May 9, 2024

7 Things to Do if You Get Laid Off

4-Minute Read
7 Things To Do to Minimize Layoff Challenges

Recent announcements of major layoffs at big tech giants is unsettling news as the job market’s stability remains in question. 

You might be one of those who were affected by a layoff in recent months. Or, maybe you’re concerned that a layoff could happen to you. While experts have mixed opinions on the scope and scale of future layoffs, we’ve compiled 7 things to do if you encounter downsizing at your own employer.  

So if you’re looking at the empty chair next to you (or the smaller number of boxes in your Zoom meeting for you remote workers) and thinking what you would do if it happened to you, fear not, we’ve come up with 7 things to do if you get laid off to make minimally challenging while setting you up for success later:

  1. Don’t panic - breathe: This might seem like a no-brainer, but until it happens to you, it’s not always easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Thoughts race through your mind on running short on money or falling behind on credit cards. Remember that this is a temporary challenge that you can navigate. The best thing you can do when you receive unfortunate news is take care of yourself, go for a walk, talk to friends and family, or take some time to do the things you love.

  1. Request verification of employment: this may be needed to apply for unemployment benefits. While you search for your next role, it’s helpful to have some money coming in to help with expenses. 

  1. Confirm the end date of your medical and other benefits: You want to make sure you don’t have any lapse in health care coverage, so see how long your company is providing benefits and request an extension if possible before resorting to COBRA. Schedule any appointments and preventative care before the end of your coverage just in case it takes a bit longer to find a job. 

 

  1. Negotiate your severance: This is usually easier with a smaller company or if the number of layoffs were relatively low. A severance may be offered to you as part of a restructuring of the company, or a broader layoff. Be sure you know what the terms are of the layoff and bring up points such as tenure, contributions to the company, and competitor severance packages. You can also ask for accelerated vesting of company stock, vesting of retirement benefits, or an extension of benefits until you find a new position. 

  1. Contact recruiters and update your resume: Recruiters are an excellent tool to leverage as they can uncover opportunities while you are applying for other jobs. There is only upside to working with a recruiter since they are typically paid by the company they place you with. Recruiters can also have great advice on how to strengthen your resume. Just make sure you customize your resume to each job you are applying for. 

  1. Record contact information for your colleagues and managers. This will become helpful when you need references or need any recommendations when applying for new jobs. 

  1. Don’t forget those who helped you along the way: Once you find a new position, be sure to thank all those that helped you and let them know where you’ve landed. From recruiters, to old colleagues that offered to act as a reference, to soft connections you met on LinkedIn that helped you get a foot in the door or even ask questions. You never know when you might need them again, and it pays to be mindful of those who help you voluntarily. 

Need financial advice?

Our advisors have answers.
Join the Pattern waitlist and be the first to access a new type of money manager.

Other Articles You Might Like

Resources and articles, crafted by Experts.

Privacy Policy

Effective September 8th, 2022
This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) discloses the privacy practices for Pattern Technologies Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Pattern,” “we,” “our,” and “us”) use the personal information we collect about you through our website, mobile application, and other online services (collectively, our “Services”) and when you otherwise engage with us. This Privacy Policy also describes how you can limit the personal information we collect about you. In this Privacy Policy, we use “customer” and “you” to refer to anyone who uses our Services.

By using our Services, you agree to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of our Services after we revise this Privacy Policy means you accept any changes we make, so please check back periodically to our Privacy Policy for Updates.

Information Collection, Use and Sharing
We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via our mobile application, email, or other direct contact. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone. We will only use your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected.
Only employees who need your information to perform a specific job (for example, customer servicing) have access to personally identifiable information.​ We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us.

We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill a request you may have.
We may retain your personal information for the purpose of regulatory compliance. Our regulators require that we retain certain information about our customers for the purpose of documenting the quality and nature of advice we render, preventing money-laundering and the funding of terrorism, and fraud prevention.
​Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about (for example) new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.​

Your Access to and Control over Information
You can do the following by contacting us at team@patternfi.com
- See what data we have about you, if any.
- Change/correct any data we have about you.
- Have us delete any data we have about you.
- Express any concern you have about our use of your data.
- Opt out of any future contacts from us.

Cookies
Pattern  conducts online advertising across the Internet. Some of our business partners, including Google, place cookies on our website for remarketing – serving ads on various websites based on someone’s past visits to our website. You can opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.​ We may use cookies on this site, but we do not link the information we store in cookies to any other identifying information you may provide us while using our services.

Links
This web site contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these other sites. We encourage you to be aware of when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.​

Anonymized Data
We may anonymize and aggregate data such that it is not personally identifiable in order to better understand customer trends, strengthen security, and improve our services.

Location of Services
Presently our services are only available to customers with a primary address in the United States, and who are US citizens or permanent residents.

Do Not Track Lists
Some web providers have the ability to transmit “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) notifications. At this time we do not recognize DNT notifications.

Child Privacy
Our Advisory services are not intended to be used by children. If we become aware that we have collected data without legally valid parental consent from children under thirteen (13) years of age, we will take all reasonable steps to delete it as soon as possible.

Other Sites We May Share Information With
We will only share your information with those organizations necessary to complete your requests. Performing securities transactions requires the involvement of several parties including third-party identity verification vendors, an introducing broker/dealer, and a custodian.

Pattern leverages “Plaid” to connect your bank account with your brokerage account, verify bank account information, and confirm the balance in your account prior to initiating a transaction. Plaid maintains a separate privacy policy which can be found here: https://plaid.com/legal/#end-user-privacy-policy

Updates
Our Privacy Policy may change periodically and updates will be posted on this page. If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately at team@patternfi.com

© 2022 Pattern Technologies Inc.

This website is solely for informational purposes. Nothing on this website should be considered an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities.