The lasting impact of layoffs
Originally posted to LinkedIn on Jan. 26, 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/technology/tech-layoffs-millennials-gen-x.html
This article hits home, hard. Please take some time to read it if you're in tech, especially if you're a leader making hard decisions right now, or wondering how to support your team during and in the aftermath of layoffs (especially if there is a generational gap - I am looking at you GenX managing GenY/Z, sincerely, your geriatric millennial work-friend).
We need to remember that we all bring different history and perspective to the table, and it has been nearly 15 years since we started the last major downturn. From the grizzled tech vets who weathered the early aughts and '08, to those who are seeing a shrinking workforce for the first time, The Times captured the different experience employees are having at the moment based simply on when they were born.
Before I share my prior experience with layoffs, I'd first like to acknowledge my privilege of a planned career break, to not be worrying right now, day-to-day about layoffs.* The only entity that employs me (by dictating how I spend my time) is my puppy; and I have job security there since he certainly wouldn't last long without me.
I started my career in 2008 at a tech-focused law firm. For those who weren't yet in practice, 2008 was bad, very bad, terrifying, a bloodbath. There were waves of layoffs in law firms, including major firm collapses, in the very first months of my career. I was a baby lawyer with only debt and a new mortgage to my name.
As a brand new first year, I wasn't laid off (pure luck, more below), but for more than a decade following those layoffs and the economic turmoil of 2008-2010 I deeply internalized that fear that any day my job could disappear (and let's be real, to 25-year-old me, in my completely irrational internal thoughts "my job" meant "my entire career forever" since I am a lawyer and I'm trained to think about low-probability high-downside risks). I didn't realize until much later how those layoffs impacted me and my career.
I vividly remember the day the layoff notices went out at my firm. I was at lunch and my Blackberry (that thing before firms allowed iPhones) didn't get emails for an hour or so, very normal at the time. I can picture sitting in my office after lunch when I got an odd drive-by check in from the partner I worked for. I didn't quite grok what he was saying since I hadn't actually seen the email announcement yet. I quickly checked my computer to realize we had just done a large round of layoffs and understood then that what my partner had been saying was that I wasn't among the group.
Why? Like I said, pure luck. The firm didn't lay off the new first years. The only thing that mattered was my class year, not my performance or potential. A year earlier and it could have been me, and a year later, hiring had slowed immensely.
Although I wasn't directly impacted by those layoffs, the fear burrowed inside my brain and body and impacted how I worked: I kept my head down, I got the work done, I said yes to all work, and never made waves. Ironically, it helped drive my early success. But it wasn't healthy. It lead to incredible stress, inability to prioritize at points in my career, and deeply-rooted anxiety regarding my career that I've probably only had a grip on for the past few years.
Eventually I stopped worrying about losing my job. Perhaps it was the radical pivot you do when moving overseas since you're focused on a million other things, or perhaps it was growing older and wiser, or perhaps it was the burgeoning desire to potentially try something new, or perhaps it was having a cushion of savings. It was in reality, all of this.
The irony? I became loads more effective once I stopped caring whether I got fired or laid off. I finally felt free to say what I believed, I pushed for what I felt was right, and people understood that they would get a transparent and direct opinion from me - I wasn't there to play games or empire build. I also became much more satisfied at work and, humbly, I became a more valuable employee.
Why am I sharing this? Simple, so you learn from my mistake. Don't let that fear take root. Send it away. Find your mantras. Figure out your core values early and stick to them. Get therapy if stress and anxiety are impacting your life. If this is your first experience with layoffs, know that it will be OK. You're all highly skilled amazing people who will find your way. I am not saying it doesn't really suck to (a) be laid off or (b) see layoffs around you. Being laid off is apparently akin to the stress of a divorce - and that is one I am unfortunately an expert in and wish upon no-one. But I can assure you, even that stress ultimately comes to an end. And living in fear of it is not doing yourself any favors.
*A small asterisk here since my health care coverage is through my spouse's employer, yes, a large tech company doing layoffs. Employer sponsored health care in the US is a whole separate issue though.