It’s been a sobering few weeks at the ‘desk, as it seems everyone on the planet now knows. Seeing close friends being laid off – some of whom I’ve known for more than 20 years – is painful. I’ve so far avoided posting anything publicly – beyond the odd comment on others’ posts – because I’m one of the lucky ones to have kept my job and even posting messages of support has a LinkedIn-esque performative feel to it. That doesn’t mean I’m not here for anyone who needs help, of course, I just feel that posting about it when not directly impacted creates confusion (at least until people read enough of the post to realize you’re safe) when the aim is clearly to show support. Hence the title of this post – it should short-circuit that, at least.
An old friend who left the company in a previous layoff commented to me the other day that “this one feels different”. I’ve been thinking about that a lot… I’ve seen many layoffs, over the years – and have escaped a few…