When Liz Ryan became an HR exec — “way back when the movie Purple Rain was in theaters,” she tells us, for context — a mass layoff was big news.
“It used to be shocking to hear about a layoff,” she says. “Now, it’s just considered a normal part of doing business — to over-hire and layoff, hire and change strategy, and then do another round of cuts.”
To Ryan, and probably much of the American workforce, this seems hideously callous and unfair. But like it or not, it looks to be our new normal says Ryan, who now runs a consulting business called Human Workplace, and has cultivated a hugely popular presence on LinkedIn, where she dispenses nuggets of wisdom on everything from salary negotiations to side hustles. Last year was particularly brutal — more than 300,000 employees were laid off in the U.S. — and experts predict that the trend will continue well into 2024.
“It’s created this environment where we’re all basically like temps,” she says. “You can’t just sit back and hope that you’ll be at a company until you retire.”
Worried that you might be next to get a pink slip? We asked Ryan about how to bounce back after the devastation of a layoff, what your first move should be after being let go, and how to kick start your job search.
Katie Couric Media: Let’s say you get that dreaded email that your company’s decided to lay you off. What’s the first thing you should do?
Ryan: The very first thing you should do is pour yourself a cup of tea and say out loud or in your head, This is gonna be fine. Yes, it’s awful and painful, but you will get through it — and you shouldn’t blame yourself. Even if the company that lays you off tells people that the reasons were performance-based, that’s nonsense. Companies don’t just have hundreds of people walking around doing their jobs, and then one day decide they’re all poor performers. Don’t believe that.
Next, you immediately file for unemployment. And if your company says you’re not eligible for the benefit because the layoff was performance-based, you apply anyway.
What are the biggest mistakes you see people make after being laid off?
They get laid off on Friday, and by Saturday they’re on LinkedIn and Indeed, throwing resumes and applications to the four winds. Getting laid off is a shock to the system and if you can, I think people should try to give themselves a window of 72 hours or more to recover, veg out, and practice self care. You’re not helping yourself by diving right into applications.
The other thing is that that method of just shooting out applications doesn’t work — you have to begin your job search with a plan and strategize before you go out on the market.
You often hear that landing a job can be a numbers game. You don’t think that’s the case?
No, it’s not a lottery and it’s not about sending out 200 applications. It’s about marketing and doing the work upfront. Before you start applying, you really have to think about the job you want, the salary you want, and how you can make the case that you were born and raised in a petri dish to fit that specific role. That means rewriting your resume to showcase the skills and accomplishments that are relevant to that specific opening. Too many people brand themselves for every job they might be qualified for, instead of branding themselves for the one they really want.
In some cases, you recommend applicants try a “pain letter.” Can you tell me about that approach?
The pain letter is not an email or a LinkedIn message but a physical letter you send directly to the hiring manager. It’s also not a cover letter — though your resume should be attached. The pain letter should be about the challenges the hiring manager could be dealing with or their pain points. Maybe the industry’s growing or consolidating, maybe the sector’s dealing with rising costs. The point is that it showcases you understand the space and it helps you stand out among the hundreds of candidates that apply virtually. That’s half the battle.
Do you have any tips for networking after a layoff?
In this environment where layoffs are happening all the time, you really can’t let your network languish like most people do. You almost have to treat it as not-quite work, but something similar to it, because having a network to tap into is so critical during a job search. You also absolutely want to let your friends, family, and ex-colleagues know you’re looking by connecting with them one-on-one, not as an email blast.
Though layoffs are so common now, some people still feel a stigma attached to being let go, and may have trouble being open about it. What would you say to anyone struggling with that?
The fact that layoffs are so frequent and so ubiquitous can really obscure the fact that they’re truly damaging. People have so much of their identities wrapped up in their jobs, and when you’re laid off, all of a sudden that’s gone. That’s devastating. I understand how people may feel anxious about that or start to question their self-worth, but you have to remember that if you were laid off, you didn’t do anything wrong.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
