Reflecting on the layoffs I've experienced
The recent layoffs made me think back to the first time I experienced them. I'd like to offer help to the UX designers who have experienced layoffs and are looking for new opportunities.
Since last year, many tech companies in the US have gone through several rounds of layoffs. Some let go of thousands of workers within a few days, while others laid off a few hundred people every now and then. With so many people looking for jobs, finding work has become even more difficult.
My company has also had a few big layoffs recently. I've been lucky enough not to be affected so far. Since I'm on maternity leave, I haven't had to deal with the stress of the layoffs like my colleagues. But I've heard that some people on our team lost their jobs. We all get along well, so the situation feels very uneasy.
This made me think back to the first time I experienced layoffs, so I wanted to write about it.
My first experience with layoffs happened not long after I graduated and joined a small company as their only product user experience designer. There were about 30 full-time employees, and most of the others were contractors.
The layoffs happened about a year after I joined. One day, a coworker rushed by me and one other colleague as we were about to get lunch, saying, "Get out of here; something bad is happening." I didn't know what was going on.
When we got back to the office, we saw two coworkers looking worried. One of them had just found out she was out of a job. I quickly checked on my close colleagues and saw one of them packing her things. She was our team's Business Analyst and said she'd been laid off. I wanted to say something comforting, but I didn't know what to say. She'd worked for many years and had probably been through this before. She reassured me, saying, "It's okay. My job is usually one of the first to go. If I find another job nearby, we can keep in touch."
Since I wasn't told anything, I was safe for the moment, but I was really nervous. As a recent graduate, I wasn't ready for this kind of situation. My work visa had just been approved, so if I lost my job and couldn't find another one within 60 days, I'd have to go back to my home country. I wasn't prepared for that either. I'd changed careers after graduating and didn't have much experience. I was still trying to figure out how to be a good user experience designer, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a new job in time.
In the afternoon, our boss called a short meeting. He told us that the company had laid off seven full-time employees and many contractors, all of whom were excellent workers. He encouraged us to help them find new job opportunities if we knew any.
I think my face must have turned red because I was extremely nervous. My manager noticed my anxiety. After the meeting, he pulled me into a small conference room and asked, "Are you okay?"
My voice trembled as I said, "I'm really nervous because I'm on a work visa, and if I lose my job, I might have a hard time finding another one quickly. I'm not prepared to go back to my home country so soon."
He reassured me, saying, "Trust me, we're all aware of your situation. You're in a good position right now because the company prioritizes the project you're working on, and we need to launch it. Plus, you're the only designer." He then added, "I might be let go before you." He was the head of our company's tech department.
Over the next year, the company found itself in a difficult situation again, but this time there were no layoffs. Instead, everyone took a 10% pay cut. Given the company's circumstances, I felt that a pay cut was a better way to retain employees than layoffs. Of course, talented individuals who believed they deserved higher salaries would likely leave quickly. I wanted to leave too, but I needed to complete the project and add some weight to my resume. So, I decided to stay until the project was launched and then began actively searching for my next job.
• • •
The next layoff I experienced was while working at a design consulting firm. This company was unique because it had both a design agency division and a product division, and the business models of these two divisions were quite different. In the product division, we operated on a "Software as a Service" model, with customers paying for usage or a monthly fee. The agency division, on the other hand, was purely a "service" business, doing design and programming projects for clients and charging per project. If clients had follow-up projects and liked the services, they would continue to contract the agency on more projects and pay for the services.
I joined when the product team decided to expand and I became the only user experience designer for the product.
One day, the company's CEO suddenly gathered us together and informed us that the agency was facing a lack of client projects and poor financial conditions, so some people had already left. I was surprised, but since our product was doing well, I felt confident about staying on. In hindsight, my confidence was naive. The company went through another one or two rounds of layoffs, all of which occurred on the agency side.
After a while, I moved from Product A to Product B. Product B was an innovative concept, and the team was working on it enthusiastically. I also knew that the company was in talks with some investors.
One afternoon, I was suddenly called into an office by my manager. As I entered, I saw HR present and had a feeling something was wrong. My manager told me that another company was planning to acquire Product B, but they didn't need a designer, so my position was being eliminated. They asked if I needed any help, and I mentioned my work visa situation, with a 60-day window to find a new job, and asked if they could assist me in any way.
After returning to my desk, I heard that a colleague had received a call from his manager while on the subway, telling him that his position had been eliminated and that the manager himself had been let go as well.
So, that day, I was laid off.
In fact, before this happened, I had some bad premonitions because of various rumors I'd heard. However, I felt that the project I was working on was important, and I still held out hope that I could complete it and use it to build my design portfolio. But the company's decision to lay me off meant they didn't care whether I could finish the project or not.
Since I still had a work visa, I only had 60 days to find a job, so I had to dive into the job search immediately. As a designer, I needed to have my portfolio ready in order for interviews, and organizing a portfolio takes time. I felt that I hadn't prepared well enough for this and should have started organizing it earlier.
In the following days, I was very busy, reaching out to everyone I knew (and even those I didn't) to see if their companies were hiring and if they could give me a referral. The rest of my time was spent organizing my portfolio and preparing for interviews. Having already gone through a few layoffs and having grown into a more experienced designer, I was no longer as panicked as the first time.
The company was relatively small and flexible in its operations. One day, I received a call from one of the company's executives, who said it was the first time they'd encountered an employee with visa issues being laid off. They offered to keep me on the payroll system for a while longer, giving me more than 60 days to find a job. This significantly relieved my stress, allowing me to focus fully on my job search.
The overall job market at that time wasn't as bad as it is now, and our company's layoffs were based on its own circumstances. I was lucky enough to find a job I liked in just over a month.
• • •
After that, I haven't personally experienced any layoffs, but the companies I've worked for have still gone through layoffs.
At one small company I worked for, they had a round of layoffs one year because they had expanded too aggressively overseas. They realized they had spread themselves too thin and had not understood the local demand well enough, so they couldn't attract enough customers and sell their products. As a result, they had to let go of the employees in those overseas regions. This was a layoff due to a change in company strategy. Later, there were also layoffs aimed at cutting costs: the company wanted to allocate funds and headcounts to more essential projects, so they cut some unnecessary and low-priority projects and positions. I wasn't affected by these layoffs, but some of my close colleagues were.
• • •
For a company, each round of layoffs may be just a number, but for the affected individuals, it has a real impact on their income, mindset, and quality of life.
Companies are driven by capital, and they will employ various measures to ensure their interests are protected, with layoffs being one of them. Information on layoffs is usually confidential, and employees cannot access this information unless someone leaks it. This has been the case in several tech company layoffs in the past months, but even then, people only knew the general situation, and it wasn't until the day of the layoffs that they found out who would stay and who would go. Companies withhold layoff information from employees until the last minute to ensure a quick and decisive process, allowing them to revoke employee access and have the affected employees leave. My previous companies informed other employees of the layoffs afterward. Then, the company would find people to fill the gaps in projects and continue with normal operations.
A former manager once told me that when his previous company conducted layoffs, he would call the affected employees into his office one by one for a conversation. One woman cried loudly in his office for 20 minutes, worrying about her house and children, and all he could do was try to comfort her. I still remember his sense of helplessness when he mentioned this. In the end, the affected individuals and their families have to bear the impact of layoffs.
As wave after wave of layoffs come crashing in, I don't know if I will be affected or not or when, but what gives me some peace of mind is that I no longer have a time constraint on finding a job, as I have finally got my green card after many years (thanks to the poor US immigration system 😒).
However, I can't let my guard down – who knows when the next round will come? The recent layoffs have affected employees hired during the pandemic and those let go to cut costs, and with this year's AI boom and some predictions of an economic downturn in the US, it's hard to know what the situation will become.
Perhaps the recent layoffs can serve as a reminder:
Take care of yourself first: if you’re feeling particularly upset, allow yourself to vent first. Find ways to recover, for example, take a break from what you normally do. This will help you see the positive side of life and become more efficient.
Layoffs are often due to many factors; don't blame yourself for them.
Periodically review your achievements at work and keep your resume up-to-date.
Make an effort to save money so you can maintain the current standard of living for eight or nine months without any income.
Learn about unemployment benefits in your state.
Try to stay open-minded; when one door closes in life, you can open another window. For example, many people start their own businesses after being laid off. I think if I were to be laid off, I could take some time off to spend more quality time with my baby.
As an interviewer, I've interviewed many user experience designers and researchers from entry-level to senior positions. If you or your friends have been affected by the layoffs and are looking for user experience designer positions, I'd be more than happy to help review resumes and portfolios.
This is probably the modest support I can offer for now.
The Chinese version of this post is available at 《聊聊我经历过的裁员》.