Navigating Tech Layoffs

A couple of weeks ago I received a distressing call from an old colleague whose well-funded and well backed employer shutdown overnight. As she shared the news of over 350 stranded employees, it dawned on me that this is the same story across so many organisations & startups. God forbid, that this happens with anyone , here are some insights on what to do in the first few days after suddenly losing your job. Here are 9 essential points to consider: 🔥 TAKE A MOMENT TO ABSORB THE NEWS: It's natural to feel shaken and upset. Allow yourself time to process the situation and acknowledge your emotions before taking action. 🔥 ASSESS YOUR FINANCIAL STANDING: Sit down with your spouse/partner and evaluate your financial situation. Take stock of loans, EMIs, and your inflow of funds. Determine how much liquid savings you have and calculate your runway—knowing how long you can manage without income can alleviate some pressure. 🔥 COMPILE A LIST OF CONTACTS: Create an Excel sheet with the names and details of colleagues, bosses, and professional acquaintances who can provide referrals or job leads. Treat it as you would a sales prospect list—networking is crucial during this period. 🔥 AVOID IMPULSIVE DECISIONS: While the urgency to find a new job may be overwhelming, it's essential not to jump at the first opportunity that comes your way. Exercise patience and wait for the right opportunity that aligns with your goals and aspirations. 🔥 EVALUATE BUSINESS IDEAS: Use this transitional period to work on that business idea you've always wanted to pursue. Evaluate its feasibility and potential, and consider whether entrepreneurship is a path you'd like to explore further. 🔥 FREELANCING OR CONSULTING: While searching for a job, consider freelancing or offering consulting services to generate income in the meantime. Leverage your skills and expertise to provide value to clients and keep the cash flow steady. 🔥 EXPLORE UPSKILLING & ENHANCING YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Take advantage of the downtime to invest in self-improvement. Identify areas for professional development, enroll in online courses, attend webinars, or acquire certifications to bolster your skill set. 🔥 MAINTAIN A ROUTINE: Establish a daily routine that includes job searching, networking, skill-building, and self-care activities. Structure and consistency can help maintain focus and motivation during this challenging period. 🔥 SEEK GUIDANCE: Don't hesitate to seek professional career counseling or guidance from experts in your field. They can offer insights, strategies, and support to navigate the job market effectively. Remember, losing a job can be disheartening, but with the right mindset, resilience, and proactive approach, you can transform this setback into an opportunity for personal and professional growth. Stay positive, keep moving forward, and trust that new doors will open along the way. #SamparkSeSampark #JobLoss #Career #Resilience #startups #business

This week, 14,000 people were laid off at Amazon. Behind that number are 14,000 stories. The parents providing for families. The first-gen professionals who fought hard to get into corporate spaces. People who showed up early, stayed late, built products, supported teams, and gave their best. The dreamers who left everything behind to build a better future. My heart goes out to all of you. To help, here are some things you can do once you’re ready to start your new search: - Take a breath and grieve - Update your story: Refresh your resume and LinkedIn to highlight your wins and the awesome things you’ve done - Ask for help: Reach out to mentors, former coworkers, or this community. Nothing wrong in asking. - Focus on progress, not perfection. Whether it’s learning a new skill, networking weekly, or just staying consistent, small steps add up. - Take a side gig while you’re at it: Bills will need to be paid and so do what you can with what you have. Resources and places to save for your next opportunity: - LinkedIn Jobs – use the “Actively Hiring” filter to find companies still hiring - Levels.fyi – see listings across major companies with compensation insights - Layoffs.fyi – track layoffs and find companies currently hiring - Coursera Free Courses – career certificates from Google, Meta, and IBM - Grow with Google – free resources to learn digital skills and explore new career paths - LinkedIn Learning Free Trial – access thousands of professional development courses For everyone else: How can we can help? Here are some ways: 1. Share your network. If you know someone affected, tag them (with permission), connect them to recruiters, or share open roles. One introduction can truly change someone’s life. 2. Offer support. Help review a resume, offer LinkedIn feedback, or just be a listening ear. Sometimes, empathy matters more than advice. 3. Be empathetic. You never know what people are going through. To everyone impacted by the layoffs or that has been rejected recently, my heart is with you. If I can help review your profile, make an intro, or just listen, my DMs are open. Let’s do this. We’re in this, together. #StephSynergy

Your coworker bestie just got laid off. Here’s how to show up without saying “let me know how to help.” I’ve learned that the best support is specific, human, and consistent. Here are 6 ways to actually be helpful: 1. Offer specific help “Want me to review your resume or LinkedIn?” “Want me to connect you with my recruiter friend?” When you’re specific, they don’t have to carry the emotional labor of figuring out what to ask for. 2. Share job leads thoughtfully Don’t just send random links. Say, “This role made me think of you because it fits your experience in [X].” Tailored is better than volume. 3. Normalize the grief Say, “This sucks and you have every right to feel however you feel.” Before trying to fix it, hold space. 4. Brag about them Write a LinkedIn post about how brilliant they are. Tag them. Highlight their impact and skills. Visibility is support. 5. Send a little joy A meme. A playlist. A coffee gift card. A voice note. It’s not a fix, but it’s a reminder that they’re not alone. 6. Make plans that don’t involve work Go for a walk. Get lunch. Binge a show. Sometimes the most healing thing is being reminded they are more than their job. We rise by showing up for each other. Always. #theBOLDjourney #layoffs #careeradvice #support #jobsearch #microsoftlife #microsoft

Lost Your Job? Think of It as a New Beginning.?? Seeing posts about layoffs from big companies like Amazon can feel scary. For many people, it’s not just news—it’s a big shock and a hard time. If you or someone you know has lost a job, remember this: ➔➔It’s okay to feel sad or afraid. ➔➔This is not your failure. It’s just a pause, a chance to start again. And maybe this is the right time to learn new things and move toward the future of work, especially with AI and technology growing fast. Here are 20 simple steps, divided into three stages, to help you recover and move ahead with confidence: ≫ I. Process & Heal (First Week) 1. Take 1–2 days to relax and calm down. Don’t rush. 2. Make a simple daily plan—include time for job search, learning, and some exercise. 3. Talk to friends or share your story online. Being honest helps you connect with others. 4. Rest properly. A fresh mind gives better ideas and confidence. ≫ II. Prepare & Rebuild (Next Few Weeks) 5. Update your LinkedIn and resume. Add numbers to show your achievements. 6. Decide what kind of job you really want next. 7. Talk to mentors or old colleagues. Networking is better than just sending random job applications. 8. Use November and December to get ready. Companies start hiring more in January (Q1). 9. Add the right keywords on LinkedIn so recruiters can find you easily. 10. Focus on companies that are still hiring or growing even now. ≫ III. Upskill & Pivot (Build Your Future) 11. Learn new skills—especially in AI, automation, and data. These are in high demand. 12. Share your learning journey on LinkedIn or social media. Show you are growing. 13. Read, comment, and post online about your field. It helps people notice your expertise. 14. Look for new roles or industries where your skills can still fit. 15. Improve soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. 16. Try freelance or part-time projects to stay active and earn while you search. 17. Keep learning every week—stay curious! 18. Check your progress every week. Even small wins count. 19. Don’t lose hope—every step is taking you forward. 20. Remember: This is not just about getting another job—it’s about creating your next chapter. A layoff can be a blessing in disguise. Let’s use this moment to grow, learn, and build something even better. #Amazon #Layoffs #bounceback

If you want to help unemployed people in your network: 1. Check in on them over time When someone first posts about a layoff or looking for their next role, there's often an outpouring of support. A few weeks later, that support is usually gone. If someone in your network announced a layoff a few weeks ago, this could be a good time check in on how things are going and see if you can offer some support. If it's in the budget to buy them a coffee or meal, that's a great idea too! 2. Be a connector You don't have to be in a position to hire someone in order to be helpful. Can you offer a referral at your company? Can you advocate for them to the hiring manager? Can you engage with their posts to give them some visibility? Can you leave a recommendation for a former colleague? Can you offer to make an introduction to someone in your network? 3. See if you can provide practical help Maybe you can provide some resume feedback based on your actual experience hiring, or being hired, for similar roles. Maybe you can do a practice interview with questions you tend to ask when hiring, or have been asked, for similar roles. Maybe you can help them tighten up their portfolio or LinkedIn profile based on your experience in a similar field. Please don't ignore the "based on your experience" component. If you haven't been on the job market in the last decade, if you work in manufacturing and your friend is looking in finance, if you're a software engineer and your friend is looking for project management roles then there's a decent chance your advice won't be super relevant and it's better that you focus on the first two items above as you may cause confusion with advice that isn't relevant to their experience. Also worth noting that nowhere did I say: - try to sell them a job searching course or resume services - spam them with bots pushing career coaching programs - flood their feed with your rage bait disguised as recruiting expertise

If I got laid off today here's what I'd do: First, I'd breathe. Just breathe. For 24 hours, I'd let myself feel it all. The shock, the anger, the fear. Then I'd get to work: 1. Refresh my resume. Achievements over responsibilities. Stats. Results over tasks. 2. Same with my LinkedIn profile. Update, refresh. Highlight accomplishments and measurable impacts. 3. Reach out to people in my network. Not with "I need a job" messages, but with genuine reconnections. On LinkedIn and any other communities. 4. Build in public. Share my journey, what I'm learning, the wins and the struggles. 5. Avoid wasting time on job boards. I'd find decision-makers and build relationships instead. 6. Protect my mental health. Fiercely. Morning routines. Exercise. Time blocks for applications and networking, with clear boundaries. And, most importantly: I’d put a post-it note somewhere visible to remind myself MY WORTH ISN’T TIED TO MY EMPLOYMENT STATUS. I know this path intimately. Both from personal experience and from guiding hundreds through it. The toughest part of being laid off isn't the job loss. It's the identity crisis that follows. But sometimes your greatest career breakthrough is on the other side of what feels like failure. It was for me. What would you add to this list? What helped you bounce back from a career setback?

“You shouldn’t have to be an influencer to land a job you deserve.” Brittany Sharnez's post rightfully went viral this past weekend because job seekers are tired of jumping through a circus’ worth of hoops to be employed in this economy. But the part of the post I want to hit pause on is where we assume building a personal brand = being an influencer. Or building a personal brand = any of the following: ❌ Forced corporate social responsibility ❌ Needing to be a top industry expert ❌ Spamming your network with posts You can absolutely build your personal brand without becoming an influencer, or doing any of the above. I know what you’re going to say: “But Megan, you’re an influencer so you’re biased.” To which I respond: “I’ve had job opportunities come my way long before I had any kind of following.” And those opportunities came to me because I decided to intentionally build my own personal brand on LinkedIn after a prior job search from hell. Here’s how I built the foundations of my personal brand back when I had <2k followers: ✅ Coffee chatted with professionals I wanted to learn from ✅ Publicly shared my projects and asked for feedback ✅ Built my brand long before I needed my next job 2 years later, actively building my brand paid off when I was unexpectedly let go from my job, and then was employed less than a month later. Enough people were familiar with me, the work I’ve done, and the thoughts I’ve shared on this platform that I didn’t have to send out a single cold application during that job search. I don’t say these things to brag, but rather to say that I of all people know that building your brand may seem like an excessive hoop to jump through, especially in this job market. But desperate times like these call for desperate measures. And when you take the measure of building your personal brand, I am living proof that it 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 be worth it in the long run.

When my client lost their job three months ago, the hardest part wasn’t the layoff itself. They said : It was the silence that followed. No one checked in. No message. Zero support. Losing a job or leaving a toxic workplace is tough. But your support can make all the difference. Here’s how to show up: ✅ Reach out early. ↳ “I’m here if you ever want to talk.” ↳ A simple message can go a long way. ✅ Celebrate their wins. ↳ Write them a LinkedIn recommendation. ↳ Share what they’re great at. ✅ Open doors. ↳ Think of who might be able to help. ↳ Make warm introductions. ✅ Stay in touch. ↳ Set a quick reminder to check-in. ↳ Job searching can feel isolating. ✅ Keep them included. ↳ Virtual coffee? Zoom lunch? ↳ Little moments still matter. ✅ Send leads their way. ↳ Forward relevant roles. ↳ Let them decide what fits. ✅ Be a reference. ↳ Don’t wait for them to ask. ↳ Be ready with examples of their impact. ✅ A coffee invite breaks the silence. ✅ Your words help rebuild their confidence. ✅ A referral could lead to their next opportunity. You don’t need a title to uplift someone. Be the reason someone feels seen and supported. Who showed up for you when you needed it most? ♻️ Repost to spread empathy in your network. 🔔 Follow Fatou Seck Mathon for more.

I’ve been laid off twice. The first time, it crushed me. The second time, it didn’t. The first time, it took me over a year to find my next role. The second time, it took six weeks. What I learned was how to treat a layoff like a strategy problem not a personal one. 1/ It happens. If you work in marketing or tech, you’re likely going to experience a layoff at some point. It’s not about talent. It’s not about effort. It’s usually about poor financial management or a shift in priorities you had zero control over. It’s part of the modern career landscape — especially since 2020. Once you accept that, you stop taking it personally. That’s the hardest part. 2/ Don’t get stuck there. You don’t have time to spiral. You have time to strategize. Every day you spend second-guessing yourself is a day you could spend positioning yourself for what’s next. The first time, I questioned everything. The second time, I got to work. 3/ Relationships > Applications. The first time, I applied for hundreds of jobs online. The second time, I focused on conversations. I reached out to people I respected. I showed up online. I used my marketing instincts to position myself just like I would a brand. That changed everything. 4/ Build before you need it. The smartest thing I ever did was start showing up on LinkedIn years ago. Creating content. Building a network. Contributing. So when the second layoff came, I wasn’t starting from zero, I already had a community that believed in me. That made finding my next opportunity so much faster. Layoffs happen. But they don’t define you. If you treat them like a business problem instead of a personal failure, you’ll handle them with clarity. I’m rooting for you. #marketing #careers #opentowork

I stopped treating personal branding like self-promotion and started treating it like insurance. Because a brand isn’t about being flashy online. It’s about what protects you when everything else falls apart. Your job can disappear overnight. Your company can forget you. But your brand? That follows you everywhere. ✅ How to treat personal branding like insurance (the real playbook): 1️⃣ Stop thinking your work speaks for itself. It doesn’t. Work only speaks if people can see it. Your brand is the amplifier. 2️⃣ Define your claim. If someone Googles you, what’s the one sentence they should walk away with? If you don’t define it, they’ll make one up. 3️⃣ Collect proof. Brands are built on receipts. Share your wins, results, lessons. Not just opinions, but evidence too. 4️⃣ Pick your premium. Where do you want visibility to pay off? Promotions? Speaking gigs? Clients? A brand with no payout plan is just noise. 5️⃣ Diversify your coverage. Don’t build your brand in one place. LinkedIn today, panels tomorrow, articles next week. If one channel dies, your brand still lives. 6️⃣ Be consistent. Insurance lapses when you stop paying the premium. Brands collapse when you show up once every six months. Pay in visibility, regularly. 7️⃣ Own your narrative. If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. And they’ll get it wrong. 8️⃣ Turn setbacks into assets. Layoff, redundancy, failure - your brand can absorb the hit if you frame it right. No company can take that away from you. 9️⃣ Make it transferable. Jobs change. Industries shift. Build a brand that survives the company logo on your LinkedIn profile. 🔟 Protect it fiercely. Your reputation is your policy. Guard it. Nurture it. And don’t lend it to people or companies that will drag it down. If personal brand is insurance, then Chris Do is the actuary. And I’m carrying the GOAT-level coverage Chris Do himself wrote. We call it “personal branding.” The ambitious call it “career insurance.” And if you think you don’t need it, the market will remind you - fast. P.S. Is your personal brand strong enough to survive without your job title?