A lot of people are hoping to get laid off, but I am among the few who are dreading it. I have only a few years until retirement and i really do not relish the idea of having to look for a new job at any point before that.
However, I know I was really lucky to even make it until now, since most of the people my age are already gone.
I'm still hopeful that I'll make it somehow...
Just sign up for job alerts on Indeed, Glassdoor and Zip Recruiter. I liked Neuvoo too. Sign up for Linked In if you don't already have a profile. Once you get a feel for what else is out there you can throw a few resumes out there. You really might see the perfect job float by and it won't hurt to throw something out there. It took me a good 6 months of just casually looking before I started to make the shift to thinking there were other things out there. After I sent out 10 resumes and didn't get any response, I started tweaking my resume. A co-worker hired someone to do their resume for them. I hope you can hang in there. But things were just getting so bad and so many people got laid off, I just couldn't take it. I honestly did not want to leave either. You'll find something. Almost everyone I know that left found something new. A few stragglers are still without but the majority of people landed better than before. Save as much as you can in case you need it. Cobra is expensive. And they are slow to send out the packets.
I left my GIS core at the end of March and accepted an offer at a competitor for 20% more salary and I am in my late 50s, there is hope out there. And I'm not the person who already posted about finding another job at a competitor - but it's true.
If you only have a few years until retirement make sure you know how leaving will impact your pension, if you have one. It might be worthwhile to stay as long as you can. Don't leave until you do pension projections.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Get your resume ready, update your Linked In profile. Get out there & start networking. Attend some evening job seekers workshops. Get your finances in order & make sure you have a decent emergency fund. Best case, you make some new friends on your way to your full retirement from Xerox. Worst case, your ready to hit the ground running when comes to looking for a new job.
There is nothing wrong with having hope.
Don't let age stop you. I turned 62 in September 2018 and was canned a month later. My full retirement age is 66 years and 4 months. I took the severance and tested the waters with another company. To my delight, they hired me with an 18% increase in salary and benefits to die for. Age is just a state of mind. You need to pull your head out of the sand and - if you have marketable skills - you are valued. Whatever you do - don't badmouth Xerox. When asked about it - I simply said that, "Times became challenging for Xerox and their bottom line and they had to make some changes..." I could see the unspoken approval in the interviewer's eyes.
Because I'm so much happier at this new job, my whole outlook has changed. I probably won't want to retire at all!
Hope is not a viable strategy. Start looking.