shelter, and medical care access the threat of layoffs will always be front of mind. If the only way you can literally survive is to be actively employed, you'll always be at the mercy of the ones signing the paychecks and their mercurial whims.
My CFO compared layoffs to brushing teeth last year. He did it on an investors call, not an internal call but we all know about it and have been tearing into him. He still has a job and apparently we can expect 2% layoffs yearly. Since it's a German company and the German employees are protected by a contract and a workers council (similar to a union) so most of the layoffs happen here or Asia. I don't think I can work anywhere where I'm not at risks for a layoff until I get someone to hire me for the c-suite still at risk but the golden parachute is too nice for me to care.
Interesting use of language to launder dehumanization.
Im afraid its probably a way of life now. Literally like watching the ball drop in Times Square on 12/31…. You just hope to survive until you hit your magical retirement number. Ive been laid off twice, in the span of 8 months,… from two different employers!
All I ever hear about now is “cost-cutting“,… even when companies are profitable. When will enough BE enough?!
When companies are actively taxed for "cost-cutting" for the sake of profiteering and extortion against the skilled labor.
I watched a company blow a 230 million 5 year project budget in a 2+ year span. For about 6 months they tried to use doublespeak to placate to workers that everything was fine. I put in my two weeks and then two weeks later 50+ people fired in a day.
Ultimately I see it as PMs and Executives taking the contract money and effectively committing fraud.
Best you can do is keep your skills marketable and hopefully work for a tech company that offers generous layoff packages. They are all laying off and some offer better packages than others.
Me a troll? I'm not the one acting like this situation is normal, jumping from one employer to the next hoping for a better severance package for when the inevitable axe falls. What kind of system is that? I thought tech was filled with smart people.
the fear is real but there's a split happening — people who learn to work effectively with AI tools are becoming harder to replace, not easier. the ones at risk aren't the ones asking this question, they're the ones who haven't thought about it at all
I just work for a mid size tech company that may pay a little less, but you aren't terrified of layoffs every day. I did fight the battle of leaving for more pay for a couple years, but ultimately decided to stay for job security.
No unless your life expectancy is 15 years. What time has taught me is that every 10-15 years everything basically changes, then that wave goes on foe 10-15 years and so on. Eventually, if you live long enough, you will say "remember that time when". The problem is that only a few of us (im talking normal to semi-normal salaried people >=35k _
Simple answer is Yes if you work for big companies. I worked for IBM for 15 years and there were layoffs every 3-4 months. It was a horrible way to start a career, but I was an IBMer and my pride and fear made me stay with the company knowing one day I would be part of what IBM called "Resource Actions." Getting RA'd was the best thing that happened to me. After that I landed the most secure City Government IT position possible, union and all, but it wasn't the healthiest environment. If you are the type that hides out and doesn't work hard stay with the big companies until you get let go, but if you are part of the 20% that actually work hard find smaller IT companies where they actually appreciate hard work! If I had to do it all over again, I would have started that way. I am, by far, the happiest I have been in my career with the small/medium size business I work for now. My advice, don't worry about things you can not control. Keep sending out resumes, interviewing and something will come along. Have some faith and stay positive! AI is here to stay. It's the next wave of the Technology Revolution and it has little to do with layoffs. Layoffs are business decisions hidden by AI, Automated teller machines, Automated check-out, etc.., Layoffs have been happening for over 20 years. CEOs, who make way too much money, drive layoffs to rule their workforce with fear and for business reasons to keep that stock price moving up... That's it! The IT industry is forever changing and you have to also, if you want to make it.
I worked my butt off at every company. 60-90 hour weeks were the average and that wasn't 'hiding', it was turning out a lot of quality work despite the lack of help or resources.
It isn't hard work or laziness that gets you laid off. Your abilities have literally nothing to do with it. It's usually more insider politics and 'old boy' networking.
I only hope that those people eventually get a taste of their own hubris.
Fear is what keeps workers compliant, so they dont look elsewhere, don’t ask for a raise but are thankful to be working its all apart the CEO game of keeping you in control.
What do you mean "going to be"?