I've been laid off multiple times, and am facing it again due to a M&A.
I've worked very hard to synthesize the situation and understand that it wasn't anything I did, just that it was a matter of circumstance.
Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
151–160 of 174 posts
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#152I wouldn't call it a "lay off", but I have been "let go" from one company, "fired" from one company and "quit" two companies.
Overall I am glad. I was overworked when I was "let go" after 4 years of working in the start up, because the company was going into a growth phase and the CEO didn't feel I would be up for it. Rightly so-- I called bullshit on the Silicon Valley cult of overwork many times.
I was "fired" from one company because I called the CEO out on his shit and told him to shove it up his ass. I then created my own version of their product and have been running my own company ever since. So thanks for firing me.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#153My first job out of college I worked through a contracting company. The pay was decent but I didn't get any of the benefits. The company I worked for got a lot of their revenue from the oil industry, and three years after I started oil took a huge hit and they laid off all of their contractors.
I had a rough few months where I didn't have much luck finding a new job, but in the end it worked out. I eventually got a full time position with better pay, better benefits, and I'm still there.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#154I've been "laid off" pretty much every six months for the past several years. Over and over my team has been out sourced for a cheaper alternative. Or the project was not properly scoped and would be above budget. This happened last week. Me and my team delivered a high frequency trading platform. Ahead of schedule, and better performance than requested. But still, we were too costly so we were all let go. Then it wa…
One possibility is to work on contract only, billing appropriately (i.e. significantly more than "permanent" salary), so that you _know_ it's just temporary. This way, you don't have as much emotional whiplash of thinking of this as your future and then it gets pulled away. Of course, it's not for everyone, just suggesting a possibility.
Thanks.
I've already tried to go this route. I actually avoid full time now at this point, for this reason. But the lack of delivered projects, and highlights on my resume. Have limited the upper amount of my rate.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#155I've been "laid off" pretty much every six months for the past several years. Over and over my team has been out sourced for a cheaper alternative. Or the project was not properly scoped and would be above budget. This happened last week. Me and my team delivered a high frequency trading platform. Ahead of schedule, and better performance than requested. But still, we were too costly so we were all let go. Then it wa…
Where are you based?
Philadelphia / remote.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#1562 years ago this week, I was laid off by HPE. It was my first job out of college. I was employed there for almost 2 years. I didn't particularly like the work or the environment, but I wanted to pad out my resume. When I got the news, via a phone call with the boss of my boss, I was not surprised but my thoughts about the future started to spiral.
Thankfully, being young, and very determined, I spent my final two weeks of employment at HPE looking for work. I had 3 interviews lined up within the first few days. I was technically unemployed for 3 weeks, and had 2 job offers and accepted one at the end of those 3 weeks.
I was extremely lucky to be offered a severance package, got my PTO paid out, and then landed a much better job so quickly. I had planned to leave HPE in the spring, but being laid off gave me the kick start I needed to find something that fit my needs better. I am forever thankful for being let go, and don't miss a minute of working for that mess of a company.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#157Yup. Happened to me. Big corporate decided most of our floor were surplus to requirements. Got an email on Sunday telling us to be in early on Monday for an off-site meeting. Got handed my redundancy / compromise agreement and told not to return to the office. And, the kicker, told my non-compete meant I couldn't work for a competitor during the redundancy process. It was devastating and emotionally wrecking. It was…
Totally depends on jurisdiction, but where I am, labour lawyers will usually do a free consult, and can extract their ongoing costs if an employer underpaid you owed severance and termination pay if you were suddenly fired. Sane employers will pay lawyer costs if they know they’d lose in court. But that’s Canada.
In the UK your employer when laying you off has to pay up to £250 to cover a lawyer looking over the severance agreement. Source: personal experience.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#158A number of years ago, I joined a bank for a 6 month contract position. 3 or 4 weeks in just after I had sorted all of my login details and worked out what I needed to do, they announced they were completely pulling out of the business unit I was in and that thousands of people would be made redundant. This was a huge shock to the market. Within a few weeks, entire floors had closed down, but surprisingly I didn't ge…
It shows it's not necessarily a reflection on you as an individual when these things happen
It is never a reflection on the individual. People are not made redundant, positions are.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#159I was laid off around 7 years ago. It was a massive hit to my self esteem and confidence and I actually considered leaving tech and going back to wood working (I used to build furniture). I managed to bounce back somewhat accidentally. A guy needed help with a Wordpress store he used to sell his woodworking products, so I did some stuff for him. He was so happy with what I did, he ended up telling other people. They…
Awesome story. Always good to get a reminder that running your own business is not the same as being good at doing what your business does. A friend of mine once told me that there are three equally important things for a contractor/consultant/small business owner to do: * find the work * do the work * get paid for the work All necessary.
Absolutely. The last step can be surprisingly hard and requires a good skill set in dealing with people.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?
#160My wife and I have experienced three layoffs between us, two of them after the 2008 financial crash. We used to lean left but were not at all politically involved. We had comfortable positions with cushy benefits. After getting laid off the positions we found paid less and did not include benefits. This experience really opened our eyes to what life is like for average working people in this country. We both have per…
I find it very interesting that I can digest the same information and come to the exact opposite conclusion. Our medicine system has been socialized. If you can't afford to pay, the cost is pushed onto the rest of the population that can. The free market had health care costs 10x lower than they are now, so low that the entirety of an average person's health fees with only catastrophic insurance would now be lower th…
In sane countries like Japan and Taiwan, the entire working population pays into social insurance, from the time they start working until they retire, no exceptions. Even foreigners pay into the system if they work there. The government negotiates as a single payer, which keeps the cost of medications and other supplies down. Doctors' offices and hospitals are private entities but they get to work with a single insurance provider instead of the craziness of our system (my mom was a medical provider so I've heard her horror stories of dealing with insurance companies). The system spends less per capita than we do and they have better medical outcomes as a society. I call that a win.