Software engineer Shaffan Mustafa's three layoffs in five years—2020, 2024, and again in September 2024—highlight the struggles of tech workers facing repeated job losses. His experience, shared amidst a rising tide of tech layoffs, underscores the emotional toll and challenges of navigating multiple job searches. Finding community and support through the "Laid Off" Substack helped him cope and persevere
Software engineer Shaffan Mustafa's first layoff in 2020 was devastating, leading to a grueling 10-month job search with hundreds of rejected applications. His second layoff, in 2024, while still upsetting, felt less shocking. This experience highlights the emotional toll and practical challenges of multiple layoffs in the tech industry
Software engineer Shaffan Mustafa's third layoff in five years led him to the "Laid Off" Substack. Feeling the sting of job searching, a simple online search for support ("being laid off sucks") connected him to a community sharing similar experiences. The Substack's stories and its dedicated Discord group, filled with job updates, economic discussions, and relatable venting, became his daily lifeline, offering crucial support and reducing the isolation of repeated layoffs
Laid Off: A Substack for the Unemployed. Following her own 2023 layoff from a fintech startup, Melanie Ehrenkranz created this supportive community newsletter to share personal layoff experiences, offering solace and connection to those facing job loss. Find support, job search advice, and camaraderie in this growing online community
Laid Off: A Newsletter Offering Support After Job Loss. After experiencing a layoff herself, Melanie Ehrenkranz created Laid Off, a Substack newsletter sharing personal stories of job loss. Launched in August 2024, it quickly gained traction, reaching 10,000+ subscribers in just a few months. Featuring interviews exploring the emotional and financial impact of layoffs, Laid Off provides a supportive community for those facing unemployment. Find connection, resources, and hope after being laid off
Long-Term Unemployment Soars: The Rise of Layoff Culture in America. With over 1.67 million Americans now facing long-term joblessness—a significant increase from 1.05 million in February 2023—and over half a million tech workers laid off since 2022, a new layoff culture has emerged. From viral TikTok livestreams to ubiquitous LinkedIn posts and even dedicated layoff merchandise, job loss is increasingly public. Explore the evolving landscape of unemployment and the communities supporting those impacted
Facing a layoff? You're not alone. A massive support network has emerged, offering solace and practical advice to those impacted by job cuts. Reddit's r/Layoffs boasts over 120,000 members (top 2%), while LinkedIn hosts 100+ layoff support groups, including dedicated communities for companies like Meta, X, and Amazon. Layoff influencers are also gaining traction, providing valuable insights and fostering a sense of community for thousands. Discover the resources and support available to navigate this challenging experience and find your next opportunity
The stigma of layoffs: While common in the 1990s, job loss carried a heavy emotional toll. Carnegie Mellon University professor Denise Rousseau describes the hidden shame, recalling stories of laid-off fathers spending days aimlessly at the mall, unable to face the reality of unemployment. This unspoken burden highlights the profound personal impact of job loss, a feeling echoed by many today
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically shifted layoff perceptions. With over 20% of the US workforce experiencing job loss in the initial months, layoffs transitioned from individual failures to a consequence of widespread economic instability, a phenomenon unseen since WWII
The rise of LinkedIn's #OpenToWork banner in 2020 signaled a shift in the perception of layoffs. Initially used by those struggling with unemployment during the pandemic, its adoption skyrocketed as widespread job cuts became commonplace. The stigma associated with layoffs has significantly diminished; what was once seen as a personal failure is now increasingly viewed as a common occurrence in today's volatile job market
Navigating Layoffs: From LinkedIn Updates to Thriving Communities. Job loss stories are going viral, transforming the narrative around unemployment. From commercial real estate to tech, individuals like Giovanna Ventola (who built a professional networking platform, Rhize, after multiple layoffs) and Melanie Ehrenkranz (creator of the popular Laid Off Substack) are sharing their experiences, building supportive communities, and challenging the stigma surrounding job cuts. Their platforms offer advice, support, and a sense of camaraderie for those facing unexpected unemployment, proving that layoffs can happen to anyone, in any industry. Discover how these individuals turned adversity into opportunity and connection
Job loss is devastating. Research links layoffs to increased depression, substance abuse, and even suicide. The jarring reality of unemployment, as experienced by software engineer Mustafa, can manifest physically – from teeth grinding to debilitating headaches. Facing multiple layoffs in just a few years, Mustafa's story highlights the emotional and physical toll of job insecurity
Laid Off at 34 Weeks Pregnant: One Woman's Postpartum Anxiety Struggle. Facing unexpected job loss from VMware while heavily pregnant, Christine Reichenbach describes the illogical downward spiral into postpartum anxiety and the frantic job hunt that followed, despite ample savings
Finding Support After Pregnancy Layoffs: A 500-woman strong Discord community, The Labor Club, offers vital emotional and practical resources for women laid off while pregnant or postpartum. This exclusive, referral-only group provides a much-needed support network for navigating this uniquely challenging experience
Tech layoff survivor, Sarah Reichenbach, founded The Phoenix Formula this year to empower job seekers. Facing similar challenges, she also created the Beyond the Layoffs support group on LinkedIn and Slack, offering a safe space for venting, constructive feedback, and job search support—away from prying recruiter eyes
As the stigma around layoffs disappears, the boundaries of professionalism on social media have become increasingly blurred. Ask any recruiter, and they’ll say bad-mouthing a previous employer on social media is tantamount to career cyanide. “It gives me alarm bells,” says Brad Thomas, a business manager at Orange Quarter, a tech recruitment company in New York. “It’s the same as when a candidate interviews somewhere — talking bad in an unprofessional manner about a previous employer is just not a good look.” His advice when it comes to posting on social media is to keep it professional.
In the new culture of layoffs, however, there is an important caveat. “The size of the company makes a difference,” Thomas explains. “If someone has a pop at Meta or Google, it’s less personal and less damaging to the brand versus a startup of 30 people.”
Earlier this year, when Meta let go of some 4,000 workers, branding them as “low performers” on the way out, the departing employees refused to leave quietly, pushing back on the label on LinkedIn. As Business Insider’s Aki Ito wrote, “This is something we haven’t seen before in the professional world: Employees sticking up for themselves in public, and calling out their former employer for misrepresenting their work.”
Both the social media posts and the private communities offer a kind of testimony that shifts blame from the employee back onto the employer. Ehrenkranz has had many people tell her that being interviewed for Laid Off or filling out her surveys is a cathartic experience. “A layoff these days is a 10-minute Zoom call, shut your computer, and then you’re thrown into this new chapter,” she says.
Having a dedicated space to talk about being laid off with those who get it is a relief for Mustafa. “I don’t really feel like I’m being pushy or shoving my layoff experiences down someone’s throat,” he says.
While there is power in numbers, for some, those numbers can be overwhelming. A friend of Mustafa’s left the Discord group shortly after joining. “She was getting emotionally burned out from hearing about layoffs,” he explains. “She’s fortunately a freelance writer, so she’s making some money. She can just tune out that stuff if she wants to. For me, I’m still desperately tuned in.”
Ehrenkranz focuses on making sure the Laid Off community is a toxic-positivity-free zone. “I would say the vibe is just real,” she says. “There’s no ‘Everything happens for a reason’ or ‘You’ll get the next one.’ People don’t want to hear that.”
Rather than just a place to wallow, many of these support groups are designed as both a safety net and a springboard for when members are ready to begin the hunt for their next role. Fana Yohannes, a social media consultant and former Meta employee, founded the group Here2Help to give job seekers a leg up. In the wake of the 2020 layoffs, she posted on Instagram that she was open to reviewing and providing feedback on five people’s résumés. “One person replied and was like, actually, I’d be down to help too,” she says. From there, Yohannes says, Here2Help grew to 200 mentors who helped about 2,000 people find new opportunities during COVID. “We’ve come to an era where layoffs are part of the job,” Yohannes says. “We have to kind of be strategic.”
After four months of sending out applications, Mustafa has a second interview lined up for another tech role. Even if he gets the job, he plans on staying in the Laid Off community for a while — just in case. “I can’t trust these people anymore,” he says about employers.
Eve Upton-Clark is a features writer covering culture and society.
Business Insider’s Discourse stories provide perspectives on the day’s most pressing issues, informed by analysis, reporting, and expertise.
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