Life after layoffs: How to handle the first few weeks
Originally published on May 8, 2025 in my email newsletter, The Vista! Subscribe today to get email updates!
One sweltering day in late June, I booked our family’s very first international trip. My husband and I were excited to take our daughter to Montreal, but I’d been procrastinating.
The next morning, I got laid off.
After shedding just a few tears and laughing alone in my living room in kind of a manic way, I spent the rest of the day eating a platter of deep-fried bar food (thank you, Carly, for the emergency Doordash!) and watching Top Chef season 6. My wallowing was interrupted only by taking breaks to call my now-former colleagues to mourn with them.
I’d spent the past few months deeply worried about my job security and the long-term prospects for my team. Colleagues had been quietly disappearing for months. I knew in my gut that my time had come.
For 3.5 years, I worked long hours, I met unreasonable deadlines, and I was ready to justify my decisions at any moment. I managed really precarious situations and was constantly pushing my team to be better, faster, more polished.
And yet, because corporations are, on the whole, the most narcissistic people on the planet, my job was never secure. That’s just the nature of Corporate America, the withered influence of labor, and the post-Great Recession-post-covid society we live in.
I’m not even all that upset about it. No use in being bitter.
Anyway, I found myself in a situation that’s all too familiar to the 600,000+ Americans who’ve been laid so far this year: I was suddenly unemployed.
(As a note, 2025 has had the highest year-to-date number of layoffs in the US since 2020, and it’s 87% more layoffs than happened January-April 2024. Most of the layoffs, about 290,000, are attributed to DOGE’s gutting of the federal government–which is a very different situation than I was in last year. Check out the April 2025 Challenger Report for more info.)
Losing your job means you have a lot of time on your hands, and you have even more angst about what will happen next. At first, this meant I spent way too much time on LinkedIn, trying to divine whether job search experts actually know anything. I threw my resume into the abyss of employers’ ATS programs and networked my ass off.
But what I did after the initial shock wore off–and what I’m most proud of–is that I used the time to take care of myself. To exercise, make nourishing meals, see friends, go to therapy, dream up my new career coaching service, build my self-compassion, and emotionally and physically rest.
Everyone experiencing a layoff handles it differently. It’s an incredibly emotional experience. That’s why this really amazing advice from psychiatrist Pooja Lakshmin for people coping with a layoff resonated with me so much:
Grieving is normal and expected. So don’t be surprised if you’re reacting to job loss like a loved one has died.
Even though you may feel ashamed or disconnected, reaching out to your support network or trusted advisors can really help. For me, this included not only my friends, but my colleagues who were also laid off at the same time.
Give yourself a simple daily structure to follow, but don’t spend 24/7 applying for jobs. You’ll hate your life if you do.
Find opportunities for creativity so you can express yourself and keep your mind engaged.
And remember, you are not a failure.
On the very practical side of things, there are major financial ramifications for losing your job. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just published its Unexpected Job Loss Guide. It’s a must-read for anyone who finds themselves surprised to be unemployed. CFPB is a government agency, so be sure to check it out before some DOGE goon finds out about it and removes it.
If you’ve recently been laid off or RIF’ed, take heart: you’re in good company and unemployment isn’t forever. Try to take this time to reflect, be creative, and get yourself mentally organized for whatever comes next. As the great Jay-Z said on The Blueprint 3: “On to the next one.”
