Life Changed in an Instant. I Was Laid Off.
Wednesday March 16th was my last day at work.
It started like any other work day. I woke up, got dressed, walked to the local coffee shop, walked home, and opened my laptop. I had a few tabs open and I thought about which tickets I’d address today. I fired up vim and got to work, hoping to accomplish a few small tasks before jumping into meetings. “Just another day” I thought.
My manager and I had our 1:1 the previous day and while it was obvious there were problems with the company, we both had a positive outlook. We had on-going projects with other teams and a general plan for the things we wanted to accomplish this quarter. Given the circumstances I was feeling pretty good.
An hour after getting started, I got an instant message from my manager asking if we could chat. We were supposed to have a stand up in 30 minutes, this was out of the ordinary. A chill ran down my spine because I knew the company wasn’t in the best shape. I told myself “nah, that can’t be going on. I would have heard something already”. Upon joining the hangout I saw an unfamiliar face, who I then learned was from HR. Immediately I knew what was going on. The sad and hesitant tone in my manager’s voice confirmed my last remaining doubts.
I had been laid off, along with nearly all of my fellow team members.
I’ve been a software developer for around 9 years and this was the first time I was let go from a job. I had worked at a few other places and had always been the one to leave. This is an odd feeling and one that has yet to run its course.
It has been a few days and I still can’t fully process what happened. My last day came and went before I had even realized. Hopefully I’ll be starting a new job in the next few weeks/months. I’ve got a few leads already but nothing too solid. None of this was expected a week ago, but this is the hand I have been dealt.
Life changed in an instant.
Today I set off into the great unknown. While fear dominates my mind, excitement fills my heart. I will push forward with my head held high and a smile on my face. I shall advance, I shall overcome.
— my sad attempt at creative writing.
Special thanks to Chrismo, Cloves, David, Eric, Flipse, Glenn, Matt, Messay, Nick, Tim, Trevor, and Will for being great teammates. Also thanks to Adam, Tom, Sara, Brian, Dave, and many others for being wonderful coworkers. I’ll miss working with all of you and the time we spent together was a pleasure.
