Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding, OP? Months is the bare minimum these days. It’s brutal. Especially in your 40s or older.

So how are you supposed to support yourself or your family?

they don't care. "should have planned better. don't you know families are expensive?"

a friend got laid off from a tech job in their 50s during covid and has not been able to get a job since. still get interviewed occasionally but they are resigned to downsizing and living on what they managed to save.

Umm, you should always have an emergency fund for unplanned job loss.

Do you think any employer owes you a job for life?

DH, a lawyer in his late 40s was laid off in 2008 while I was a lawyer turned SAHM to our 4 kids, one of which had serious chronic illness. We needed health insurance, at least as much as an income. I was able to get a job across the country and took it. DH did doc reviews and stayed here with our kids. I got a job back here 9 months later and returned. He either did doc reviews or worked part time for years at small firm, unable to get a good, full time job despite excellent experience and top schools. Very stressful for our marriage and at times for our kids. I earned substantially less than he did pre 2008 at the time. I basically gave up hope. About a decade later he landed a great job and has been there now for 6 years, very successful. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t been so stressed bc it enabled one of us to be much more available and physically present while our kids were in high school, which definitely was a good thing.

Also the most annoying thing is when people are like ‘DoorDash! Uber!’

Many people were making mid to six figures when they got laid off. Many do have a nest egg but at some point it will run out so they are looking hard. Doesn’t make doordashing or dog walking a good use of a former lawyer’s time

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding, OP? Months is the bare minimum these days. It’s brutal. Especially in your 40s or older.

So how are you supposed to support yourself or your family?

Live off your savings, downsize drastically, start a dog walking, house cleaning or babysitting business. That’s always been the American way.

I find it truly astonishing that these questions are only now popping up on DCUM. I guess the crowd here (or their parents) completely missed out on the collapse of multiple industries in the 1980-90s. Some time ago I posted here a link to a NYTimes article from 2001 about middle aged people who lost their executive jobs in tech industry and were never able to get back in the saddle.

These questions always pop up in a downturn. And yes many of us grew up with these scenarios, but people the subject of the layoff is emotionally different. Some of these posts/questions are emotional just as much as they are financial.

Dh has been for a year.
He applies and I apply for him (at the same time). He networks and does outreach. We have prob applied to over 1000 jobs right now. He was a journalist and it is dying and the pivot has been brutal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My FIL ended up volunteering for the Small Business Administration and driving older people to their appointments.

Did they reimburse mileage?

I don't believe he received mileage reimbursement since he was a volunteer. Driving older people to appointments was a private transaction for cash.

Look, I get what people are saying but the job market was very tight for many of this before 2025. DH is a fed and we’re not in DC. We’re still in a relatively economically strong area. It has been extremely difficult for mid-career people before this. And early career people are struggling financially. I don’t think people in DC realize this.

I’m not saying any of this should be happening now. But please at least note that it has been very difficult for a decent chunk of people (professionals) for a while.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m at an agency where they’re probably going to lay off 40-60% of us. In talking with others, most people estimate it could take on average 6 months even for highly credentialed and connected people to find another job, and much longer for others. We’re lawyers FWIW and I frankly thought my backup would be a firm but no, many firms are not hiring. The market is VERY bad and may get worse. The economy is being tanked on purpose. Everyone is worried.

I know it's been asked a million times, but tanked on purpose why? What are the theories on why it's being done?

I am going to sound like a conspiracy theorist but the following are all things cited by this administration or by adjacent actors. First, read about Miran and the “Mar a Lago Accord.” It’s one theory as to why the F the administration is taking these actions. It has plausibility but is EXTREMELY risky and will cause a lot of pain here and around the world. The Atlantic & the Financial Times just wrote articles explaining this theory.

For a more extremist viewpoint, read about Big Tech’s interest in Yarvin’s “butterfly revolution.” They think democracy does not work; they want to usher in an age of so-called techno-monarchies. (I am not making this up. And Yarvin was actually invited to the inauguration and is cited by Vance.)

We have different actors with different goals but one thing is common: keeping the stable and strong economy as it was pre-January 2025 is NOT their goal. Disrupting (and unleashing chaos) it is a major aspect of either viewpoint.

Anonymous wrote:I’m at an agency where they’re probably going to lay off 40-60% of us. In talking with others, most people estimate it could take on average 6 months even for highly credentialed and connected people to find another job, and much longer for others. We’re lawyers FWIW and I frankly thought my backup would be a firm but no, many firms are not hiring. The market is VERY bad and may get worse. The economy is being tanked on purpose. Everyone is worried.

I know it's been asked a million times, but tanked on purpose why? What are the theories on why it's being done?

My lawyer DH took a severance offer when he was in his mid 40s. We thought he would easily find another job. It took him over a year and it was one of the most challenging and scary times in our marriage. Although I was working we could not afford to maintain our standard of living, mortgage etc on just my salary long term. In retrospect it was a very naive decision to take severance, although it seemed so generous at the time, without having a clear line of sight on another job. Somehow we got through it but it took a real toll on our marriage at a time that we couldn’t afford therapy. I feel so deeply for everyone searching right now especially people who are mid career. Best of luck to you all.

Several years ago, my Dh was unemployed. I posted on here about it (talking about the stress and worry) some poster said that they would "relish" the time off of work. So tone deaf.
Hard to "relish" time off when you have no idea how long your savings may need to last.

Anonymous wrote:My FIL ended up volunteering for the Small Business Administration and driving older people to their appointments.

Did they reimburse mileage?

My friend has been unemployed a year. I think there’s lots of reasons for that but it’s not like interviews are pouring in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD was laid off from her first real job out of college and is coming up on 15months of searching for a full-time job. She found a PT, but that barely covers her living expenses. The constant rejections were affecting her mental health, so she took a break from searching and is afraid to start again. Her confidence is shot, and she is extremely depressed. Counselors didn't seem to help. I'm not sure how to help her.

She should move home.

PP, yes she will move home this summer. She wants to finish out the school year (her PT is with a school program) and give her roommates time to find a replacement for her. Once I'm no longer helping her with rent, I can get her back into therapy (I couldn't do both and she aged off my health insurance right after the layoff happened). Another poster mentioned school. I thought about it and we discussed it, but she is not in a stable place mentally to focus on school right now. Thanks for the suggestion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD was laid off from her first real job out of college and is coming up on 15months of searching for a full-time job. She found a PT, but that barely covers her living expenses. The constant rejections were affecting her mental health, so she took a break from searching and is afraid to start again. Her confidence is shot, and she is extremely depressed. Counselors didn't seem to help. I'm not sure how to help her.

What field? If it’s a very niche field, can she get a master’s in person and pivot to something better? A master’s give her the opportunity to network and have a college career office help her.

Spending $$ on a random masters sounds like a terrible financial decision unless you really understand the job prospects from it.