One of my former employers had a big round of layoffs on Monday.

20% of their product team.

That could’ve been me or my friends if we all hadn’t been laid off years before.

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Then this morning, my neighbor down the street, Amazon, cut 14,000.

10% of their corporate force.

The friends I’ve checked in on are fine, but some of the impacted are starting to identify themselves.

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Layoffs are nothing new.

I mean, I myself used to help companies execute the 'delayering playbook' as a management consultant two decades ago.

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But today, it’s striking to see how emboldened it’s all become.

Companies used to seemingly express some sort of shame or sorrow about cutting heads.

Remember those videos of founders crying on LinkedIn after a layoff day?

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Now cuts are announced broadly, plainly, very publicly.

Right ahead of healthy earnings calls. Lauded as cost-cutting.

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When it happened to me, in 2020 and again in 2022, I felt betrayal, anger, and grief.

But with time, I see the situation a bit differently.

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Each company that laid me off didn’t owe me anything.

I was there of my own will, working on cool stuff, with interesting people, at a rate I considered fair.

It was a transaction, even if it seemed like more at the time.

It was a job.

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So, why did it sting so bad when it ended?

Because I had come to depend on it.

Because I had created an identity around it.

Because I had stopped looking out for myself.

Because for a long time, I felt I wasn’t getting out as much as I was putting in.

Because I had stayed put anyway, out of inertia, self-doubt and fear.

And because it all ended on someone else’s terms.

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In short, I had full agency going in.

And zero coming out.

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Now, I won’t blame the system. I got a lot out of it, including a huge, invisible bag of raw, unique expertise.

But when the system no longer serves you, it’s time to take that bag and find a different way.

Your own way.

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💡

-Wes

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*If you or someone you know have been laid off recently and could use a sounding board, I’ve opened a few 1:1 “What’s Next?” slots here.

I have nothing to sell someone at that point in their journey. Just want to offer some time to listen and help look forward.

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