Tech Layoffs-Master of Your Destiny

Salesforce just laid off 8000, Amazon laid off 17000… Meta, Twitter, Stripe and many more companies have also laid off employees. It reminds me of 2001 and 2008, when we saw a similar situation unfold.

Having been through many of these cycles, over time I have built a cautious paranoia related to “when will the next downturn happen”, as well as specific activities that I take in order to be more in control if/when those downturns occur. Like everyone else, I want to be in control of my professional journey and not be surprised by changes inflicted by others.

How do I stay in control of my professional career?

In the best of times, when there are abundant jobs and multiple recruiters are calling you every week to tempt you into a new role, it is human nature to become complacent. Counter-intuitively, in the best of times is when you should be most active in building your external connectivity.

Here are some approaches that I live by:

1. Always, always build your network. Be careful about being complacent in your current job. We often think “Well I have a GREAT job so no need to build new external connections.” Your network is where your current and future opportunities lie. Personally I always stay active on LinkedIn — posting, connecting with people, responding to posts, etc. It’s a great way to learn, share and build-out your external network.
2. Lunches. Yes this may sound crazy but set a goal for having lunch with people outside of your company. This should include peers and mentors. Personally I have 1–2 lunches a month with folks that are peers/mentors and outside of my current company. Try not to fall into the trap of “I just don’t have time to stay in contact with people.” Lunches are a low-key way of staying in touch and building personal connections.
3. Contingency Plan. Layoffs often surprise people. What is your on-going contingency plan if you get caught in a layoff? IMO, having some opportunities on the back-burner is a good contingency plan. Stay open to listening/learning about roles that could be compelling. This doesn’t mean ‘job hopping’ or taking a grass-is-greener approach. It is all about staying close to possible roles that could be interesting IF you needed to move.
4. Speaking. Set a goal for the number of external presentations, forums, panels, etc that you want to accomplish. Getting external visibility…