I’m in my late thirties and have been laid off twice in my working years. This is not an unusual experience, especially in the post-COVID era, which some have termed a time of “forever layoffs.” Nearly half of all working adults have been laid off at some point in their career and most working employees are worried about layoffs on a regular basis.
The first time it happened to me was in 2012 when the small marketing agency that I’d been with for only a year went belly up. I was young, didn’t have many responsibilities in life just yet, and the job hunt went quite well; I secured a new gig within a handful of weeks. The second time I was laid off was in 2024, as part of a larger set of cuts at a billion-dollar tech company I had been with for about three years. Twelve years after my first layoff, not only was the economy wildly different, but I had a family, three young kids, and a mortgage to worry about. It took almost a year of ups, downs, and freelance projects to get back into comfortable employment. Those two instances ended up being pretty different experiences, and yet a similar set of tactics helped me get through both times.
There will inevitably be a flood of anxiety after you’ve been laid off. But once your heart rate has calmed down and you’re able to move beyond panic mode, do these five things to get yourself in a good position to survive and move forward.
Nail Down Your Financial and Insurance Logistics
As hard as it can be in those first days after being let go, you need to start thinking right away about your finances and health insurance. It can be hard to do so without catastrophizing, but it’s important to think clearly and strategically about how you and your family will weather the financial unpredictability of the coming weeks and months.
Insurance
First, consider your insurance situation. Be sure that you have information from HR about when your benefits lapse — it can be immediate, but sometimes it’s a few weeks or even months down the road.
If you’re carrying the household’s insurance and have the option to move to a spouse’s insurance plan, definitely go that route, even if it’s not for the long-term. Having coverage is better than not having coverage.
If that’s not an option, COBRA is a federal government program that allows you to receive the same exact insurance you had with your former employer, for a period of 18-36 months after being let go. The major difference is that you’ll have to pay the entire cost of the premiums. If you’re in a field with good benefits, it may be exorbitantly expensive to pay out of pocket. In that case, your state’s insurance marketplace is where to look next. It can be confusing if you’ve never dealt with it before; your former employer’s HR department may be able to help you find a broker to help with that process. Don’t hesitate to ask them these types of questions.
Finances
You also have to think realistically about your budget. How much do you have in your bank account? How much severance are you receiving, if any? How much do you have in emergency savings or other accessible accounts (that is, stocks or other investments that don’t have withdrawal penalties, rather than retirement accounts)? Make sure you know exactly how long you can make it without your income.
Next, apply for government unemployment benefits. Each state has their own online portal (and set of rules). You’ll be entitled to a percentage of your previous wages (typically 50%) for an entire year. It’s a hassle, and there are a lot of forms, including weekly online check-ins about your job search, but there’s no reason to not take advantage of unemployment checks. After all, your taxes have been paying into that fund for as long as you’ve been working!
Reach Out and Start Networking
Time to share some harsh truth: In today’s job market, it’s nearly impossible to just apply for a job that you found online and get invited to a screening interview, let alone make it all the way through the lengthy multi-interview + work test process that pervades modern job hunting. In the vast majority of cases, networking will get you farther than scrolling job listings online. It bears repeating: while networking does not necessarily have the same immediate ROI as applying for random jobs, it will net you greater returns in the long run.
In particular, it’s worth reaching out to your weak ties — those loose connections you made in college or through work or church. You aren’t quite friends with these folks, but know them well enough that reaching out in this scenario isn’t weird. Go creeping on LinkedIn to see where folks work; if a company seems interesting, there’s no harm in sending a message like:
“Hi there! I know it’s been a while since we’ve talked. I hope you’re doing well — I loved seeing that family picture on Facebook. I wanted to reach out and say hello because I was recently let go from my job of five years. I’m trying to get a feel for what the market is like and what’s out there and would really appreciate a 30-minute chat if you’re willing. If the timing isn’t right, no worries, but it’d be great to catch up a bit.”
If they agree to chat, don’t make it just about finding a job at their company; it really should be a broader focus on if they know of anyone or anything helpful. If you talk and something seems like a good fit, they’ll let you know. (After you talk, make sure to send a thank you note or message!)
Beyond those weak ties, also do some fresh networking both online and in your community. With a quick internet search, you’ll be able to find digital and IRL networks of folks in your industry. Again, the ROI is not always apparent, but genuine networking — with the goal of just getting to know people and getting your name and face out there — always has a way of paying off in the long run.
P.S. This is a great reason to never burn bridges on your way out of any job.
Set Some “Working” Hours
In my observations, it seems that there are two types of responses to being out of work: either you can’t seem to get off the couch to do anything or you turn that anxiety into a kind of hyperactivity, spending every waking moment on the phone or computer. Both of those approaches have problems that can be remedied by doing your best to set daily “working” hours.
Don’t try to replicate a full work week; set aside 3-4 hours per day for networking, job hunting, building up your skills, and the like. The work of finding work is mentally taxing (and, let’s be honest, often defeating) in a way that a “real” job is not. There’s no psychological security at all; in fact, you’re mostly dealing with feelings of existential dread the whole time. As such, your willpower gets depleted rather quickly. After half a day or so, you’ll experience diminishing returns and it won’t be worth the additional mental energy to keep going. You can only scroll through so many job listings and write so many cover letters in a day before you start to feel your soul escaping your body.
Conduct Career Experiments
My initial response to being let go was, naturally enough, to apply for positions similar to what I just held. That makes total sense and should absolutely be your first plan of attack. Unless you have a sizeable financial cushion, it’s not a bad idea to do this even if you plan on changing careers — it may make for a nice fallback should that other route not work out as quickly as you hoped.
Within a few weeks, though, it was easy to blast through applying for the roles that most matched my resume. After that, I took the liberty of getting a little more creative and looking for roles that I wasn’t perfectly qualified for but suited my interests a bit more. Even though my career has been in online media and marketing, when I was laid off in 2024 I branched out and had a couple interviews outside my comfort zone, including with a small coffee roaster and a large airplane manufacturer. I even considered going back to school. I didn’t end up doing any of those things, but I thought long and hard about them and did learn a lot about what it would be like to jump industries, to start at the bottom of a workplace food chain, and the practicalities of starting fresh.
If you’ve ever thought of doing something different with your career, perhaps being let go is the spark you need to jumpstart that process. Don’t be afraid to look outside of what you know, especially if it’s an industry that’s been hit hard with layoffs (perhaps making it all that much harder to get a new job in that field).
Do Your Best to Relax
One of the things that bothered me most — and which happened both of the times I was laid off — was hearing from folks about how I now had some time to sleep in, relax a bit, and enjoy “funemployment.” As if! There was no way I could sleep in or really even remotely enjoy myself while in the midst of desperately trying to find a way to replace that income as soon as possible. It’s very hard to relax when you’ve been laid off versus when you’ve left a job on your own terms, even if you’ve been lucky enough to receive severance pay.
That said, each time it’s happened to me, I forced myself to at least do some activities that would normally bring me joy — even if they didn’t immediately do so in the moment. For me, it was hiking/walking every day, reading, and doing some extra cooking/baking. While there’s a time and place for some true vegging out with Netflix, it’s best to shoot for a more active type of relaxation that comes from using your body and brain in a way that you get deeper fulfillment from. Regular exercise should especially be part of that routine. If you just lounge around on the couch all day, you can quickly fall into a pattern that’s hard to get out of.
It’s likely going to be hard to truly relax and let yourself recharge, but at least go through the motions. Some of it will stick and you’ll at least build up a good routine of caring for your mind and body while without work.
The job market and the process of finding work after a layoff is unpredictable. I simply cannot say that it will all work out in a timely manner. But if you follow these steps, you’ll at least have a better setup for success than you would have otherwise. Best of luck out there!
