Post layoff advice?

[rugorak]

So earlier this week I was informed I was being laid off. Officially 2 weeks from when I was notified.

My job has been remote. I've been there about 2 1/2 years. The layoffs were a wide swath of a few people from all over the company. A year ago I was reorged and I think that is ultimately what did me in as the group I was in for the past year never seemed to know what to do with me. When I started there my job was great. My old team was pissed that I was moved out when the reorg happening and kept asking when I would be back. There are no openings on the team. They basically got a lot of positions taken away during the reorg and there was a layoff last year impacting their team as well. My first review was fantastic, my last review was a generic meets expectations but nothing bad at all.

I have been working towards FIRE but am not there yet. On the plus side it means we can weather this storm of job/income loss for a lot longer than most would. But I do need to find something.

So the question I am debating is if I should apply for any openings within the company or not. My gut is saying they are showing you the door, so don't go crawling back to them. But I wanted an outside view. Would I be better served just leaving and finding someplace that would appreciate me more? Or is there some benefit of trying to stay?

Any thoughts/advice are welcome. Ultimately I'll have to make my own decision but I am looking for thoughts from people just thinking of it as a hypothetical rather than people who know me and might have emotions clouding their advice.

Thanks!

[Fru-Gal]

Follow your gut

[Zamboni]

My questions would be:
1) How difficult is it to apply internally for openings?
2) How many of those internal openings are a good fit for your skills and interests?

Think of it this way: they are continuing to pay you for another week of work and you can job search on their dime. If it is easy to apply for internal positions, think of that as your official job for the next week and just decline whatever else you are asked to do (or at least do other tasks last, after you apply for internal positions). What 'er they gonna do, fire you?

I would be inclined to at least look and see if anything listed is currently is a good fit for me. Of course, you should also begin looking for positions at other companies. Unfortunately a LOT of people are going to get laid off this summer and fall . . . get ahead of that by applying early and often if you can.

[rugorak]

1. It really isn't any different than externally applying. Sometimes they just only list positions internally.
2. So far nothing seems a great fit. My qualifications fit a few but the jobs themselves aren't very interesting and don't seem like they would last too long if someone did them correctly.

On the plus side although I am still technically employed, there is zero expectation of me doing anything. I just still have access to email, teams and the intranet to search if I want. The only "work" I have done is to offer a few coworkers the opportunity to pick my brain a little bit as their workload is going to triple.

So far I am working on getting everything I need. Figuring out health insurance for me and the family, getting my resume in order, etc. I am going to try and get some recommendations for LinkedIn and some people I can use as references as well. This way once I really start applying for things I can just focus on that and have far fewer distractions/worries. I am also waiting for a lawyer to review the severance agreement. I have prepaid legal so document review is already paid for. I think the agreement is nothing unexpected, but I figure I should get it reviewed before I sign.

Other places look to have much better opportunities that fit better. But I don't want to apply haphazardly when I do have the luxury of having enough money that this isn't an emergency to find a job ASAP. And I've always found if I take a little bit more time before applying I end up doing much better.

[Zamboni]

Personally I would just apply for all internal jobs that seem like they are any kind of fit with my qualifications with the plan that I am an going to do a full scale external job search even if I do land one of the internal positions.

There is a saying that it's much easier to get a job while employed than while unemployed. If you take a transfer to an internal role that seems boring or pointless, you are really just doing that to keep the same employer name on the most recent line of your work history while you look for the job you really want.

[Freedomin5]

If I was being laid off, I would look for an external job, especially because you say that none of the internal roles seem to be good fit to your skillset, and the internal roles you qualify for are roles that may be on next round's chopping block.

My thinking is this...if I'm a stellar employee that the company loves, they would have found another role for me. I.e., like the first time they got rid of your job and transferred you to a role on a different team.

If they're giving me a pink slip, it means that:

1) They don't love me enough to keep me. I don't bring them enough value to be worth keeping.
2) The company may be on shaky ground financially and who knows whether the next internal job I get will be cut in a year or two.

Plus, if I apply for external positions, I may be able to negotiate a higher salary.

[Lady Stash]

Apply for any internal role that seems like a decent fit.   Why?

1. This may be your fastest, easier path to a new role.  You have a good work track record.  They may prefer to hire internally.  If they don't want to hire internally, it may take very little time to figure that out.
2. You've been happy at this company
3. It's easier to find a job when you have a job.

Worst outcome is you won't get an internal role, which is where you are if you don't apply.

If you find you don't like the internal role, you can always start an external job search.  Sounds like it might be prudent to look externally anyway, if they've had multiple rounds of job cuts.  But I'd still take an internal role if possible in the meantime.

[Paul der Krake]

The left hand often has no idea what the right hand is doing. There is no cost to apply internally. Just do it.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Personally I would just apply for all internal jobs that seem like they are any kind of fit with my qualifications with the plan that I am an going to do a full scale external job search even if I do land one of the internal positions.

There is a saying that it's much easier to get a job while employed than while unemployed. If you take a transfer to an internal role that seems boring or pointless, you are really just doing that to keep the same employer name on the most recent line of your work history while you look for the job you really want.

DH & I were both laid off from our employer (same large company) & it's how we approached things. He received an offer, but it didn't work out by the deadline, but there was really minimal options in my job function. It's the approach I'd recommend, although ours was heavily swayed that by staying at our company, we had a lot of stock options that we would lose if we left.

[AuspiciousEight]

The left hand often has no idea what the right hand is doing. There is no cost to apply internally. Just do it.

+1

A lot of companies are so large the departments and various other companies that are under the same parent company may never talk to each other.

There is very little cost to apply for a job, and potentially high rewards. Even if it isn't what you want exactly you can spend the time applying to other jobs while working.

[rothwem]

OP, I’d caution you to read your paperwork from the layoff. At my current company, the last few rounds of layoffs have required that you not work for the company again if you want to get the severance package. I have no idea why that’s in there, maybe to keep people from receiving multiple severances? Anyways, there was a couple people from a department they shuttered here at my workplace that found internal positions, but only one of them was able to take advantage of them because he had dawdled in getting the severance paperwork signed.

[rugorak]

I ended up not applying for anything as the few things that sort of were a fit were taken down within a day or 2. On top of that the company has had a ton of bad press come out lately. Even though my unit was not in it, the parent company was and honestly I kind of feel like I might be one of the lucky ones. I at least was shown the door earlier. Nothing yet for me work wise but taking the time to brush up my resume, LinkedIn, and spend some time with the family. I'm good for a while and hopefully taking the time to get all my stuff in good order will mean when a good opportunity arises I can easily get through the stupid HR gauntlet so that I can actually get a real interview. Once I get there I usually do pretty well.