Nearly 600,000 employees have been laid off as a result of over 1,600 companies in the tech, automotive, logistics, finance, media, and legal sectors announcing mass layoffs since January 1, 2026.
This goes to show that regardless of experience, position or performance, practically anyone can lose their job these days. Instead of simply reacting to the panic-stricken situation, below are the five things I would do in the initial days following that call.
Lest You Forget, a Layoff Is Not, in Any Way, the End of the Road
Keep an open mind, stay curious, and do not succumb to the false belief that this somehow is a tragedy. The truth is that there have been many more people in your shoes than you ever imagined who have successfully turned the situation around for themselves.
Yes, that’s true! Not many moons ago, a lot of people were exactly where you are right now and come out on the other side in a better role, a better industry, or an entirely different career they never would have pursued otherwise.
For example, Oprah Winfrey lost her job as a news reporter and was told she was unfit for television, but she went on to become the most successful talk show host in history. Michael Bloomberg used his severance pay after being fired from Salomon Brothers to start his own investment firm, which made him one of the nation’s wealthiest individuals. Even Walt Disney, who was fired from the Kansas City Star for lacking creativity, is now the owner of one of the largest entertainment companies in history.
You see, what appeared to be the floor to them actually became their starting point. Sometimes you have to close the doors to realize that there were other ones already open.
This Is What I’d Do After Getting Laid Off
Before we get into the list, it is important to note that order is important. Many people send out applications right away, which seems productive but oftentimes, yields poor results when the resume is outdated and the financial picture is unclear.
The five things below are sequenced deliberately, starting with what protects you immediately and working your way up to what prepares you for a landing you’ll actually feel good about.
1. Read every document before signing anything
It is this step that most individuals race through as they feel shaken up, and it is also the step that results in the most expense for them. Severance packages always come with some form of monetary compensation in line with how long you were working there, either one or two weeks’ pay for each year, along with other perks such as outplacement assistance.
The most important thing to remember at this stage is that you do not have to put pen to paper immediately; there are many severance packages that offer a period of 21 days or even 45 days (in case of a group layoff) for you to read the agreement, and there is also room for negotiation in severance.
Additionally, find out what will happen to your medical insurance, 401(k), or pension plan, as well as any vesting stock options you might have.
In case you have stock options that are already vested, learn how much time you will have for their exercising since it usually comes within a certain predetermined period of 30 to 90 days and, if you miss this deadline, they may revert to the company. Also, request a written lay-off notice where the reason for lay-off is not termination for cause but the fact that your position is no longer needed. This point is important both for filing for unemployment benefits and in future job interviews.
2. Get your finances on paper immediately
Not in your head, but in writing. Create a spreadsheet, list every monthly expense, and keep the non-negotiable costs (rent, utilities, groceries, insurance) apart from the rest.
Next, take a look at your income streams: savings, severance, and any unemployment benefits for which you qualify. Most states will offer you unemployment benefit payments for 26 weeks. The sooner you file your application for the benefits, the better because you can get your first payment in several weeks.
The purpose of this exercise is to know your runway. If need be, you can use an online travel budget calculator to determine whether taking a short break before starting your job search—whether it be to visit family or just take a quick trip to clear your head—is actually feasible at this time or something you should put off until later. This way, you’ll be making an informed decision rather than an emotional one.
Knowing that number will also give you an idea as to how long you can afford to be picky about the jobs and how long you should take anything just to have some money.
3. Before you disclose your job hunt to anyone, update your resume and LinkedIn
The majority of people do it the other way around, alerting their network frantically before updating their profiles. The issue with this is that recruiters will check your LinkedIn profile as soon as your name appears on their radar, and let’s be honest, a profile that is stuck in the past two years subtly conveys your lack of commitment.
So, I cannot emphasize this enough: before you contact anyone, dedicate a whole day to this. Replace ambiguous job descriptions on your resume with specific outcomes. Timelines, team sizes, revenue figures, and percentages are all important numbers.
Make sure your headline on LinkedIn reflects more than just your most recent job title, but also what you do and what you are open to. Rework your summary so that it reads like it was written by a human rather than a job description, and turn on the Open to Work setting, either publicly or only for recruiters.
4. Just reach out directly and make an ask
There’s nothing wrong with making general announcements via LinkedIn about being open to new opportunities, but it’s unlikely to get anywhere on its own. The way to get somewhere is to directly reach out to people who are familiar with your work, whether they are your former managers, former colleagues, those you have worked with on projects in the past, or clients you have established relationships with. These messages should be personalized, mentioning a one-sentence status update about yourself, what kind of positions you are looking for, and finally, the ask, asking them if they would mind connecting you to someone at a certain company or introducing you to the person who hires for your kind of position.
The ask is important. “Just let me know if you hear of anything” is easy to forget. “Do you happen to know anyone at X company who I could talk to?” is something people can actually do something about. They want to help you, they just need something concrete to do so.
5. Stop for a moment and ponder what you actually want to do
This is the one that most people overlook since they feel compelled to start submitting applications as soon as possible. However, sending out fifty unfocused applications is frequently less successful than sending out fifteen well-targeted ones, and it is draining in a way that makes the entire process seem more difficult than it actually is.
Take a day or two and reflect on your previous job. What did you truly enjoy? What exhausted you? Are there any skills you’ve always wanted to develop but never had time for? Is the industry you were in still what you want to be in?
There is still a severe shortage of positions in machine learning infrastructure, model evaluation, AI safety, and applied research, and many companies that announce layoffs often have open positions in other departments, so don’t automatically rule them out of your job search.
Doing this self-introspection prior to sending out your resumes will give you a much greater chance of submitting good applications, doing good interviews, and getting jobs where you actually want to work.
Final Thoughts
Layoffs are disruptive by nature. People that will survive through the ordeal will always be those individuals who managed to remain very pragmatic and very deliberate in everything they did without allowing themselves to panic.
So, start the severance paperwork today, get your budget in writing tomorrow, and put off applying for jobs until you have a clear understanding of the career path you want to pursue for the foreseeable future.
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