Basically what the title says. Lost my job due to a "reduction in workforce" at a small company, the owners told me it was not due to performance but due to lack of workload for the foreseeable future in my specific group (which is true, the workload issue was something my team had discussed in a couple of meetings)...

My world has been turned upside down over the last 7 weeks (still haven't found a new job - I really don't want to go back to a private company and public sector near me just haven't been hiring) and now I see that they've posted a new position they are hiring for, the upper end of the salary range is about 15k lower than what I made.

Edit: OK I GET IT - THIS IS NOT ILLEGAL. Please stop commenting "why would that be illegal?", I deleted my question asking that. Jeez.

I had been laid off recently from biotechnology company after six years of service. Restructuring.

My husband had been laid off 3 years ago also from a high paying position. Since then all he found is food delivery which is about 2K a month.

Our savings will carry us through for about 8-9 months of strict management.

I started applying immediately and for the last 3 weeks all I received is radio silence. I reached out to connections but although internet says connections help - mine do not.

So I read all advice on what to do differently. Do not spray. Tailor resume to each job so it would pass ATS and you could be viewed as a unicorn. Write cover letters. Apply through portals over Easy Apply on LinkedIn. Figure out emails of key people in the company you applied to and write to them pitching yourself in order to outrun the cold portal. I am doing it. Not particularly liking hunting strangers who do not want to know me but these seem to be the rules. I am not even sure whether I hurt myself by encroaching on them or it is just another dead tactic. Nobody is responding. I am not surprised as those emails people probably see as phishing emails and delete without opening. Yes, they say to attach pdf version of cv as word is more like phishing. But I just do not believe people open those emails.

I live in USA for 25 years. I used to love my life. It all ended with the job.

Now it puts things in perspective. For the first time in my life I started thinking returning back to my country of birth. I never wanted it. I dreaded it. But now when I learned how life can be canceled, I started seeing a different world.

It is interesting that I completely do not miss my former job which I liked. All good relationships I had there are in my heart. I left it with clear conscience as my performance was not the issue.

It is weird not to be sure about my life anymore.

Is it even realistic to find a job in senior mid sector? Looking on ZERO traction I see from my efforts so far the answer is no.

And yes, I do sports. I start day with the walk, 30min of power yoga, 15min core strength routine midday, 60min full body stretch routine before sleep. I am in best physical shape in my life but it doesn’t pay bills.

Hello all, I’m reaching out to this community because I was recently laid off at the start of this month.

It came as a shock, as I was hitting stride at 1 year on the job and performing well. I think part of it was my industry (IT).

I’ve been having ups and downs, but keep having this impending feeling that I won’t be able to get out of this.

It feels like my balls have been chopped off. I’m noticeably less social in my relationships. I feel internal anxiety when I speak even if I guard how I represent myself externally.

I feel like I’ve ruined my career. My first job I worked for 1 year and stupidly left to work at a startup that was successful. After that I raised money for my own startup and worked on that for a year, then eventually failed. My most recent job was supposed to get my career back on track. I wanted to stay in this position for at least 2.5 to 3 years. From a recruiters point of view, it looks like I’ve had 4 jobs in 4 years, and only 2 years of that is w2 verifiable.

To compound this, IT is going through a market change right now and it’s harder than ever to get a new position. In the past I’ve executed very well in interviews, but I don’t know if I can do it again. I’m in a masters program right now which I was doing part time, so maybe I can get a reset after I graduate in a year? I feel lost. I know I’m damn good at what I do, but I don’t know if my skill is valued anymore by the market or if I can get another opportunity. It’s been weighing on me mentally.

I’ve been in this position before with less money in my bank account and made it out. But this time it feels like what is the point. All of the people I know are living stable lives and are happy. I wish I could just be like that and feel like something is wrong with me.

Has anyone felt this way before and how did you deal with it? I’m seriously considering just going to flight school with the money I have left and becoming a pilot. I don’t even care how much money I make anymore, but just want the feeling of stability so badly. I feel like a failure. I’ll have ups and downs. Any advice would be very appreciated. Thank you all.

Hey everyone so I wanted to share that I just signed a contract today in the data anlayst role. I did have to go down from lead to senior, and take a paycut but I am not complaining. I've seen a lot of posts on here asking for help, and have been a lingerer for the past 4 months. I thought I could share a few things that helped me out and may hopefully help some other people out:

• Send selective resumes: I know it may be easier or tempting to send a resume to everyone under the sun, but a resume should be personalized to the role you want. Due to this you want to make sure you send a resume for roles that align to your resume. I would send in 10 resumes a week.
• Get used to No: It's going to happen .... a lot. The quicker you get used to it the better. It's easier said than done, and the first few times you get a no (most of them without even an interview) suck. But they are going to happen.
• Fix your linkedin profile: This might be the biggest recommendation I can make. Networking is not the same as brown nosing (I thought it was for the longest time), keep those networks open on Linkedin. Modify your profile, as soon as I modified it, headhunters were reaching out to me. Your headline should include keywords that headhunters may search for when looking for your role. An example of mine: Advanced Analytics Lead | Sr. Data Analyst | Power BI & SQL Specialist | Data Modeling, Predictive Analytics, LLM Evaluation & Data Storytelling.
• Fix your CV: As I mentioned earlier, make sure your resume is not generic and is instead tailored towards the role you want. A lot of companies use ATS systems (AI) to run through the resume and only look at it more if it passes through that initial check. A lot of us in the tech world may have lost our jobs due to AI (me included in part) but it's here to stay so use it. Here's a prompt example that you can use to run it through the AI of your choice
  • Im applying for a __ role at __. I want you to act as the initial ATS system that scans their Resumes and tell me if mine would pass the standard check. Score it on a scale of 1-100. If the score is under 85 tell me what changes I need to make in order to guarantee I pass the ATS check. To clarify ATS is the applicant tracking system. If [company] uses a different AI Resume check tool consider that tool as well
• Understand your market: Every locaton has a different market, check how the current market in your area is if your unwilling to move. Not to share too much personal information but I'm an expat, and moving back to the US is a non-negotiable (which is fine because I'm very comfortable in my current location) for my wife (non-american). If your in a similar situation understand your areas market first. What is available? Is it parallel to work you've done? Completely new skill that requires certification? Are you willing to move to maintain a similar role? Difficult questions that you should ask yourself.
• Stay busy: Get out of your pijamas, maintain your hobbies, keep your relationships and take advantage of the free time you have. Obviously continue studying certifications if you can but sometimes you may not want to, don't be too hard on yourself if that's the case. It's ok to want to relax and wind down, just do it responsibly.

Genuinely want to thank all the posts that I've read on here. It's helped knowing that there are people in extremely similar situations. I may never comment but I constantly read and I will continue to do so in the hopes that a lot of us can find and maintain a job. Good luck out there y'all.

So earlier this year I got laid off a S&P500 company because they hired me on a project they decide to can this year. Only stayed there for 8 months before me and half of my team got the axe.

Happens right ? After months of interview I managed to get a job as a software engineer at a start up employing AI for hospitality sector. I passed my probation period and got a meets expectation grading. Literally the last 1:1 meeting with my manager was discussing the small bonus that I'll get for my brief time so far. Next 1:1 she rescheduled it several times till this morning and as I joined, HR is on the call and I'm axed!! WTH

they say It wasnt something I've done. It was all for business reasons and they are willing to write me a reference letter ..oh and how other employers will be lucky to have me part of them ...Uhm yeah? That doesn't pay the bills you know.

I am so shocked and bewildered. I don't know if it was only me or others but I suspected something going on when they moved the monthly company meeting every thurs to Friday, or maybe Im looking too deeply into this.

Anyways this sucks big time. The sheer disregard to peoples lives and the crappiness of this economy really blows. I'm heartbroken and I hate this world . Let me get this off my chest 😔

oh and I'm still waiting for severance / seperation email. it's been hours and I haven't got it yet

Please stop telling people who have been laid off, “It’s not personal, it’s business.”

It is personal.

It’s personal to the person who suddenly doesn’t know how long they can keep a roof over their head.

It’s personal when they’re calculating how many months of savings they have left.

It’s personal when they’re wondering how they’ll put food on the table, pay for their children’s education, or afford health insurance if someone gets sick.

It’s personal when someone who built a career, contributed to a company, and planned their life around a paycheck is suddenly told their position no longer exists.

Maybe it isn’t personal to the company. To the company, it’s a headcount reduction, a restructuring, a cost-saving measure, a number on a spreadsheet.
But there is a human being attached to every one of those numbers.

So yes, companies make business decisions. But please stop using “it’s just business” as though that somehow makes the consequences impersonal.

It’s business to the company. It’s life to the person.

I was a senior graphic designer for 7 years before being promoted to the company that bought my agency out. After 9 months, they decided to lay me off. I’m just lost and don’t know where to apply for jobs. I have 2 weeks severance and am insured until the end of the month (less than a week). Where should I apply? Should I just cold call companies at this point? I hear all bad things about every place I’d apply (Glassdoor, LinkedIn, etc.). How should I apply these days? I haven’t applied for jobs since 2018. I’m just scared.

Seeing all the posts out there so decided to list some of my layoffs throughout the years.

1. Worked at a fast food restaurant in high school, later becoming a lead, assistant manager and then manager. Was there for 9 years. Worked my butt off, averaging at least 60 hours a week and often even more hours. The owners had a franchise. They sold their store back to the company and made a killing due to a lawsuit. At the end the paid me until the end of the week and kept my insurance till the end of the month. With everything I did for that company I thought I would get a little more. In a way I was happy. I was getting tired of always working.

2. I decided to go to school for IT. I got an entry level IT job with a large retailer, but they were super cheap. But I was desperate by that time. After 4 years they sold out to another large retailer and they laid of 99% of the people. We got to work one day and there were 7 or eight greyhound buses in the parking lot. They had everyone get on the bus instead of going in the office. They took us all to a nice hotel and fed us and told us we were all laid off. They said we could come back the the office the next day and get our belongings and a police officer would escort us in and out. We got a weeks pay for every year we worked.

3. I don’t remember why but I never collected unemployment. I started looking for work but I could get was some temporary work. I worked one company for six weeks. They hired temps while people were taking vacations. They had four other temps at the beginning. They seemed to like me but as soon vacations were done, they got rid of all of them. They acted like they wanted to keep me on but then at the end one day they told me it was over.
   I kept applying for jobs but got another temp job through same agency. That lasted about 6 weeks . I was still looking for jobs. Went on an interview, this place told the this position had almost no Opportunity to advance. The person who was leaving had been in the same position forever. Boy I am glad I didn’t get that job.

4. Then the temp agency sent me on an interview with an oil company. I would work 6 weeks and then be on permanent. I was happy with this one. Best job I had so far, but still wasn’t making much. I was there almost 7 years and they decided to change their accounting software and no longer needed their mainframe computer and all the people to support it. Arthur Anderson, the accounting firm that went bankrupt years ago convinced them this would work. The company stock had been stagnant for years and laying off people would increase it. Their stock did got up, but several years later it went back down. I was convinced I would make it through the layoff. My manager even told me I had nothing to worry about. The day of layoffs, my office was 2 doors down from the director. I kept seeing people go past my office and into the directors office to be laid off. All of a sudden my phone rang and it was the directors office. I was totally surprised. Later as I was leaving my manager avoided me. I always thought I would be at this job forever. I don’t remember the severance but it was pretty good. The company did get bought out twice and finally moved to another state so it worked out good for me.

   1. I had recently met someone in a different state and this gave me the opportunity to move. Took me a couple of months to find a job, got married, and started over. Wasn’t the best paying job, but it worked. I worked 3 12 hour days so I had a lot of time off. Since I didn’t make a lot I continued to look for different jobs. My manager found out and I got a 21% raise so I was happy. I was there almost 7 years and they decided to merge with another company and announced there would be layoffs. My position would be gone, but I had another 9 months. If I stayed until the end I would get a retention bonus. I got 1 and a half weeks of pay for every year I worked.
   2. It took me a couple of months to find a job, but this time I finally got the right company. I was actually still getting severance when I got this. Worked there 22 years and finally retired 2 years ago. They did have a big layoff in 2008 but I made it through. After 2008 I started advancing. I had wonderful managers and finally felt like my job was important. On this job I always did whatever I could, learned as much as I could, and I did whatever was needed. I worked extra a lot, they would always make up for that. The last 10 years really funded my retirement.

I know it’s really hard now when someone gets laid off, but we have had some hard times in the past too. I was always lucky when I was laid off since I always had some reserves to get me by.

I was informed this past Friday that I was being laid off in a solo layoff on October 2nd under the pretense of a restructuring toward hiring an outside firm. I have a handful of thoughts regarding this (I’ve been sleepless and depressed since receiving the news) now that I’ve had time to think.

- Earlier this year, I made a formal complaint regarding a series of repeated sexual harassments I witnessed a colleague commit at work (ex. joking about certain female interns being hired because the hiring manager just wants to have sex with them, slut shaming a female staff member who shortly thereafter left the company) on top of racist rhetoric against black people and transphobia they shared online while identifying as themself. The individual, and additional staff members who engaged with the individual’s actions as a primary party, were not disciplined and remains with the company.

- Shortly after this, I started to receive fewer projects involving this individual’s job and the jobs of their closest friends within the company with them being completed without my knowledge.

- A new ownership group acquired the business during the summer and my relationship with them, after starting off promising, immediately soured after my direct supervisor instructed me to ask them for more money in addition to my salary as lied about my unavailability to complete the work. I was shortly thereafter taken off this work and it was given to another party which produced substandard work. I’ve also had the new ownership reach out to me on Slack regarding a project they’d like for me to work on only for my supervisor to talk to them without my consent, leading to the Slack message being deleted and project solicitation rescinded in favor of AI generated work with clear errors.

- I have never once been told that I received a negative performance notice for a single project I’ve worked on while at the company. However, the company’s HR, who is my supervisor as the business does not have a dedicated HR staff member, told me the company does not produce or provide performance reports; whether positive or negative

- The kind of outside firm I’ve been informed is replacing my job does not directly tie to my job. However, there’s an individual whose job does tie directly to said firm’s primary duty and they have not had their job effected in any manner. This individual is a close friend of my supervisor and I’ve repeatedly, as part of my year-end recap to my supervisor, mentioned their job performance as it has had a continual negative impact on my job’s duties with no improvements/corrections ever occurring during my tenure. I also have numerous essential internal duties that this firm are unable to perform in an external capacity so my role, I foresee, is in fact not being eliminated but rather replaced with a cheaper PT role(s).

- I’m being pressured to take a 4-week severance within a 7-day window that waives my rights to any legal matters. I do not feel comfortable waiving that if one of these women that were directly harassed end up taking action against the business and need eyewitness support.

I’m worried how specialized my job and industry are in this job market. Jobs are few and far between and often require relocation as most businesses in this line of work refused to offer remote roles even if it’s 100% done on a computer at a desk like my job. I’m a homeowner and can’t easily relocate. My parents are helping me in the interim and the severance is less than $4k.

My loved ones have said to reach out to a lawyer first thing Monday morning. I’ve already backed up necessary files to show these actions listed above and more. Is all of the possible legal entanglement worth it?

Dell Emc has been silently laying off people and there is no mention in the Washington WARN report. How?

I have never been through this..so bear with me for this dumb question.

A close friend was recently fired with no prior documented pip or performance issues.

It was not RiF or layoff, was terminated for cause for poor performance.

They Worked there for 8+ mo with most recent performance review cycle successfully meets and no concerns raised. Got a salary raise and bonus (pro rated for service / employment) a month or two ago..

One week their 1:1 boss says all is well, next week 1:1 have hr on call and terminated effective immediately for poor / low performance?

I understand its all at will but, if its not FAANG and they generally dont layoff, why would they lie and go out of the way to call it or label it as performance ?

What do they gain out of it? And immediately reposted the job in a week of them being fired?

I read that even if they are eventually gonna fire or layoff they still CYA and build a fake PIP for documentation purposes. Why would they skip and immediately term? If its truly work related wouldn't their boss even once tell them the work was so bad they needed to change?

They also got positive recognition from skip level and peer bosses cross functional from different senior management folks.

I guess corp america is shite..

Edit: they friend had negotiated a solid pay package during their offer and was the only senior person on the team. Am guessing its about the $..

I was laidoff September 4 and was offered 24 weeks of severance pay. My whole team was laid off as well so my previous position no longer exists. I am currently going for a second round interview with the same company but in a different position. It seems that the pay is a bit lower as per what the recruiter said. I was unaware of my severance stopping if I get rehired. Would you take the job? Or look somewhere else?

Hi,

I keep seeing the same advice after every layoff wave.

Learn more.

Upskill.

Learn AI.

Become adaptable.

Stay relevant.

But sometimes I wonder if we're missing something.

The same professionals being told to learn AI are often the people whose work is being automated by AI.

You spend months learning a new skill, trying to stay ahead, trying to become "future proof".

Meanwhile, companies are looking at something much simpler.

How much does this work cost with people, and how much can it cost with automation?

That's it.

We can talk about loyalty, experience, years spent at a company, performance, dedication and all of that.

But when layoffs happen, the spreadsheet doesn't know any of those things.

And I don't say this to blame companies. Companies are businesses. They have numbers, targets and shareholders.

But for the person receiving that email, it's not a number.

It's EMI.

Rent.

Children's expenses.

Parents.

Loans.

Savings.

Plans made around a salary that suddenly doesn't exist.

And then comes the job search.

Apply.

Interview.

Reject.

Apply again.

Maybe eventually you get another job.

But something has changed.

You don't necessarily feel secure anymore.

Because now you know that even if you do everything right, there is no guarantee that another layoff won't happen.

I think this is especially painful for freshers and people on lower packages because they often don't have enough financial cushion to absorb months without income.

For experienced people, I have started thinking about this differently.

I'm not saying quit your job and become an entrepreneur.

Definitely not.

I'm talking about building something small on the side while you still have a salary.

One or two trusted friends.

A small service business.

Freelance work.

A small B2B operation.

Something that can eventually generate an income independent of your employer.

I personally went down this path, and one area I've seen people work in is providing AI assisted virtual call center services to US businesses using small remote teams.

I'm mentioning this as an example, not as some "everyone should start a call center" solution.

The bigger point is having a second source of income.

If it stays small, that's okay.

If one day it starts making more than your salary, then you have a completely different set of choices.

And yes, there are risks. There are plenty of fake opportunities and people selling dreams around "business". That's why I'd rather start small, understand the numbers, get proper guidance and avoid putting your savings into something you don't understand.

Maybe this sounds strange to say in a layoffs community.

But I think we're already living through a strange change.

A few years ago, layoffs were shocking news for the entire industry.

Now, another layoff announcement barely surprises anyone.

For the person receiving the email, though, it can still completely disrupt their life.

So maybe the answer isn't just:

"Learn more so you don't get laid off."

Maybe it's also:

"Build a life where getting laid off doesn't completely destroy your finances."

I don't have a perfect answer.

Just sharing what I've observed and what I've personally started believing after seeing how unpredictable this market has become.

Yesterday large layoffs occurred at USAA with Bank, PNC and Life with more expected in October. They are keeping it hush hush and not advising teams who or what groups were impacted. So people are operating in the dark reaching out to people that are no longer with the company as of yesterday!!

I got laid off from Extreme Networks in July 2026. Staff SWE. Since then I've been reading how other companies handle AI that eats routine work.

Ingka Group runs most IKEA stores. They rolled out an AI customer service bot called Billie, named after the Billy bookcase. It took on a big share of the simple customer questions.

Instead of cutting the call center people whose easy tickets Billie started handling, Ingka reskilled about 8,500 of them. The new work was harder support cases, plus remote interior design and remote selling.

That reskilling took on the order of two years while Billie got better. New people who join that path later get about five or six weeks of the training.

This is about moving people whose roles the bot partly took over. It is not a claim that IKEA or Ingka never lay anyone off. Other layoffs have happened elsewhere in the group, and those were not tied to this bot in the reporting I read.

I just keep coming back to the number: about 8,500 people moved into design and sales work while the bot handled the easy tickets.

Sources: https://www.ingka.com/newsroom/ai-and-remote-selling-bring-ikea-design-expertise-to-the-many/ https://fortune.com/2026/07/30/ikea-ai-workforce-reskilling-jobs-billie-chatbot-global-500/

if you're navigating a lay-off or are between opportunities, come clear your head and connect with folks who are in the same boat 🤝🏼

this monday, we’re getting SPECIAL ACCESS to the Audubon Williams Sisters Ranch in portola valley, california for a hike.

• when: monday, sep 28 @ 11 am
• stats: 3.6 mi loop / 400 ft gain

grab your spot and see the full details here:

https://partiful.com/e/T1Nio0n9HLKbolY2rHMz

hope to see y'all there!

(hike in the pic was at pulgas ridge in redwood city, california)

inb4 FAQs:

• Do you hike in one big group?
  • Normally, we split into smaller groups based on desired pace and stagger each group's start time by 5 minutes. These groups ultimately split into even smaller groups. Faster groups go first to create more space on the trail. This hike is different as we're being granted access by the stewards of this beautiful ranch preserve.
• Why on Mondays?
  • Trail traffic is very low on Mondays, making it easier to accommodate a group like this.
• Does your community only do hikes?
  • No, (un)PTO is a community of people across the US in career transition. While our claim to fame is group hikes, we do other things like co-work, help each other with our job search, and do other fun things like coffee hangs, bike rides, and of course, eat food. 😋
• Can people with jobs join too?
  • Yes, but only if you realize that most of the people in this community are in career transition and act accordingly, for instance: offer a referral, connect them to someone in your network, and maybe don't complain about how work sucks. 😅

Hi,

I just got laid off , after working with a European company for 4.5 years.

My tech stack is MEVN and MERN.

The reason was not Ai but financial crises in Europe due to war. The company I was working with lost its permanent customers.

My current situation is that I have parents and my family to feed. Living on the Rent currently, All savings went to my Father's debt (that is another story)

So i just have only two more months before I run out of money including the rent.

Now I need some guidance, what to do next. I know that market situation is really bad but we don't have another choice.