👋🏽 Welcome or welcome back to The Spark Files [TSF] - your treasured artefact for living audaciously and building a purposeful life you love.

THE RUNDOWN: RELEASE #1

This release explores layoffs, its warning signs, the chaotic aftermath, and how to strategically prep to remain unscathed. Shall we? 👀

OPENING THOUGHTS

You know the saying: go to school → get good grades → work for a good company → and you are set for life.

I’ve always questioned this saying because (1) we live in a completely different society, (2) it’s an awful oversimplification that linearizes life’s complexities, and (3) in today’s economy, this “life advice” just doesn’t apply.

My verdict: It should be tossed in the bin 🗑️ and never to be recycled ♻️.

I will always advocate for people to get educated (whatever that may look like in today’s world), however, the later part of the advice of “work for a good company and you are set for life”, could not be further from the truth.

I’ve watched friends and colleagues lives descend into chaos because of company decisions. One moment, life’s great and the next, everyone is suddenly in a mid-life crisis not knowing what to do with themselves.

Work and career are an integral part of our lives. Not only does it fund our daily bread, it is the pinnacle of becoming a qualified (young) adult that contributes to society.

So, what do you do when work turns your life upside down? When life is work and work is life, then suddenly… work is gone, so is your identity (and your daily bread 💸).

Allow me to paint you a vivid picture from a Software Engineer who worked for a Fortune 500 industry giant.

A DEEP DIVE

When Layoffs happen, you think to yourself — it could never be me! Until it hits close to home and you realize you were never safe to begin with.

Layoffs suck for everyone involved. Including those technically “not affected” like the Software Engineer in this tale.

Picture this scenario:

💡Strike 1: All engineering offshore development brought in-house.

The company lets go of all contract workers and brings all outsourced product development in-house to stay resilient and have full end-to-end ownership — without additional human resources.

Translation → The workload of an individual engineer in the product development org. increases i.e. one (1) Engineer is now expected to do the work of three (3) engineers + their daily tasks and development [super fun!].

💡Strike 2: Internal Exits.

A senior engineer leaves (due to workload + pressure + inflexible work policies) and there are no backfills or new hirings in the entire organization.

Translation → This vacancy adds more work, pressure, and responsibility on the existing team [the features won’t ship themselves].

💡Strike 3: Org. Specific Layoffs.

Organizational strategy changes + declining market demand is a recipe for constant restructuring.

Imagine having 6 managers in 6 months and not knowing who will be present in any given work meeting until you show up? Or
For my product peeps, having 5 different PMs on a product team in 9 months? The only thing that stayed consistent about the product was the Engineers on the product development team…

… till the software engineer stepped away [an environment with constantly changing priorities and intensified pressure is unsustainable], don’t expect to deliver your best work even as a high performer.

That F500 Software Engineer was me 🤭.

Evaluating layoffs from a moral lens will leave you mentally exhausted and emotionally defeated. When it comes to corporate structures and organizations, if it’s legal, it is acceptable.

Here are three grounding statements to guide you:

Layoffs are business decisions. The numbers [$$$] have to make sense.
A finance professor once shared that the most expensive item on a company’s balance sheet is, you guessed it - ✨the employees✨. So, guess who gets chopped first when the numbers don’t look good?
A previous manager transparently shared that, “layoffs are a numbers game, it doesn’t matter what title you have, rank you occupy, or performance you’ve demonstrated at the company.

In summary, layoffs are out of your control. There are internal factors and confounding variables that sadly, not every employee is privy to.

You truly never get to see the full picture, understand the reasoning, or know the whole story. You’re simply at the receiving end of a decision where those who made it may not even be held accountable.

The company has to make a decision — let go of some employees or take a financial hit? Take a wild guess 🤷🏽‍♀️.

❝

Stay prepared so you don’t have to get prepared
- wise words from a sib

📝PRO-TIP

The minute you feel dissatisfied, bored, disengaged, notice warning signs at work, or you want more out of it, that’s the first sign and your cue to either start “exploring different options” or “planning an exit!”. Be very careful and attentive to NOT miss or dismiss the signs. These kinds of decisions require self-awareness where you move with Strategy not Emotions.

Strategic Moves

Your Tool Kit

Warning signs may be present, however, you cannot accurately predict who gets let go and who stays.

I’ve heard of layoffs that happened via text at 5am, seen emails sent at 6:47am, and employees arrive to the office only to get escorted out because they “technically” are no longer a company employee.

It happens suddenly and that suddenness is why you should always stay prepped in these crucial areas: personal finance, social circles/associations, professional network.

Get your money up while cash flows i.e. the income you earn should be used to protect your peace and plan future career moves.
Curate your social proof by showing people the value you bring i.e., show more people the great work you do within a company and outside of it.
Stack skills and position yourself well enough to build leverage i.e., the opportunities come to you.

Ownership is key. You are the CEO of your career so make moves like one and treat yourself like an F100 company.

In the next TSF release, I’ll dive further into these core areas with tangible actions you can take to set yourself up for success when navigating the uncertainties that comes with layoffs. For now, I’ll end with some thoughts and reflections.

REFLECTIONS

Your whole identity should not be tied to “where you work” or “what you do for work”. My company has a saying that what we do is bigger than “just work” and smaller than life.

I have a personal principle of building work around my life and anything that conflicts with this, gets dropped. Hope you get the gist.

Learn to differentiate what you do and what that’s worth from who you are and what you’re worth. Your existence is valuable.

YOUR THOUGHT SPARKLERS

💭 Do you have a job or are you building a career? Are you happy with the path you are on for the next 2-3 years?
💭 How are you leveraging your current company? In relationships, prestige, access, credibility, visibility, and opportunities that come with it?
💭 If you got laid off tomorrow, how quick can you bounce back? More importantly, how well have you built up your career rolodex?

🛠️ Recs & Resources:

🎧Podcast:

Emma breaks down what it takes to actually build a quality network with people that have your back and champion you throughout your career. Click here to watch or listen on youtube.