Well, new life experience for me. I took a job at a startup in the ed tech field around 3 years ago. Yesterday, I found out that that time was coming to an end. Around 25% of employees were laid off (300ish out of 1200ish) including me and my entire team.
They're venture-capital funded, and while I wasn't entirely surprised that layoffs were coming given some pretty rough financial headwinds this year, I wasn't at all expecting them to just cut my entire function. Kind of surreal.
I knew that startups were notoriously shaky when it comes to stability, and though it sucks to see it come to an end so abruptly, I suppose it's nice to have made a lot of money off of a bunch of investors. The severance package is, honestly, kind of crazy (4 months pay + 6 months paid health insurance + my laptop + free online classes + a plethora of job placement services). Thanks, VC funds!
In the end, I don't regret anything, but it's a very weird feeling to be out of a job for the first time since I was probably 14. It's hard to know what to do with myself, though I figure my "job" becomes job hunting...next week.
No need for sympathy - I'm actually kind of excited to look for something new. I'll at least have plenty of time to try and fail to fix my shit over the summer. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
My age is the meaning of life.
Originally Posted by ChiTown:
Unless you started posting here in HS, I'm gonna guess early 40's
This will end up being a favor. Just be sure to balance taking advantage of the essentially paid, extended, vacation with seeking out the next gig. Give yourself multiple options.
Perhaps the career and space enthusiast gods are nudging you to attend a Starship launch during your downtime? :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Eureka:
The company I work for has laid off a big percentage of employees recently. Seems weird watching people you've known for years walk out the door. They get a severance package as well but I know it's still a shock for them.
Good news is there's parking at work now.
What really sucks when they have layoffs? When you are a manager who has to lay off 10 good people, when you know 2 useless people with offices are still employed because of the work they did 10 years ago... [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Hmmm, that's an interesting idea. I could just roll up to the casino tomorrow and see if I could turn 4 months severance into 40 year's worth.
Originally Posted by neech:
It will be gruelingly long hours with no pay, but you'll feel better about yourself at the end of the day. That's all that matters.
He could really make a difference in my next vacation. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
I'll feel better about it once I figure out what's next, but in a way, I actually do feel like contrats are in order here. I look at it this way - everyone who's left DIDN'T get a 4-month bonus, and now they all have to do 33% more work while I get to relax at home.
That's exactly right. This is going to springboard your next adventure and you have plenty of time to process things. Congrats are definitely in order here. [Reply]
