It’s early 2023! After chatGPT, layoffs is probably the next top trending word today in the professional social networks.

But wait! It is the top trending search term according to Google search trends. The term “layoffs” bags a score of 100 represents, and it is the most popular search term during that time (January Mid).

Looming recession (or are we in it already?) is creating only more anxiety for further elimination or roles and companies going into hiring freeze for the foreseeable future. This is not fun! This affects not only the talented folks who unfortunately got laid off, but also folks who are employed and are living in fear, uncertainty and doubt.

In this article, I want to offer tips on navigating this recession environment if you get laid off or are worried about getting laid off.

If you got laid off

Step one: Understanding the why

There are several reasons why someone might get laid off, like company or organisation restructuring, cost cutting, role elimination due to impact, economic downturn, or performance.
While you may not get all the answers depending on the situation, it is critical to understand generally why you were laid off.
Understanding the why will help you make better choices on improving performance, choosing a certain industry over others and so on.

Step two: Taking time off before acting

Everyone has a different situation and cannot afford the luxury of taking time off. Depending on your situation, your time off could be a weeknd or six weeks or six months. But please take it. More often than not, this is a blessing in disguise to give you a break from current patterns of thinking and processing. It is a hard break, surely, but an important one that might open doors and opportunities that you would not take otherwise.
Connect with friends, with nature and with yourself to look at things with a fresh lens rather than fear.
Be empathetic to yourself as you would be to someone else who got laid off. Sometimes it is just out of your control and not related to anything you did or did not do.

Also Read: A tech worker should be all about improving customer experience: Kim Nguyen of Recruitery

Develop new hobbies or pickup older ones, this will help you balance and build resilience.

Step three: Creating a plan and crushing it

The most common action plan would be to just non-stop apply to jobs online. It might work, but wouldn’t it be better to try something a lot better?
Consider spending time on gaining additional skills that would increase breadth and depth and help get you a role relatively better than your previous one. Do projects and share online.
Consider learning skills to enter a new domain for different or better roles. It could be a higher paying job, a career or a company that you would enjoy more, a role that will help you find the right balance between work and life and so on.
Don’t apply alone . Tap into your network. Reach out to connections from school and previous workplaces. Ask your connections if they have someone they know at the company you are looking at and get a referral.
Brush your resume and make sure you have several versions of cover letters. If you are not hearing back, review your resume and test different versions. Get feedback on your resume from connections.
Cold message recruiters and hiring managers and follow up.
This might be an opportunity, if your situation allows you, to build a startup, or side hustles/passive income streams. This is probably the best opportunity, you don’t have much to lose right now.
Once you have a plan, turn it into a project. Diligently act on things and track them.
Keep learning and iterating from what’s working and what’s not working.
Focus on your learning and deep work tasks earlier in the morning. Use rest of the day for networking, applying, and also disconnecting with finding new jobs.

Resources on finding new jobs

Found on internet, credit to citizens of internet.

If you are afraid about getting laid off amidst the recession

Step one: Yes, again, it’s about understanding

Understand why you are afraid or feeling this way? Have you received any performance feedback? How do you think you are performing, looking 6-12 months back?

Also Read: A tech worker’s 2023 recession game plan

Are you seeing signs in meetings or metrics that things are not looking good? Are you hearing rumors? Ask questions, attend team/company all hands to understand the state of affairs.
Connect with your manager and your teammates to share how you are feeling and gather more information from them.

Step two: Focusing on what matters and what is in your control

Embrace the fact that if this is an industry wide trend, this may not be in your control.
Clearly identify what things are in your control:
- Your hard work and execution.
- Your decisions on what to work and what not to work on (not so straightforward, but the idea is to have an opinion and try to change as needed).
- Getting ready for whatever may come.
Be so good at things you can control, so it improves the odds at things you can’t control.
Never stop learning.

Step three: Execute

Keep performing. Continue doing your best work you can from a place of confidence and not out of fear. Ensure you are not working in the background. Work with your manager and team to create visibility for the work and impact you are driving.
Keep your network active and warm. Update your resume, just in case.
Financial planning. Save money and prepare yourself.
If you do happen to be in an unfortunate situation within thousands of variables and do get laid off, scroll up and read the first section on “If you get laid off”.

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