This is a bit off-topic but here it goes anyway- what do I tell my kids if I get laid off? Both my boys (elem. school) kind of idolize me and are super proud of their engineer dad - I just do not know how I would handle this. I know that some folks might find this petty but I have a really strong relationship with both my boys and this has been crossing my mind lately. I know that I will be fine, I've been very frugal all my life and somehow I'll manage to overcome this - yet, thinking about this is gut wrenching. Any thouts?
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"Tech is a hot space, anyone worth a damn will land on their feet...maybe even come out ahead with the severance" <<< THIS.
What to say? "I lost my job, and I'm getting another one. It is life, not the end of the world. Everything will be fine." Then you go out and make sure everything is fine. In fact, I'd say this is the one sentence that you should have been preparing on the back of your head every day, every year, for years. At every year, at every job, at every gig. This has been reality in IT for the last 20 years. Why people act as if this is new?
@Anonymous202308 - you nailed it... Hey OP, you need to tell them that the company is not doing well and that you would like to find a job at a better company - sound and act confident and they will be fine. try to avoid going into details, that will confuse them. Emphasize that you are an engineer and that your job is to solve problems - here is one that you are about to knock off. Trust me, the market is super hot right now, you will have a job in no time. I was let go in April, I had 3 offers within 4 weeks of starting my job hunt. I am by no means a top tier guy from the skills perspective (I was a physics major and development was just my side job - I ended up developing all my life though)
put it this way I have been laid off twice and it both occasions it ended up being in my favor; despite the uncertainty, like the first comment reads, if you've got skills your in the right industry you will find another gig that needs your skills! On the kid note, they totally feed off of you ;-) if you confident this is OK and you will be fine they will most likely just enjoy extra time with dad, if you are pessimistic and allow yourself to live in fear, they will to!
Not sure what to say except to emphasize that you were not fired. This is not a reflection on you or the quality of your work. Its a hard lesson that you can do everything right, have a great work ethic, and do quality work but when you are part of something larger (a company) sometimes they can still let you go for reasons beyond your control. Sort of the whole life is not fair, life is constant change, and all you can do is adapt.
Tech is a hot space, anyone worth a damn will land on their feet...maybe even come out ahead with the severance