I got laid off -- now what?

An empty two lane road with forest on both sides and the words I got laid off! Now what?

Two days after writing my last blog post, I got a layoff notice at work. 

I had asked to have a meeting with my boss about a process at work, and I thought that's what our Friday afternoon meeting would be about -- until I saw that the meeting was scheduled for only 10 minutes. Until a friend messaged to ask if I also had a 10 minute meeting. Until another co-worker messaged to ask if I had a 10 minute meeting. Until my friend messaged again to tell me about a weird interaction in which another employee asked her, out of nowhere, "So, are you looking for a new job yet?"

At first, we had speculated that maybe our contracts were being extended (we were directly hired employees on six month contracts and supposed to have the option to renew, become permanent in our roles, or to move on other other roles within the company).

I was catching on that this 10 minute meeting was probably a lay off notice in light of the fact that our company was talking about laying off a lot of people. However, we'd been promised for weeks that our "patient facing" jobs would not be impacted.

Cue my meeting. 

I logged on for this virtual meeting and found myself face-to-face with someone from HR. She couldn't talk to me until my boss signed on a few minutes later. 

A W K W A R D!

The bad news? My job and all of the same position in my department were being permanently eliminated. 

The good news? We would still have 60 days of employment until our jobs were gone for good.

The other bad news? My contract was supposed to be for another 90 days. I was losing an entire month. Most of my coworkers' contracts were supposed to be up in only 30 days, so they actually GAINED an extra month. 

Since my last blog post, I've been trying to work on a post about a journaling process I use, but I've been so mad, sad, discouraged, worried, and more that I haven't been very focused. It's taken about a week for me to pull myself together.

I honestly don't know what's next. I've never been laid off and I've never been fired. I've only ever left jobs voluntarily. 

What's next? I don't know. 

Have you ever been laid off? How did you recover? What did you do? Did you try to get a new job similar to what you left or did you try something entirely new? Are you still struggling and trying to land on your feet? Share your insights!

~ Malea

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The word I got laid off now what over an image of an empty road through a forest



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