Layoff Limbo

[OrganicZed]

I was told yesterday that my entire department is being laid off due to a shift in corporate strategy and that my last day of work will be in March of 2026. Now I'm in this strange layoff limbo land where I have a job, but the job will be ending relatively soon and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. Obviously, my motivation to work is a bit diminished at this point, but I can still be fired early if I slack off too much. Fun times.

I'm hoping to land another job before the appointed end date so as to avoid the situation of being jobless.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I was told yesterday that my entire department is being laid off due to a shift in corporate strategy and that my last day of work will be in March of 2026. Now I'm in this strange layoff limbo land where I have a job, but the job will be ending relatively soon and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. Obviously, my motivation to work is a bit diminished at this point, but I can still be fired early if I slack off too much. Fun times.

I'm hoping to land another job before the appointed end date so as to avoid the situation of being jobless.

Ah redundancies fucking suck. I went through it about 8 years ago. Good luck dude, hopefully you can find something quickly then tell your current lot to go fuck themselves.

It won't help your mood now but I ended up in a much better place with better work life balance in my next role. Fingers crossed you do too.

 

[Sleezy E]

That sucks man.

I guess at least you got a heads up instead a pink slip. The nice thing is you have time to shop.. no one hires during the holidays, but I would be knocking on doors after the new year!

You got this!

 

[laxu]

Best of luck in finding a new job! At least you still have a job until March, considering the holiday season tends to be the worst for finding anything but holiday season related temp jobs.

I've only been fired once in my career (due to no reason of my own) and it really sucked at the time, but it lead to a lot better things.

 

[gearJunkie]

Sending new & better job mojo your way. Take advantage of time you have left and seek the job and employer you deserve. Best of luck in your search. Change is hard, but is the best path to to a better future.

 

[OrganicZed]

That sucks man.

I guess at least you got a heads up instead a pink slip. The nice thing is you have time to shop.. no one hires during the holidays, but I would be knocking on doors after the new year!

You got this!

Totally right. I am very thankful to have some advanced notice so I have time to line up my next job. I'm also very thankful that I won't have to stress about immediate income concerns during the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Years speed run. I'm an at will employee and legally my employer owes me nothing, so the fact that they had the decency to let me down with a softer landing is greatly appreciated. The company needs us to transfer our projects to their teams at the other site and they also need us to help clean up and decommission our work space, so those considerations likely played into their decision to provide the extra notice. Everyone would know what was coming as soon as the orders came to start transitioning projects.

Some of my colleagues in other departments who were let go were not so fortunate. One of the ladies who has an office just around the corner from mine was told that she would be given two weeks pay and that she needed to pack her things and exit the building by the end of day.

 

[OrganicZed]

Sending new & better job mojo your way. Take advantage of time you have left and seek the job and employer you deserve. Best of luck in your search. Change is hard, but is the best path to to a better future.

I'm hoping that this will provide me with a chance to move closer to my family (I live on the Eastern seaboard and they all live on the Western seaboard. I see them once every other year). That would be a nice outcome to the situation.

 

[AlbertA]

wow 4 months notice? That’s really good - hope you get an additional severance package. I totally get you on the demoralizing aspect - productivity will tank for everyone during this period based on my experience.

 

[Los-D]

Mojo sent as well. Been there. Hang in there is all I can say for now. Hopefully being closer to family ends up being an unexpected (positive) outcome of this.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Gah! How lame!

I went through a similar situation nearly 20 years ago when the company I was working for decided to relocate across the country. Not only that but the leader of the two-man Warehouse operation had to relocate early leaving me in charge of the entire Warehouse mess. It also coincided with my landlord wanting to go on tour so I quit early and drumming ended up paying my rent for the next few years.

I hope a transition is in the pipeline for you, my friend!

 

[Fireproof]

That really sucks. But at least you got a good heads up. Enjoy the holidays and don’t stress about the unknown. Then Jan 1 use your “paid job searching time” to seek out your next move while gainfully employed.

 

[Whizzinby]

Hate to hear that man, but thankfully you are getting reasonable notice.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Sucks man. Stay positive though, you'll get into something.
Luckily I left a big company about 4 1/2 years ago for various reasons, one being I could foresee the writing on the wall in the nearer future. Just found out from an old co-worker they're laying off around 300 in the corporate location.
Everything works out in the long run though -- just roll with the punches.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Mojo sent, OZ. You'll land on your feet!

 

[DrewJD82]

This just means a better job is coming your way!

Hippie dippie note- I’ve put a good amount of effort at changing my way of thinking when it comes to things that don’t work out as intended and do my best to see everything as “It’s still going to work out, just not the direction I thought it was going to work out in” and it’s had a rather large positive effect over time. Instead of having a period of being bummed out or pissed off I tend to get a little eager in knowing that it didn’t work out because it wasn’t the right thing for me and I’m that much closer to finding the thing that’s right for me.

 

[Fireproof]

This just means a better job is coming your way!

Hippie dippie note- I’ve put a good amount of effort at changing my way of thinking when it comes to things that don’t work out as intended and do my best to see everything as “It’s still going to work out, just not the direction I thought it was going to work out in” and it’s had a rather large positive effect over time. Instead of having a period of being bummed out or pissed off I tend to get a little eager in knowing that it didn’t work out because it wasn’t the right thing for me and I’m that much closer to finding the thing that’s right for me.

Good stuff.

And on the positive tip - the my only unexpected layoff I experienced led me to a super cool career trajectory I likely wouldn’t have taken. A very anxious and upsetting experience ended up being one of the best things to happen to me.

 

[Jarick]

That's a bummer man, I hope you land on your feet quickly! Now is the time to start looking for jobs, get out ahead of the January hiring rush.

Almost exactly two years ago my old company announced layoffs. It's interesting reading back on the thread because of all the emotions and changes. I ended up finding a job pretty damn fast, and I'm pretty happy now that I'm settled in. I even randomly got promoted last week which is cool.

 

[AlbertA]

laid off due to a shift in corporate strategy

was it AI?

 

[OrganicZed]

was it AI?

No. The type of work I do cannot currently be replaced by AI (though I do use AI based tools as part of my job).