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Ask HN: What’s your plan for getting laid off?

31 points by azhenley 4y ago

With the recent tech layoffs and chatter about bigger ones coming, I realized I should have a plan just in case. What will you do? Beyond a 6-12 month emergency fund, what other financial preparation? Will you spend 40 hours a week on job search and leetcoding?

joezydeco 4y ago
Early in my career I used to turn off all job search functions when I was working a job. Didn't take calls from recruiters, LinkedIn was set private, etc. In the last decade I leave it all running and continuously stay in semi-passive job search mode. My LI is wide open. Recruiter wants to send me a job description? Sure, I'll read it. I've gotten a few decent raises that way without really trying. TLDR: you should always be prepared for a layoff or rapid job change. Don't wait until you're being handed your papers.
- revskill 4y ago
  That doesn't directly answer OP question. What to do AFTER a layoff. It's about probability on most of cases. You can luckily find out good TA on LinkedIn of course.
  - joezydeco 4y ago
    OP asked I realized I should have a plan just in case. The response is "the plan is to always have your job radar on and not wait until it's too late"
thiago_fm 4y ago
Hey OP, are you worried? You've made it until now, if a layoff happens, you'll do just fine. I'm saying this because I have those silly thoughts all the time, mainly because of my poor upbringing, hunger, seeing my family members get shot and die and living in a third world country... but I can stop those thoughts and relax. Now for your question: Now I live in Germany, so 6-12 month fund isn't even necessary as in case of a layoff, as I've worked for long enough, I'll get 1 year reduced paycheck that will keep my bills paid. But I've saved the emergency fund nevertheless. Honestly, it's the only thing I have control. And of course, if I get laid off, I'll do what is needed to do. If companies want me to leetcode, I'll leetcode. If companies want me to prepare better for whiteboard interviews, I'll also do it. Here in Germany it isn't very common, they mostly give you a take home exercise, but in case of a layoff, you should be prepared to take action on what is needed for you to get back to a job. I wouldn't be overly concerned, people think of those scenarios as very dire, with mass unemployment. In case such thing happens and it is as dire as you think, social chaos will be huge and governments will need to find a solution for this problem. Even if that means sending all IT workers to start digging holes, to fill it out with dirty over again. Just be ready to work on whatever comes and on adapting yourself to any new situation. I hope we never have to dig holes together, but in case we do, let's make it fun :) If you are a skilled IT professional, that is healthy and can talk, write and deal with situations in an analytical way, you'll find a solution. I find it sad that people that are very dedicated to their jobs have this sort of thoughts, whether they will make ends meet in case something out of ordinary happens. It is very likely that you will. This might mean taking some paycut and needing to refinance or rethink your finances, but it won't be the end for you. Just chill and relax. Life also has up and downs and you likely have it better than most. Also learn to see your possibilities without your job. This comment makes me think you are too attached to your current situation. Maybe if you were digging up holes or working as a cashier on a wall mart, you'd still be happy and figuring things out. And to wrap up, enjoy your life, you only live once, to waste your time being worried about it.
bluefirebrand 4y ago
After a layoff, the first thing I do is apply for EI (Canada). Even if you get a layoff package, EI here takes that into account. For example if you get a 3 month severance, then your EI will be approved and start in 3 months, basically pretending like you were still working those 3 months. Then I update my resume, update my LinkedIn, start setting up some job alerts, set myself to "looking for work" so recruiters will see me. I have a couple of recruiters that I reach out to as well. I have unfortunately been on this treadmill more than once. It's tough. The biggest thing to make sure is you start looking and keep looking for work. Once you start spending a week or two binging shows or playing videogames without a single resume going out, you're going to be in a bad place. Edit: To your specific question, no. 40 hours a week doing interviews, jobhunting and leetcode is absolutely not necessary. When I am off work and looking I would say I spend about an hour or two each morning looking for jobs, replying to recruiters, etc. I do try to keep a normal schedule so I don't treat it like a vacation. No sleeping in excessively, no staying up excessively late. Other than that, I mostly do spend my days on what I want to. Take walks, play games, work on side projects, whatever. It's a good time to rest and destress, just don't let yourself stop pushing for a new job. One other important thing is when I am seriously job hunting, I reply to every recruiter who messages or emails me. Regardless of if I am interested in the job or not, it's good to connect and they might find something else. Being polite goes a long way because they are very used to being ignored or having people be downright rude to them.
nodra 4y ago
Financial: Beyond my 16 month emergency fund, probably get unemployment which might be enough for our monthly expenses. Tech prep: I’ll probably find an interesting open source project and work on that while doing some leetcoding and system design on the side. Job search: I noticed there is a number of openings at banks, insurance companies, and other not so sexy places here in Seattle.
gt565k 4y ago
Take 1-3 months off to decompress and focus on personal development and at the same time reach out to my network towards the end of the 1-3 month off period to inquire about new jobs. Life is short, don’t spend every minute working. A layoff is a good opportunity to hit the reset button on life assuming you have no immediate financial need to be employed as soon as you are laid off.
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  i’m too cheap to eat 3 months of no income, would be too nervous, just not used to it. wouldn’t be a big deal in the grand scheme of things but just can’t mentally overcome it afraid i’d get too used to not working or something
  - roflyear 4y ago
    It might happen without your choice, so be prepared for it. Save 6m of expenses.
  - nickd2001 4y ago
    I'd encourage you to try to overcome this, and "be free, man". ;). Don't knock it till you've tried it. Personally, I've taken multi-month breaks between jobs, some planned some not. Rather than getting too used to not working, it can actually recharge you and give you back enthusiasm for work. Its important to control expenses. Living on rice, beans, pasta, eggs, sardines, porridge (oatmeal) , cheap fruit & veg, felt OK to me when it was a means to an end, a way to be able to afford to travel around, meet great people, see beautiful landscapes. I think if you get laid off, its important to do some travelling and/or pursue an interest / learning that you wouldn't otherwise have done. People stay too long in jobs they don't like that they're scared to leave. Then when older they look back and say why did I waste my time on that. So, don't be scared of something that might be fun....
p1esk 4y ago
The main thing is state of mind: being mentally and emotionally prepared that today is the day you get the boot, without any severance, and that finding a new job will take 6+ months. If you think like that you will make it a priority to have money in your savings account, keep your leetcode skills sharp, and keep an eye on the job postings, occasionally applying to interesting ones (perhaps once a week), and accepting interview requests from recruiters (perhaps once a month).
- hgsgm 4y ago
  Why waste time maintaining leetcode skills (if it's not a fun hobby), before you get laid off? Sharpen that saw when you need it.
  - ThrowawayR2 4y ago
    A more apt analogy might be doing maintenance on their fire sprinklers to get them functioning after their home has caught fire.
  - p1esk 4y ago
    Solving leetcode-style puzzles should be fun. At least some of the harder ones. Treat them like fun. Even if you do one a week your skills will remain relatively sharp.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    Pick problems that sound fun. You don't get that during interviews but you can give yourself that edge outside of interviews.
jermaustin1 4y ago
I don't have a lot of advice other than find something that you enjoy to fill your time. With 6-12 months of emergency fund, and cutting your bills even further, you could enjoy your time off. Thankfully my wife is a Marriage and Family Therapist, and earns close to what we NEED, so all of our big bills (rent and mortgage, insurances, car notes, etc) are taken care of. So that means if I get laid off, there isn't a lot of pressure on needing to find another job. But as others have said, there are plenty of unsexy jobs available. I have also always had the idea that this is the last gig I am going to do, so if it ends, I might end up going full time into my furniture building hobby. Take it from a few grand a year to a few grand a month by working full time at it instead of tired nights and weekends.
chasd00 4y ago
given the ridiculous severance packages in tech these days, i would plan to spend a lot of time at the beach.
Eumenes 4y ago
Embrace my extremely low cost of living lifestyle (prob 3-5% of my annual income, coupled with 5 year emergency fund), exercise alot, cook healthy meals alot, and generally focus on self improvement. Wouldn't mind doing a part-time job or something unrelated to tech, even if it makes little.
SaberTail 4y ago
I've got 12 months of living expenses saved up, so financially I'm about as prepared as I can be. I'd apply for unemployment. I have a 2 bedroom place where I currently use one bedroom as an office, so I'd try to get a roommate to bring down my housing expenses. Time-wise, I'd probably take a month off to recover and decompress. If the timing were right, I might even take longer and hike a section of the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail. After that, I'd take another month to brush up on my leetcode before jumping into interviews.
quechimba 4y ago
I'm moving to the Amazon rainforest..
wilwade 4y ago
A few things I haven't seen mentioned. Make sure you have connections with your coworkers you wish to remain connected with (for friendship and/or opportunities). Make sure you have no personal data saved only on your work computer. Advocate for open sourcing any small utilities or other code that you have written so that you can have good public code samples. Make sure that you have non-work access to retirement accounts, paycheck stubs, etc... Finally, be willing to leave first. (For many) it can be hard to not have your work as part of your identity. Remember that businesses cannot care about you, just people in them.
bravetraveler 4y ago
Use my network, same as last time
SillyUsername 4y ago
Have fun writing more of the personal software I want to do, look for a new job outside of that. Choose one that looks good, not a shitty "evergreen" as the recruiters know them (always hiring because they've got high staff turnover).
spicymaki 4y ago
Personally, I don't think it would be healthy for me to take a long (multi-month) rest and recuperation break. I think I would spiral into a miserable state of sloth and torpor. I live pretty frugally, so I would have quite a bit of time to re-establish myself if need be. I would do the following (in order): 1) I would immediately start reaching out to friends/former coworkers to see if there were any opportunities out there. (3mo. - 6mo.) 2) I would reach out to consulting firms to see if there were any work available. (3mo.) 3) Would freelance for a while to see if I could drum up some longer term consulting work. (6mo.) 4) Look for a job outside of the tech industry that could leverage my technical work or problem solving ability. (6mo.) 5) Move to a lower cost geo, change careers, retrain or go back to school for a career in another sector. (∞ mo.) In parallel with above. * I would continue to contribute to open source to keep my skillset up to date. * Provide some training on the skills I do have, give talks at software conventions (network). * Volunteer and giveback.
joshstrange 4y ago
Thanks to YNAB (budgeting software) I feel very confident in my abilities to weather a layoff (6+ month emergency fund without changing any habits). Obviously it's not something I'd want to deal with but my plan would be to take a couple days to a week to just process the layoff and then start hunting. I'd also cut a bunch of "fluff" out of my budget (stuff I enjoy but I'm ready to jettison if funds get tight/if I got laid off). I have some small freelance projects that I would spend my 9-5 on (they don't come close to paying my bills but I'd want to stay "productive") and I'd apply to a bunch of places. I'd probably lean heavily on HN's "Who wants to be hired"/"Who's hiring" monthly threads as that's how I got my current job and I've been quite happy with it. I'd spend a max of ~3mo looking for my idea of a good job then relax my expectations and then around 6mo really start scraping the bottom of the barrel (aka apply to larger companies). After about 3-4mo I'd probably take a part-time job (in tech or otherwise) to slow the draining of funds from my accounts, that and/or take on more freelance work.
brudgers 4y ago
Vacuum and cook dinner. Good luck. [edit] Oops, never mind. My iPhone word wrapped the headline between “laid” and “off.”
roundandround 4y ago
I don't really get having a fixed ~12 months.. If you are talking about getting laid off you probably make a much higher than average salary and climbing from your past lifestyle shouldn't put you anywhere close to consuming all of your salary. I would review spending to understand what the major costs are or investment mistakes were if you don't have as many years you could take off as you have worked. Much like a sports career there's no telling how long a tech career will last or remain interesting to you and gradual raises in spending should not mean you don't have enough to consider a very soft landing in a poorly paying field, entrepreneurship without backers, etc.
Beaver117 4y ago
Relax and enjoy! Why do you have to get another job? Unless you're on a visa you now have time to live your life free from the shackles of a job. Save just enough money so you don't end up homeless and hungry
Graffur 4y ago
my plan is not to get laid off
mancerayder 4y ago
The biggest annoyance in the US is paying for COBRA, which costs over 1K for even a single person. The state health marketplaces offering cheaper health insurance are awful (eg. limited network).
- zikduruqe 4y ago
  >The biggest annoyance in the US is... getting health coverage is tied to being employed. If it wasn't for that, just think of how many people would actually pursue their dreams versus work because they have to work.
- JamesSwift 4y ago
  Note that COBRA is able to be opted-in retroactively. So, you don't need to sign up for it until you need it, and potentially will save yourself a lot of money if you dont need it.
  - hirvi74 4y ago
    We're only talking about a 90 day period though. If you do find out you need COBRA within the 90 day window, then you have to backpay what the cost would have been had you signed up for COBRA in the first place. So, you are not really saving anything in that particular case. I suppose the ideal scenario would be to not sign up for COBRA, and hopefully find a job within that 90 day enrollment period. If that does not happen, then perhaps look into one of the ACA plans assuming you can find something that fits your needs, what you can afford, etc..
    - JamesSwift 4y ago
      > I suppose the ideal scenario would be to not sign up for COBRA, and hopefully find a job within that 90 day enrollment period. If that does not happen, then perhaps look into one of the ACA plans assuming you can find something that fits your needs, what you can afford, etc.. Yeah thats exactly what I'm suggesting you should do. Its rare anyone even knows about the retroactive nature of COBRA so I always try to inform people of the options.
RonaldOlzheim 4y ago
You act like a good employer, start a business
kypro 4y ago
As someone fairly mentally unstable who's recently been laid off I'm basically just trying to prep my family and friends for what's to come. The thing I find hard is when I know that my life is objectively having a negative impact on those I love and society generally. That tends to be when I spiral because at that point I know I'm better off not being here. I'm not there yet, but given the economic backdrop and my personal situation I think it's 50/50 whether I get there. Not writing this because I'm looking for help or sympathy. I don't feel depressed. I'm a happy person and I smile a lot. For me it's a bit like sleep in that it's not something I choose or seek, but I get tired of being awake sometimes. Something like that anyway. But I guess what I want to say is that if someone you know is being laid off and you want to help, then actually help or don't say anything at all. Don't tell them some BS about how it will be alright and how they'll get through it because when it's clearly not alright and when they're not pulling through (which I promise you is how they're seeing it) then it those words will only make them feel like more of a failure. Instead actually make sure they're alright. Give them somewhere to stay. Give them a hot meal. Don't tell them they're wanted, make them feel it, you know?
- JanSt 4y ago
  "The thing I find hard is when I know that my life is objectively having a negative impact on those I love and society generally. That tends to be when I spiral because at that point I know I'm better off not being here." I think that is a very wrong way to think about life. People are happy to have you with them, no matter your current (financial) circumstances. It's not a good attitude. You don't always have to provide positive impact. We all have weaknesses and bad times. we certainly have had "bad impact" on people around us - losing jobs, being sick, being depressed - that's part of the human experience.
sosilkj 4y ago
Start gathering contact info now for everyone you might want to stay in touch with. This is especially important if you work remotely, because if you get laid off, they might immediately kick you out of your email, slack, etc., and then it will be too late.
throwawaybbq1 4y ago
Lowered spending a bit assuming I am already laid off. X-mas, black-friday did not help my budget. One major thing is we are omitting a fancy vacation in our plans this year. Had to explain this to my non-tech spouse but she got it, as others in our friend-circle are in the same boat. We may go somewhere via car or something. Taking online courses in my spare time now, so when I really need it, I have some momentum. Passing that first assignment was tricky .. getting easier now (been out of school for ages). Amount of LinkedIn pings I get from recruiters has definitely gone down. Still getting pings but these are companies I don't wish to work for. There is some good advice here .. leetcode and general interview practice is a good idea, reducing unnecessary expenses, and networking. I am not doing great on all 3 fronts. I have a family with little kids. It is a bit tough to lower expenses. My biggest fear is if my decent tech salary goes away, it will be hard to adjust to a new normal. The hedonic treadmill only speeds up. Need to have significant discipline to go the other direction. Good luck all!
danwee 4y ago
In Germany, when you are laid off (and that's an unsual situation, unless you actually have done something very terrible), you are given a notice period of 3 months. So, I would have 3 months for look for a job.
dusted 4y ago
If I get laid off I'll contact my network and update my linkedin. Our economy is arranged such that even though we are two people on full-time, we we can comfortably live off of a single income, and if we were both without jobs for an extended period of time, we could live okay on welfare for a few years if need be.
nickd2001 4y ago
"Will you spend 40 hours a week on job search and leetcoding?" sounds like Stockholm syndrome. Being laid off can be an opportunity. ;). When else do you get paid to not go to work? ;). Surely everyone has things they'd like to do if they weren't always at work? Being laid off is a time to do that. When I was young it meant lots of time in the mountains. When older, it meant jobs like finally sorting the garage out that was full of baby-related cr*p, and playing with the kids more. 40 has a week on job search.... ouch. Take a few weeks off. Have fun. Then start firing off a few applications a day. Someone will bite for sure. (Caveat - this works for people in tech , earning a half decent wage, who are also frugal. Probably wouldn't work if you worked for minumum wage, that could be stressful and horrible)
meterplech 4y ago
May be hard with unpredictable timing of a layoff, but I’d recommend folks look into Recurse Center: https://www.recurse.com/ https://www.recurse.com/ After closing down my last startup I did it. It was a great balance of community providing some baseline structure to my days while being mostly unstructured allowing me to explore interests for fun. And at the end they help a lot with getting a job. If you can pull it off financially/with timing, I highly recommend the experience.
oicu812 4y ago
Here's a good start for financial preparation: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/budgeting-after-job-loss https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/budgeting-after-jo...