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“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer” — Albert Camus
Layoffs are bad. Layoffs hurt.
They are devastating to those people being laid off. The individuals being laid off and their families are hurt financially and emotionally. Assuming those performing the layoff are not masochists, they will go through a great deal of pain as well. The people who remain in the company after the layoff will have lost friends and in some ways grieve for them while they pick up their workload.
While at grad school one of my professors who had to lay off a number of people. One particular person was very angry at him personally. Angry at the company which she had worked for the majority of her career. Angry at the situation she was being put in. In her anger she said many hurtful and hateful things. She left her job that day feeling as if her soul had been cut from her body.
A few months later she returned to his office, smiling from ear to ear. She told him how she didn’t realize how unhappy she was before she was laid off, and how much she had to offer that her former employer wasn’t able to take advantage of. She cheerfully and reflectively told him that being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to her. She had found a new position in another company, was doing much more than she had in her former company, her family enjoyed being around her more, and she was being paid 25% more in her new job. If wasn’t for the push provided by the layoff she never would have left despite the unhappiness she carried with her every day.
I’ve been through several layoffs. They are always painful for everyone involved. The hurt lasts a long time. However, frequently people come through the darkness and they find better opportunities than what they had left.
Looking through LinkedIn I find many people whom I had worked with, worked for, or worked for me prior to a layoff. For the most part, they seem to have found themselves in a much better place. Granted, some small amount of this is due to self-appointed titles in LinkedIn, but I think a lot of it is due to the push provided by being forced out of the pigeon hole they had unknowingly found themselves in, being better recognized for the full set of capabilities they have to offer, and being compensated appropriately.
Having said this, layoffs suck!
