“It’s been like constant waterboarding all year long,” Megan Slabinski, regional president of global talent solutions at recruiting firm Robert Half, told CNBC Make It. This was done almost every month,” he said.
Much has been written about the layoffs that ricocheted across Silicon Valley, from employees live-tweeting layoff announcements to CEOs writing lengthy blog posts explaining their decisions.
But little has been said about what happened to the thousands of people who lost their jobs in this massive round of layoffs.
Some laid-off employees quickly found new jobs at small software and internet companies, or continued their careers in non-tech fields, pivoting to consulting, healthcare, finance, and other industries. Some people were eager to hire talented people who would otherwise stay at large technology companies.
Some people are relying on retirement funds, savings, or other sources of income to recover from the stress and shock of being laid off and take time off.
Bobby McNeil had been working at Amazon Web Services, an Amazon subsidiary, for just over a year when he received news in January that he would be participating in company-wide layoffs.
“It was my dream to finally work at a top technology company, and my time at AWS was invaluable,” said McNeil, a senior technical lead sourcing recruiter at AWS. “Despite experiencing layoffs during his career, [at other tech companies] Before, it was still a shock to be fired again. ”
The 39-year-old remembers scrolling through LinkedIn almost absentmindedly and seeing a slew of posts from other technologists in the industry who had also recently lost their jobs.
McNeil wanted to start working right away, but given the recent spate of layoffs, he thought a job at a technology company might be more competitive.
Former Amazon employee Bobby McNeil learned the importance of separating self-worth from work after being laid off several times during his career.
Photo: Morgan Crutchfield Photography
So he turned to recruiting in other industries. After weeks of networking and dozens of applications, he landed a contract as a talent acquisition partner for a Fortune 500 company. (Mr. McNeil declined to reveal the name and industry of his employer so that he could speak freely about his work situation.)
“If this experience has taught me anything, it’s that you can use the skills you gain from working in the technology industry to get better jobs in non-tech companies, such as in the financial industry, the government sector, or the healthcare industry. I mean it’s easy. Just to name a few, be careful,” he says. “The transferable skills you gain from working in the technology industry are extremely valuable in other fields.”
Having been laid off several times throughout his career, McNeil learned the importance of separating his self-worth from his work.
“It’s good to see value in what you do, and it’s good to work hard and be a dedicated employee, but your identity shouldn’t be tied to a 40-hour work week. No,” he says. “You can also find self-worth in other aspects of your life, such as your personal interests or entrepreneurial pursuits.”
When Melissa Zlatow first read an email announcing that she would be among the employees losing her job as part of Meta’s first round of layoffs in November 2022, she thought it was a joke. Ta.
“I opened my email at 5 a.m. on a day off in Los Angeles and thought, ‘This can’t be happening,'” says Zlatow, who spent seven years as a lead UX researcher and strategist at Meta. “None of us expected that.”
Her first instinct was to connect with other affected colleagues on Facebook. “Fortunate for me was that I had a community to lean on,” said Zlatow, who chose not to reveal her age. “I was in good company because it turns out there were a lot of good, influential directors and vice presidents who were also fired.”
She continued, “I think I’ve experienced all stages of grief over the past week.” [following the news]However, finding other people who were also laid off and working with them on things like severance pay and health insurance was a big reason why I was able to move forward quickly and healthily from my layoff. ”
Zlatow’s experience gave her an idea. What if laid-off tech workers had a safe space to connect with each other, vent, share job prospects, and work together?
Melissa Zlatow lost her job at Meta earlier this year and moved from San Jose to Chicago in July. She said her layoff allowed her to move to her “favorite city in the world.”
Photo: Melissa Zlatow
Weeks after losing her job at Meta, Zlatow built a business incubator that connects laid-off technology workers with startup companies, career coaches, management training, and other resources.
“One of the things that happens after layoffs is a sudden influx of smart people with a lot of time on their hands,” she says. “It was really important to me to do hackathons and brainstorming sessions that bring together people who are interested in solving specific problems.”
She also began teaching and inspiring young professionals by speaking at technology conferences and workshops about her insights from UX design, artificial intelligence, and other careers. “She was able to help others, which helped her get out of a rut,” she says.
The layoffs also enriched Zlatow’s personal life. She moved from San Jose to Chicago in July to become a certified advanced underwater cave diver and is in the process of getting her paragliding license.
Recognizing that this is not a privilege everyone has, Zlatow decided to take a full year off before taking on another full-time job.
After being laid off, Zlatow consulted with a financial advisor to determine how long she could survive without working full time. She focused on her own health and wanted to try things that she “wouldn’t be able to do while working so busy at the office,” she says.
“Having worked in the tech industry for so long, I wasn’t ready to jump into something new without finding a calling that I didn’t fully believe in just for a paycheck,” she says.
This past year has caused Zlatow to re-evaluate the next chapter of his career, whether it be in the technology industry or not.
“It reminded me that working in the tech industry isn’t everything,” she says. “The gold standard has changed. Five years ago, working at a major technology company was an aspirational ideal, but this layoff has left me and others with an incredible challenge to the world in many other fields. It taught me how to make an impact. “
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The fear of being laid off is real, but you can still thrive during difficult times.Here’s how to do it
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