Corporate layoffs can be beautiful

If you are paying off a heavy mortgage or trying to feed several children, this article is not for you. If you are single and have no responsibilities, buckle up.

My new addiction to social media is not stemming from mindless tiktok trends or instagram health fads but rather the overflow of Linkedin posts about #layoffs.

Ever since Covid it seems there has been consistent explosions of tearful posts detailing how they were affected by Indeeds decision to layoff 2,552 employees (why is the number of employees laid off needed in your post?). 

I can't help but smile because getting laid off is an extremely rare opportunity to be gifted todays most sought after resource: time.

The American work culture is notorious for its rigidity, with employees feeling pressured to put in long hours and prioritize work over everything else in their lives. And unfortunately this mindset has been ingrained in us from a young age, with the belief that working hard and being busy all the time is the key to success and happiness. So, when mass layoffs occur, Americans struggle, it feels like their entire existence has gone into question. It is not instinctual to break free from this work mindset and take the time to enjoy life, or try something new.

Burnout, stress, and ultimately, dissatisfaction with one's life are all topics we hear about with todays work culture, yet when all of these people are given a ticket out, they are already fighting to jump back into it. 

Americans seem to feel guilty or ashamed for taking time off to travel, volunteer, or pursue a new hobby. The inability to cope with layoffs results in people taking the quickest job they can find with no real assessment to their priorities.

This is one example that I feel I have to share becuase it might have been one of the most jarring things I have ever come across on Linkedin.  I found this image in my Linkedin feed, part of someones #layoff post. 

It is a picture of her ultrasound, and in the text she explains that she is eager to get started with her next job "despite it cutting time short with her baby".

(I'm not going to include the entire post for the sake of her privacy even though she did technically decide to release this entire thing to the world wide web).

I know financial situations can be tricky, but try and spare your child some time. You are going to get severance, and you are eligible for unemployment. Is nurturing your newborn child not the priority? This may be an extreme example, but it deeply saddens me that KPI's are prioritized over a new life. 

Anyway, have you ever wanted to spend a month sewing? Or learn how to paint? Or volunteer at a foodbank? Or literally just fuck around?

If you have been laid off, congrats, you now can do whatever you want. Unfortunately, despite Linkedin bios with the tags #entrepreneruial and #creative, most people still have no clue how to manage themselves with an abundance of free time.

I'm not going to elaborate on what to do with your free time because that’s up to you, but remember there are people who will work at a company for 5 years to be awarded with a 1 month sabbatical. Realize how lucky you are that after only 8 months at said tech company, your layoff has now granted you as much time as you'd like to do any type of sabbatical.

During the round of mass layoffs during the start of covid I tracked companies that did layoffs, and when they started rehiring for the same positions. Some companies were hiring to fill the same roles just 3 months after. If you have patience for the long game, you may actually be able to get rehired at your previous employer.

Track what companies had mass layoffs, because surely they will be rehiring again within a few months, and their previous workforce will have moved on. They will likely fill in their new workforce with folks from other similar companies that had also done layoffs. It's kind of like a game of musical chairs (?), everyone just switches to different companies and maybe a few are left out because they pursued something else.

I want our laid off work force to feel confident that they can invest some time in themselves, and still be able to find a job after. I hope that my brief investigation can shift your perspective and give you a glimpse of hope.

So, rather than saying "oh what a tragedy, she got laid off and is struggling to find a job"

You should be saying "oh what a pleasure, she can finally have time to do something extravagant".