Except, here is the sad thing – companies would rather hire you while you are still employed than hire you after a layoff.
That says something, doesn’t it?
This is what makes post-layoff recovery so tricky. Though mass layoffs are not “performance related”, at least publicly, it was your role that was made obsolete – so it is hard to completely disconnect from it, because ultimately it is a hit on your professional self-worth.
Seeing people in my research handle layoffs differently has helped me understand that layoffs, as we know them, have forever changed trust dynamics in the employment world.
What are those employee – employer dynamics I see shifting?
From the “loyal” employee – aka “I’ll overwork, I’ll burn out, but I will give my 150% to you, my dear employer” to the
“transactional” employee – aka “it is a capitalistic transaction, I’ll dump you the second I find something better, because I’ve seen enough layoffs.”
And the “transactional” employees are the ones who don’t connect their self-worth to their role at all – and they handle layoffs way easier compared to the “loyal” ones, who go through all kinds of self-doubt and some not pretty post-layoff challenges before they finally move on.
Do you agree? What type would you rather be?
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