I’ve been out of college and working for three years now and haven’t been laid off yet. I have seen friends and family get laid off. At my last employer they laid off 15,000 people by tapping peoples shoulders and told them to come into a meeting room with HR. I would usually be the first one in the office and on an empty parking lot. On the day of the layoffs they flew HR/corporate into town and the first row of parking was filled with fully tinted SUVs. We all just sat there all day waiting to get a Skype message to come into a room or get tapped on the shoulder. I found out by the end of the day I was safe. Others had to endure that for two weeks before they were given the all clear. Anyone care to share how their own lay off story or someone they know or witnessed?
I've seen people talk about large Zoom meetings...
Here's how Bird laid off 40% of their company over Zoom: https://youtu.be/wxTYKCOnRe4
I was laidoff (RAed if you know that term) twice. Made me grateful for being a US citizen unlike some of the H1B1s. It still killed my morale though and LC grinding got real. They just read a script and gave me a notice for 3 months. I was still employed but I had an expiration date. Plus, I'd only get 1 month severance. I know that it's business so I had no resentment to my managers. I'm even more grateful now being employed during these coronavirus times. Good luck to anyone effected! 🙏
Happened to me twice. 1st experience was at a game studio. I wasn’t part of the round 1 lay-off, but I was laid off during round 2. It mega sucked. I know I’m good at my job, since I survive 1 round, but I also wish there was more I could do to keep them profitable, and keep my job. 2nd time around (recently), it still sucks, but they only kept people who were willing to stay without paid. With the first experience. I kept pressing current funding, cash flow, revenue during all hands so I know it’s coming, i was unfazed this time. I have 2 years worth of expenses saved up so I was like w/e. I’m just gonna play games until I land on something. It’s gonna happen one point or another during your career. Save up with at least 6mo of expenses in liquid assets, and always have a backup plan.
You feel humble and grateful for every job related issue you had when you were employed. It changes your priorities and perspective on life
You are a hard worker who knows the tech stack well. One day you come to work and HR pulls you and your team into a room and take your laptops away and off you go
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At Tesla, even the interns are on the chopping block 🪓
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Crossed a line with my boss
Humiliating. Manager calls a meeting, tells you how your job has been eliminated, hands you your last paycheck on a paper along with separation agreement for you to sign. You get escorted out the building by security. Younger coworkers probably don’t know what happened. Older ones that been through it knows and will try to say goodbye outside the building. That’s it! The next time won’t be the same. You’ll see the writings on the wall long before it actually happens.
What are the writings on the wall to look out for
Works are usually planned 2 quarters ahead. If you don’t know what you’ll be working on the next quarter, that’s a red flag. If it’s a startup and you start seeing some early employees leaving. It’s a red flag. If your manager looks depressed like he or she is about to make some difficult decision, it doesn’t hurt to start filling out unemployment. Any of the red flags above should prompt you to start interviewing for a new job, as the time from you start looking to offer in hand can go from a month to up to a year. Enough buffer room from the possible lay off.