You got laid off? Good.
156: Arbitrage Andy's guide to lay offs
Layoffs.
They’re happening with violence across the entire US at the moment - financial firms, manufacturing companies, tech startups and silicon valley.
Wall Street bonuses are being lashed and entire teams are being gutted from the big banks as companies prepare to lock down and outlast the turbulent market conditions that have defined the last 8 months.
Getting fired, laid off, or having to leave a company unexpectedly is never necessarily a fun experience.
Through my own limited experience in the working world for 9 years, speaking with friends and former coworkers, and keeping in touch with people across my professional network I have come to understand there are generally a long list of reasons why this happens.
So I think it’s important to have perspective and understand where you fall, so you can address what happened efficiently and move on successfully.
Keep in mind.
40% of people are fired from a job in their lifetime.
More than 46,000 workers in U.S.-based tech companies have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2023, according to a Crunchbase News tally
When it comes to 2023, 61% of business leaders say their organizations will likely have layoffs in the new year.
Of those 61% who say their company will likely lay off employees next year, 57% estimate that 30% or more of the workforce will be laid off.
Currently, 52% of companies have a hiring freeze in certain departments, and 19% have a company wide hiring freeze. Only 27% say their organization has no hiring freeze at the moment.
When it comes to 2023, 70% of companies say they’re ‘very likely’ (38%) or ‘likely’ (31%) to implement a hiring freeze (Resume builder).
So this is a much more common event than people think.
Bottom line?
There is more pain on the horizon and more lay offs to come to all sectors and industries.
So what happens if you find yourself fired or about to be?
Here are a few things you can do to make sure that you bounce back quickly after losing your job and keep your head about you.
Fall into an insane social death spiral - Make sure you let everyone know you just got the axe. Including any dates or nosy family members that will share the info with everyone they speak to.
Propel into a drug and alcohol fueled bender - You haven’t had a Four Loko since high school but that shouldn’t stop you from facing 2 of them, bumping “Get Rich or Die Tryin”, and ordering late night boneless wings and party favors. If you get bent enough you might even go HAM on Glassdoor.
Add Web3 and Entrepreneur to the Interests section of your resume - Add some strong power words to get the hiring team interested in you. Bonus points for adding your pronouns and explaining your investing journey with AMC and Gamestop as a separate section of “hobbies” towards the bottom of the page.
Become a discord mod and start a Call of Duty Warzone Twitch Stream - You’ve already been indoors for 5 weeks eating seamless and dicking around online in stead of updating your resume and applying to jobs, why not make a career out of it and go in an alternate direction.
Take a sabbatical to San Francisco and try out the homeless street life for size. Buck the trend of being a life long renter and wallow in your misery while being homeless in SF. Free drugs, state funding, and you can snag a croissant off people’s table in the Marina on Sunday mornings. You’ll get some
Alright I’m kidding but couldn’t resist — since some people actually think this is what you should do.
So what SHOULD you actually do if you’re laid off or find yourself without a job?
Today we’ll flush out some actions and things you can do to make sure you come out on the other side of unemployment a better person with a fresh sense of confidence that you can take on the unexpected and any challenges life throws at you.
People today get so obsessed with status, title, and what people do.
It’s unhealthy and creates high levels of anxiety when people find themselves without those things.
We wanted to take a break from our usual market coverage and doomsday geopolitical updates to talk about something many are experiencing right now:
either getting laid off or getting closer to getting laid off OR being forced to leave a company unexpectedly.
If you’ve recently been laid off, think it could be coming, or if you’re simply stuck in a shitty political situation and think you might have to leave on your own before things heat up, this post is for you.
I wanted to offer up all of the advice, perspective, and tips I have and our community has to all of you for some help with guidance during what’s usually a pretty shitty time for people.
We took several hours to put this guide together so we’ll touch on the following in depth today:
Warning signs (what to look out for)
2022/2023 Companies that have laid off + those we expect to
Getting the axe (why people get fired and leave jobs)
How to come back from losing/leaving a job
Extra resources
The goal here is to help folks see when layoffs are coming so they can react, make everyone more aware of what this type of life change can feel like, how to make it to the other side if you do get laid off or leave your job, and some other helpful tips and content if you’re looking for a new role.
If you’re recently jobless this will give you some peace of mind. If you’re good for now but a bit worried, we’ll walk through what to pay attention to in this complete guide to lay offs, firings, and leaving jobs. Most people don’t frame these life events properly and if more did — people would probably be happier understanding that lay offs, firings, and leaving roles is when some of our biggest life strides occur.
Godspeed!
“I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”
― Steve Jobs