Surviving the Whirlwind. A Ramble after (yet another) round of Layoffs

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:54:32 -0000

Another Layoff!

I wasn't impacted but since 2023 this is my 4th layoff/restructuring event.

Usually my team is not impacted, but the last two have seen more team members gone than before.

I am trying to think about this from a professional perspective, but I'm writing this to collect my thoughts and regroup.

Plans change and you must be flexible

When I think about AI (drink), one thing I see a benefit from it is the flexibility in role. If something isn't working, change the model, change the prompt, change the underlying data sourcing your solution.

Businesses look at people as the same level of resource as they do these generative models (Human Resources, get it). This means that we need the ability to be flexible. We need to change our workflow, change our guidance, and chance the underlying knowledge that is driving the decisions that we make.

While early in my career, I was lucky I wasn't laid off. Later in my career, I developed a better sense of adapting quickly and showing my value in multiple ways. This showed the ability to quickly pick up new things and learn and teach them. That skill also gives me peace in a couple of ways.

1. It increases my odds of of being placed somewhere in the team.

2. If I am impacted by a layoff. I have learned from the community and that community will be able to help me get on my feet quickly. This was proven by the slew of messages I got when someone saw a colleague was let go and immediately messaged me to see if I needed help or support.

While number two would result in me being impacted, it takes the fear away some.

Be prepared

Rounds of layoffs remind me of a fund-raising rounds. These are things that happen in tech and have become normalized and just happening. The weirdest thing is that companies lay people off as anothe way to continue to stretch money and justify raising more funds.

We (Millenials) get flack about job-hopping but the folks that I know who have put in 5-10+ years at a company have PTSD from reorgs and dodging layoffs.They weren't given extra time to work through these mental health issues (and as a protected-status veteran I can tell you my first few layoff rounds were more stressful than anything I did in the service). I worked with someone that kept a box under their desk for YEARS because they were emotionally ready for the end to happen at any time and when you think like that, you want to give your best years to a space that supports you. That could mean bouncing ahead of the chaos when you see or smell it coming.

This is another Jay learned from the military thing. At a moment's notice we needed to be ready.

I've mentioned this when interviewing. Something that I learned from the military is to be ready to do the thing as soon as you hear about it. You never know when a conflict will happen and you have 24 hours to pack your things and report to formation, ready to do the job.

This comes with training, and planning.

Again I'm writing this not because I think it will protect you from layoffs. I can't do that nor can anyone else... But what I can do is help you become more comfortable with the reality that these things happen and if they do you know who to call and what to do. I can also encourage you to do the things that will get you on your feet quickly.

For us in tech, the biggest thing I can look at is getting involved in the community. Speak at meetups and conferences. Attend and share your knowledge. If your talk isn't selected then consider a lightning talk. People over-emphasize conferences and under-emphasize meetups. There are hundreds of meetups looking for speakers and your talks are usually 5-15 minutes long. You don't have to be an expert. Share what you learned, how it impacted you and what you hope to do in the future with where you are now. Be friendly and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself as well as take breaks from doing a lot.

I'm giving my first meetup talk in about 6 months and I'm so excited. It won't be recorded and it barely talks about work but it shares some of the things I've been really thinking about in the last few months and afterwards, I can go about my night having met some new faces and learned some new things. I also increase my support network if anything changes.

As I mentioned in my how to get a job post, you can't start when you need it. You have to have a body of work to show folks you're capable.

I have recommended several people in the past not ONLY because they were my friend but because I know they are capable of doing the work.

For me having my slides in markdown (and maybe a blog post) format is showing that.

My thoughts on this layoff round

This time around it hit me close. People that I spoke with on a daily basis are not with the company now. Teams of people that I would work with that were doing some really awesome things and were on the cusp of changing how the teams perform for the better now don't get to realize that opportunity.

My heart goes to them. My thoughts aren't as important as their reality. If you have DevRel or Techical PM roles available, please reach out to me so I can let them know. Some of them are prepared and others may not be. I don't know. I want to help my former colleagues and present friends.

My future where I am

That said I'm in a weird spot where I'm going to be not working alongside my remaining and new (yeah we got merged into a new team) colleagues for the next several months. When I return it will be to a team that operates differently and has established a new way of working.

I didn't get laid off but I feel like this will be a small example of when I joined the military. I rejoined civilian life after 5 years of working and living differently expected to re-integrate as easy as I left. I'm leaving my team temporarily and returning to an unknown situation.

That said I've survived it in the past, I'll continue to do so in the future and to all the folks that I don't get to work with anymore, I hope that you too will survive it. Also, I'd be happy to work with you all again in the future so please keep me up to date with what's going on.