15yo me gets an angry phone call from the dad where I’d scored a weekly long-term babysitting gig after the first or second night: don’t think for a second that you’re coming back! (I’m paraphrasing here).

I give a one-word reply and he hangs up.

All I did was leave after getting paid without saying bye while they were checking on the kids. (They were asleep). Because I didn’t want to be coerced to get a ride like last time.

Took me years to realise they were in the wrong.

It’s been close to a decade and I’m still traumatized by it. Fuckers almost cost me my marriage, my family, my home… Have never hated a company more. I can’t wait for the revolution.

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I grew antagonistic toward mgmt through the pan. The books were bad and there were two rounds of layoffs. I was included in the first round. They actually did me a favor because I was unhappy but too lazy to look for a different job. I got a better job (in every way - commute, pay, workload, etc) six months later. I’m approaching one year at the new gig.

I was unusually lucky.

Dude. Those stories all suck and make. To explain mine sounds like complaining about nothing, but I started the thread, so I’ll tell it.

It’s not exactly being laid off. I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at a liberal arts college. Our duties are primarily teach, and we work on one year contracts. I went into my chair’s office to show her an online homework system I deployed on a 15 year old optiplex, because fuck the publisher. She was really impressed but that was when she gave me the news.

Now I’ve not had my contract renewed before (fucking assholes gas lit me about it last time), but this is where it becomes a layoff. The college didn’t renew ANY of the VAP contracts.

The part that sucks about this is I love my department. Typically VAPs teach only intro courses, but they let me teach a junior level computational physics class. They understood I had a lot offer, and they gave me a shot. I love this department and it sucks to go.

I have one more shot. The provost really wants an interdisciplinary data analytics program. The head of it contacted me to teach a course. I emailed him telling I would but can’t do it. Here’s the kicker. As far as I know, I’m the only one who has done computational work with the humanities. I pitched him on creating a different position, he seemed interested, but this was last week.

I have my fingers crossed, but am not holding out hope. It’s also worth mentioning. All of this comes from the buisiness and finance division. Academic affairs (the faculty) is pissed about it. The two have been feuding for a long time anf academic affairs almost always loses. I think it is a general lack of leadership from all levels and just generally paying too much to their own research, but that is another post haha

I started a consulting business with my dad in 2021. We were growing well for the first 18 months. In about 2022 we saw a HUGE decline in the industry. Many of our competitors went out of business. Some shrank by 75% or more. We lost $250k in 2023 and the actual drag was our leadership team. So I, along with 2 other leaders, were laid off at the end of last year. I am proud to say we did not lay off any staff. I got a job at a giant company that pays me a shit ton to do the job of a monkey. I hate it there.

There were a bunch of closed door meetings with upper management and the busy season was set to end in a few weeks, so the writing was on the wall.

I had some of the most consistently highest metrics so I went into our VP of Operations office and straight up asked if I would be let go on X date. He told me no.

To be fair, he kept his word. About 70% of the staff were let go on that date. I was let go 2 days after that.

I was working up in Whistler back in my twenties, at the end of the season, they lay everybody off except for a small crew of full-time employees. I went on to EI(employment insurance) for the summer pretended to look for jobs, and went on road trips with friends. Once summer finished, I found another job and I have unfortunately been employed ever since in various Warehouse jobs from order picker to warehouse manager.

Edit: Added words

There were signs it was coming, but I didn’t really accept it. When it did happen it was pretty distressing, but I had been planning to leave anyway. It ended up working out because I got to leave with some extra runway. They gave us 60 days notice, during which time we collected paychecks. I didn’t work at all during this time though. Instead I searched for a job. At the end of the 60 days we got about 6 weeks worth of pay, a prorated bonus, and our vacation days. I ended up finding a job that paid 3x as much before my 60 days were up and was able to pocket the severance money rather than live off it.

My partner was the only one holding her company together as operations manager. She got put on a HUGE project and promised two weeks vacation after, then laid off right before the vacation. Now the company is trying to make her sign a contract that forces her to give up her severance in exchange for four weeks of labor.

On the bright side, the professional relationships she built outside the company are paying off, and she has a dozen or so job leads

I was with a SaaS company for 5 years. It was my first job in software. I busted my ass and worked my way up. I ended up managing the support department while leaning how to code in my spare time. I move to Engineering and was a developer for two years.

The company had a great culture and I was genuinely proud to work there.

Then a growth equity firm came in. They said they weren’t going to change the “magic” we had and were just there to give us the tools and expertise to grow. That is when the steady erosion of our company culture began.

The third CE0 since I’ve been there took over a few months ago. Of course he promised there would be no layoffs and he didn’t see a need to change anything. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I was getting panicked messages from coworkers saying they were getting let go and then I saw the 15-minute meeting with my department head on my calendar.

When the dust settled, the first layoffs at our company were over. A third of our engineering department was gone and our work was being outsourced to an outside firm.

Now I’m looking for work and it seems really daunting. My wife is self-employed and lost her biggest client that made up 80% of her income right before I got laid off. I got 4 weeks of severance initially, but I was able to negotiate 8 weeks.

Now I’m reaching out to my network, applying to as many jobs as I can find, building more portfolio projects to pad my GitHub account, and believing things will work out so I don’t have a complete nervous breakdown.

I don’t recommend it. Don’t be laid off.

Which time?

First time happened after I’d been with my first real job for ten years because the business was changing and there wasn’t a role for me. I was out of work for 7 shitty months trying to have my own business starting from the few customers we had left when they let me go. It was right after I bought a house and had a baby. It was fucking awful.

Second time was after COVID. First we all took a 10% pay cut to avoid layoffs. Then two months later when federal assistance expired, they cut 1/3 of the company across the board. I’m a little fucking bitter about that to be honest, but I had a new remote job lined up within a couple of weeks that paid quite a bit better.

Last time was 5 months ago. Just got hired this week. Start next month. It sucked. Wiped out my whole retirement savings, so I get to start over at 51. But we made it through and potentially I won’t have to switch companies again.

My employer sued IBM in early 2k for breach of contract but lost all their money, rep, staff, dreams, hopes and future in the ensuing legal/PR fight.

I was laid-off after dodging so many proverbial bullets. I got a call on a Thursday from my boss, and he checked the HR was on the line and didn’t say another word until the official stuff was done. Then he made sure I was okay, asked if I had any options, and rang off.

I didn’t cry, beg, rage, or question: I felt relieved that I could stop working 16 hours a day, guilt over being let-go, and a general feeling of worthlessness. And then I was out.

The element of surprise.

I was laid off in late July of 2023. I dodged a massive layoff in November of 2022 so I knew it was a possibility.

It fucking sucked. I miss that company. I miss it all. It made me feel worthless. I kept comparing myself to the others that didn’t get laid off as if there was any sense made in the decision.