I feel you as someone who was in the same boat at that time. The reality is, these people are being let go at a time of historically low unemployment, they will

I feel you as someone who was in the same boat at that time. The reality is, these people are being let go at a time of historically low unemployment, they will be just fine and likely be able to get higher salaries elsewhere. I know a guy whose last real job was in 2009. He was older, but not yet at retirement age. He has been a cautionary tale to me though- always stay technical and hands-on. He was like many of that era where he just "managed" and while he was very smart, did not write a line of code- which might have been forgivable if the entire eng team wasn't 6 people (including him and a systems/network guy). Those types did not fare well in the recession.