Workplace I was laid off and I do not feel bad about it.

Gimmethebag

Gimme Gimme Gimme
O.G.
Dec 2, 2008
3,364
2,225
From the beginning, my employment situation was fairly unique. I interviewed with one startup, was a final job candidate that ultimately decided that I wasn't their hire. A week later, they called me back and asked if I would be interested in working for a sister company. I interviewed with the VC managing partner (who is funding everything) and we hit it off. Then I interviewed with the other company under his umbrella. After a month of interviews between the two, they both decided they wanted me to work for them and that I would split my time (most of my time being spent with the startup).

With the startup I worked with artists, and they aren't exactly the most organized people. :lol: I had some major successes, but everything had to be done VERY last minute. This was always stressful to me as their marketing person, because lead-time is beneficial. The operational expenses were mounting up due to prior sponsorship contracts/agreements and equipment investments. Even if we sold out of every product and service we offered, there was never enough product to sell to even be remotely profitable.

They brought in a consultant, and my position was eliminated. Most of my co workers are now classified as part-time employees and are paid hourly. They basically needed to put the company on life-support to save it. The owners have offered to provide me with great references (I have it in an email, so it's in writing).

Even though I was in the process of transitioning to the VC group full-time, there's just not enough work for me there since my main focus was on the startup I also worked for.

We discussed next steps to possibly hiring me back in the near-but-not-immediate-future. I have been performing well on the work I was starting with the other startup companies at the VC group, so we also discussed me continuing it on a very part-time basis. I asked if they would consider hiring me as an independent entity as my first client, and my CMO was interested.

I have my health benefits until June. I have three weeks' pay and I will qualify for unemployment benefits. I will have great references. I've been taking front-end development classes at night. I'm learning HTML5/CSS3/Sass/Javascript.

I cried a little with my CMO (she was very upset about this all), but they were honestly tears of relief because at least in the short term I can:

1. Go to the grocery store and buy real groceries. I was so busy, that I have not been grocery shopping in TWO AND A HALF WEEKS.

2. Stay home with my dog, who was in the ICU this past week.

3. Get back to working out. Once I started taking my development classes after work, I didn't have time to work out.

4. Give my blog (which has started to monetize) some love.


Everyone keeps offering their condolences, but I'm like "I don't feel bad about it." I mean, honestly, this works pretty well for me because I have the chance to re-establish some balance in my home life and I have more time to dedicate to searching for a better paying job with perhaps more stability. :coolio:

Have you ever lost a job and not been all that sad about it?
 
I left my last job (but I was likely going to be laid off in a few months anyway), and I don't regret it for one second. I hated my job so much that I used to hope I would get into a car accident every day on the way to work. It really was not the right position for me. Even not having a job, I felt so much better. I was thinking I may have ended up regretting leaving (especially not getting paid) after a while, but that never happened.

I figure that everything happens for a reason, and leaving my last job made me confident in what I did not want to do, and gave me a chance to reassess what I want to do in the future.

ETA: I am sorry you were laid off, gimmethebag. I hope you find something wonderful (and not as stressful!) soon! :smile:
 
I think it makes a difference that my husband and I live within our means and we are comfortable on just his salary.

Without lunches out, ordering in when it is too late to cook (or there's no fresh food in the fridge), regularly dry-cleaning my work clothes, commuting costs, and our dogs daycare ($460 a month, ouch!), we are able save some money. It lessens the financial blow.

Honestly, knowing there will be lay-offs is SO much worse than actually getting let go.
 
I was laid off a month ago and I was also relieved. I was burnt out and stressed and quite honestly I needed the break. My ex-boss was extremely generous and made sure that I was taken care of with my annual bonus and raise which I received a month prior to being laid off. The company also provided me with a very generous severance package so I had a decent amount of money to sustain me for several months. Since then I've been doing everything that I hadn't had the time to do when I was working (going to the gym, running, taking advantage of our local farmer's market, enjoying the beach, visiting family/friends, etc.). To top things off, I've had some great opportunities come my way that are a better fit for me and more where I want to be professionally. The lay-off ended up being a true blessing in disguise. :biggrin:
 
Yes a company who originally laid me off in the worst time of my life after giving them a decade. Fast forward 2 yrs and they call me back to temp because no one knows their system better than me. If I wasn't so flat broke I would have never gone back because its like returning to an ex who dumped you...badly!

I went back and lo and behold, everyone snickers and guffaws at my nearly 50lb weight gain (thank you autoimmune disease). When that contract was cut short, the financial timing suxed but really it was good riddance. Place was toxic and people were worse.
 
I don't want this to come off as a one upper.. So I apologize if it seems like that..
I got laid off two weeks ago and as upset as I thought I would be I wasnt.. My boss had no people skills and was so rude to me.. She got promoted, I got the can.. But all in all I have never felt more relieved in my life.

The only thing I will miss is the residents there (I was the business office manager at a long term care center)
 
I don't want this to come off as a one upper.. So I apologize if it seems like that..
I got laid off two weeks ago and as upset as I thought I would be I wasnt.. My boss had no people skills and was so rude to me.. She got promoted, I got the can.. But all in all I have never felt more relieved in my life.

The only thing I will miss is the residents there (I was the business office manager at a long term care center)
I don't think you are a one-upper at all. I love seeing stories from others who feel the same way.

Just to give an update: My former employer wants to hire me as a consultant on an hourly basis while I am looking. I have my first interview with another company on Friday. My blog is growing as well, and while it is not enough to live off of... I am happy to see improvement!
 
Yes, happened to me a few years ago. Like a previous poster, I was stressed, burnt out - the feeling of relief the first Monday after I left, knowing I would not have the weekly conference call - oh it was amazing.
It was not an easy time, though. I naively thought I would get the first job I applied for. Wrong. I ended up out of work for a year, scrimped where I could, sold all my bags to pay the mortgage, remember at one point I had 17p in my purse and that was all I had to last a week - the financial strain was terrible.
On the plus side, I got to do something I always wanted to try. I volunteered full time at an animal rescue and it taught me so much.
Fast forward to today and I have never been happier at work. A lovely company, where the people treat each other with respect and people seem to genuinely enjoy what they do. I spend around 70% of my time working from home, 10% presenting at conferences and the remaining time out at meetings. It's perfect for me.
Good luck, OP!