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Wow, Big tech, you really outdid yourself in 2022! You have officially broken over roughly 120,000 aspiring, innovative and #tech enthusiast worker hearts over this year spanning over 70 companies. I don't know what's worse losing the opportunity to continue working at your dream job or realizing that the man of your dreams turned out to be a "hot mess" either way both suck big time and leaves a puncture wound in the heart.
Everyday down my timeline on #LinkedIn employees whose work revolved around tech from recruiting to product management have experienced both their disbelief as well as their gratitude for the opportunities that were afforded to them at their respective company. One of the things that strike the most curiosity is the appreciation employees are showing to a company that just laid them off for some either unknown or foreseen reason. I'm not going to lie; I often wonder why? Is it to receive outpouring support because you are definitely going to get that because many people have been right where you are or to activate that network to see if these LinkedIn Top Voices know what their saying when they say, "leverage your network". Truth be told, it doesn't matter as the old saying goes, "A close mouth don't get fed".
However, each individual approaches unexpected surprises differently but for whatever reason, it should not be something that an individual should be embarrassed about especially during post pandemic times and a week away from the first holiday that begins transcending us into the festive season. I've always felt that letting people go during the holidays was selfish and erroneous behavior on leadership but hey, I'm not on anyone's board of directors or company leadership team so what do I know about running a multi-billion-dollar company. But do I really need to be in these positions to exemplify a bit of compassion?
Now, I get that most not all companies have provided a generous severance pay with the ongoing hiring freezes and the uncertainty of Q1 2023 results is what's been giving to them enough? Money solves some problems, but it doesn't solve everything and when the severance runs out for employees then what? Do we tell them to "keep applying" "keep leveraging your network" "go get a part-time job" "take a paycut because something is better than nothing". How do we really provide comfort to those that have been let go or do we really care about what happens next for them.
In the meantime, I could only offer this advice especially to those that were laid off from their first career post-graduation as well as career changers who finally "broke into tech" and that's to not let this moment in time define who you are as well as your capabilities but allow it to be a form of nourishment to the seed that you have already planted within yourself.