#career

It really doesn’t matter if you think you’re safe from layoffs or not, because the job market right now is the worst it has been in years. Employers seem to be taking revenge for the Great Resignation, and that means not only is it tough to find a new role, it’s even harder to find one that will pay anywhere close to what you are used to. You honestly have nothing to lose by starting to look now. The worst that can happen is you do not get laid off and end up landing another offer, which is a much better outcome than being suddenly laid off with no prospects lined up, believe me.

3 month package, effective 30 days, US, not for performance reasons. Could you give me some advice?

Hi All-

I’m sorry you are going through this. I worked for Walgreens for a long time and then was laid off when my family was going through unimaginable loss and grief. I promise you there are better opportunities and companies out there. Please take care of yourselves and your families.

Hi All-

I wanted to let you know that there are better opportunities out there. I was laid off and found a much better opportunity afterwards. For those that stay I hope things improve, for those that are considering leaving please know that there are better opportunities out there. Take care of yourselves and your families.

This is literally my first job after graduation, not sure what to expect or do? Will these cuts hit the university program?

Oh, by the way, they offered more. Best of luck in India.

I’m interested in hearing if you could pick any company to move to who would it be?

I was recently asked by my manager & store manager if I would be interested in becoming a Fragrance Associate. The Fragrance manager in my store has always been impressed with my work & customer service they said. Currently, I am a mattress specialist & my manager & the store manager have told me I would get more commission in Fragrances than mattresses. I told them I would think about it & get back to them with an answer within a few days & they understand. I’m thinking about taking them up on their offer. What are your thoughts on moving from mattresses to fragrances & has any one who was a mattress specialist move to fragrances. I’m looking for opinions on this.

Growing up AT&T was the behind company everyone arrived to work for and make the big corporate bucks for life including excellent lifetime pension starting at age 50. GE was the other favorite, immense company excellent funding and salaries for every walk of life. No one could ever imagine those companies would get broken up and career growth and remuneration could be scaled back so much. Now it's ExxonMobil's turn. That seems to be the end game.

Some recruiters and companies will question tenure in a company. The perception for staying too long in ONE company is playing safe. Some recruiters are against job-hoppers no longer since it is NOW the norm. Others prefer to hire people who worked for lesser known companies like Alation, Zoox, Snowflake, Earnin, Robinhood who knows what the recruiters think. Have an open mind and create a list of 20-25 target companies (closed to your home and how far willing to commute) Every week apply via their websites directly.

(1) Hard Work Isn't Enough
Results need to be seen. Advocate for yourself - quite efforts get ignored.

(2) Loyalty Won't Pay The Bills
Companies are loyal to profits, not people. Look out for yourself first.

(3) Your Job Title Is Temporary
Focus on building skills, not clinging to labels. Titles do not define your value.

(4) Your boss isn't always right
Leaders make mistakes too. Challenge respectfully when it matters.

(5) Networking is Non-Negotiable
Your skills are important, but connections will open the doors.

(6) Burnout is not a Badger of Honor
Work smarter, not harder. Protect your energy - it's your greatest resource.

(7) Comfort Zones Ki-l Growth
If you are not uncomfortable, you are not growing.

(8) Feedback is a Gift
Even the harshest feedback can teach you something valuable. Seek it out.

(9) You Are Always Replaceable
Focus on making an impact, not being irreplaceable. IMpact builds a legacy.

(10) Perfection Slows You Down
Aim for progress, not perfection. Done is better than Perfect.

(11) Career Progress Is Not Linear
Side steps, failures, and pivots often lead to the biggest wins.

(12) No One Will Hand You Success
Take ownership. Push for opportunities. No one is going to care more about your career than you.

Author's Footnote - The 12 Truths listed below are not just for engineering but apply to all jobs. In addition, I would add the following advice. Be honest, respectful, humble, and guard your reputation and integrity to establish yourself as someone who can be trusted and has credibility.

I was convinced I'd be long gone by now. This shows you just how bad the job market is. Despite my best efforts, over a year of searching and still nothing.

Some folks still act like this place offers a real career path. The truth is, most of us are just hoping to stay employed another week. Thinking long term here is setting yourself up for disappointment.

I’ve been looking for a new job for a while, and every time I get to the final interview, I get rejected. It’s mentally draining and discouraging. After so many close calls, it’s hard to stay motivated or maintain any sense of confidence. It's starting to feel like they're intentionally wasting my time. Or I'm just getting paranoid on top of everything else.

Every company I look at is either frozen, shrinking, or only taking a handful of new employees.

I’m nearing 50 and I see how fast people my age get pushed out at Xerox. Friends with years of experience are still out there searching. It is crazy to me how companies just toss aside everything you have learned like it never mattered as soon as you hit a certain age.

I left without any sense of guilt, because I knew I needed a job that didn’t consume my evenings and weekends. At first, I worried about letting my team down, but honestly, no one wins when you’re burned out and running on fumes. Moving to a role with a healthier balance has reminded me how much better life feels when work isn’t draining every ounce of energy you have.

I did an internship this past summer and was extended an offer in PD (engineer). I found this site researching Ford's stability. Is this site representative of your experiences? Looking for advice.

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/the-end-of-the-fourth-carrier-experiment

Never give these 3 'sudden deaths' answers at a job interview, says CEO—'you've instantly disqualified yourself'. #3 is very interesting, see the link below:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/never-give-these-3-sudden-death-answers-at-a-job-interview-says-ceo-you-ve-instantly-disqualified-yourself/ar-AA1LkiJf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=W069&cvid=4eb443a3de0a425ca7049dbd8be1e6f0&ei=61

I got comfortable during the good years, then just kept adapting as the crises piled up. Now I realize I’m completely fed up. And of course, it hits me at the worst possible time, when the options out there are practically nonexistent. I have no one to blame but myself for waiting this long, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. It feels like I’ve wasted years hanging on, and now I’m stuck in a place that does me no good whatsoever, and will most likely only get worse. I’m just ranting here, but I suspect the vast majority of us feel the same.

Nope. It’s only made me feel more desperate. I’ve poured so much time and effort into the search, and I’m getting nothing back. Just crickets. What’s going on? I actually have a strong resume with specialized skills that are supposedly in demand, yet I haven’t been contacted once. If this is the reality, then we’re all totally sc--wed.

I was listening to the Dave Ramsey show and one of the callers said her job was making brackets. Made me think of the infamous quote.

Hi - I'm looking for new opportunities and may consider Cigna. Very few companies seem like great places to work. But it seems like employee dissatisfaction is comparatively low.

Any thoughts on taking a job here?

I stopped putting in extra effort a while ago. I just do my work and unplug, no more doing anything late. Whatever happens next, I’m ready to move on. The way things are going, it feels like we’re all just waiting our turn.

They told me my role is no longer needed, with my last day in mid October. Two of us are affected, I do not think this is systemic or a part of a larger plan - it's just that they are tweaking things how the group (~20 folks) works - two of us are affected.

Yet, surprisingly, I feel relief more than shock... The signs were there... mornings felt heavy, mgrs went quiet, and even teammates I thought had my back started to drift away - it felt bad... The energy was 100% off I knew the call was coming.

It stings. At the same time I’d rather be out than stuck in a job that drained me. Theres a strange peace in knowing it’s official.

Anyone else ever feel like the final cut is easier than the slow buildup?

im gonna go in tomorrow. I’ve got people counting on me, and there’s no room for self-pity right now, i'll finish this chapter with dignity and will do a good job... Time to chase the next chapter, onward & upward.

The IT jobs most vulnerable to layoffs in 2025

AI is driving tech layoffs, but so far it looks like an adjustment leaning up to an increase in demand for new skill sets.

https://www.spiceworks.com/it-careers/the-it-jobs-most-vulnerable-to-layoffs-in-2025/

Spiceworks

Aug/26/2025 02:24 PM
Location: United States (general IT industry)

Been looking for a change and there is nothing out there. I have many friends that put in applications all day long and get nothing. Anyone having any luck with petro-tech jobs? It is not only this industry as well, buy seems to be across the board.

Mid 40 s in age now and looking at next roles. Nothing of interest left. We no longer work on anything cutting edge. Expat roles no longer properly compensated. I can’t believe how far the company has fallen. There is nothing interesting left for roles. Time to leave #EXXODUS

Longer you stay rustier you become.
And they treat you bad and may let go any day.
Even if you make it to MR75 no benefits and even harder to get out.
Cash out your meager pension on the way out. Better use it to get debt free.
Explore options to buy your own insurance.
Live below your means, get debt free , update your skills, invest in indexed funds and get outta here.

Anthem expanded rapidly and with each acquisition decided who to keep or dump, but instead of keeping those with true subject matter knowledge or leadership skills they selected based on favoritism, self-promotion and the ability to take credit for the work of others. The current state is an extremely top-heavy royal court of tone deaf “leaders” who in my opinion, add little to no value. Because they are in over their heads, I believe they relied on overpaid consultants who sold them on a dysfunctional and elitist business agile model.

Senior leaders were to identify their subject matter experts and make them a grade 15, with stock options after 3 years, higher bonuses and unlimited PTO. But instead of choosing the most worthy, they chose their glam squad, the people who make their PowerPoints and make them look good.

Now that they believe they’ve secured their “brain trust” phase 2 appears to be a business strategy where they replace current experienced employees with a) cheaper on shore hires, b) offshore employees, or c) will completely eliminate positions and replace with AI. If you are still working long hours and weekends trying to bail this sinking ship, just stop. There is no place for you in the lifeboats and there never was.

If you are a grade 15 category and one of the, I’d estimate 40%, who are carrying the other 60%, who use their unlimited PTO all the time, I would put in to take the month of September or October off and see if your peers step up; spoiler alert- they can’t so they won’t. You should plan to leave the minute you get vested.

Agile philosophy means you learn and expand your role; it doesn’t mean you take on the workload of three people. Collaboration in Agile is organized, it isn’t just random in office time to check a box. Return to Office mandates will result in others leaving, when collaboration has the people who work witness first-hand the lack of knowledge and work output among others who are paid much more and do far less.

Elevance has now created an organizational caste system. It used to be if you worked hard, you succeeded, the company succeeded, and everyone reaped the benefit; even if some were better compensated than others. Under this new methodology, there is a largely unworthy noble class that does very little, other than attending meetings where they assign out work to the small minority of grade 15’s who work and to grade 14’s and below. It takes no skill to say something is broken, it is fixing it that requires knowledge and effort. As shown last year, when bonus time comes around the pie is sliced so that those who do less are rewarded more.

With recent layoffs the royal court is scrambling to find peasants to pick up the slack; don’t fall for it. Let the favorite children who still get decent raises and bonuses finally do real work and fix things; if they can. Do enough to keep your job and your sanity until you can find something better. Set an alarm and work an 8 hour day, but when the alarm goes off if you think about working one minute more, remember that there is a VP that is taking 6 paid weeks to climb Everest and will return and still have more PTO, while you are neglecting your friends and family. Don’t overexert during upcoming peak and before you ever consider working a weekend realize that Elevance must be well staffed since they’ve yet to revoke unlimited PTO.

This is the logical conclusion of Elevance policies. Almost every working employee could likely qualify for an anxiety diagnosis. The lack of transparency in layoffs, where employees are disappeared overnight like you’re living in a communist regime, leads to a fear response. In the short term, you might get a burst of productivity, when workers try to do more to avoid getting on the RIF list. But when the RIFs keep coming, and there is no transparency or apparent logic to the RIF’s, the avoidance phase sets in. The weekend or PTO provides short term relief, but you come back to the same stress and if work piles up during PTO it is even worse. Politely turn down the extra work and cite health reasons; it is not a misrepresentation, maybe they can create a new diagnosis code for Elevance induced anxiety- Elevancia.

Calculate the hours you work verses your pay to arrive at your true salary. Calculate the cost of a commute that you may not have agreed to when you were hired. Calculate the impact of stress. Give the minimum you can but don’t buy into the fact that you owe more to fix problems that other’s incompetence and egos created. Notice that some of the fixers are leaving, so believe if or not, it may get worse.

Don’t sacrifice your physical or mental health for an organization that views you as completely disposable. If you set boundaries and get RIF’ed, it potentially was only a matter of time anyway. RIF’s no longer appear to be an unfortunate business necessity, but rather an Elevance business strategy. If the stock drops enough maybe the board will finally step in and replace the current inept leadership team and their royal court.
#IChooseMe
#Elevancia
#PeasantsUnite

It’s wild how quickly someone’s career can be flattened. I know people with decades of experience and leadership history who are suddenly starting over at entry level. Seeing it happen makes you realize no resume or past success guarantees anything. And I'm nowhere near their level, so if I'm laid off, I'm truly sc--wed.

I’m starting to lean toward the former.

That’s the only thing you can truly count on working here. So I’ve stopped getting invested. There’s no real career path, no long-term payoff, and definitely no sense of job security. I treat my role like a temp position now. I show up, get my required tasks done, and that’s it. No extra effort, no engagement beyond what’s necessary. When my number’s up I’ll be ready to walk away without regrets. It’s just how you have to approach this place if you want to stay sane.

Hey all, I’m a geo looking for my second role and thinking about whether it’s worth applying to Permian Resources if something comes up. I’ve seen a lot of harsh feedback - poor culture, little support, high turnover, and I’m honestly hesitant. Jobs are scarce though, so I’m wondering is it really that bad, or are there any redeeming qualities? Would appreciate any honest insights.

no matter it was 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, or lifelong.
leave now.

Morale is so low that most people just do enough to get by. I used to care a lot, but now I wouldn’t even mind if they let me go. I’ve started applying elsewhere because this place doesn’t make you feel valued anymore.

here is my mini rant... they expect you to do “plus one” work and a bunch of unchargable stuff, and you've got to play along if you want to be rated as good. basically do extra work for free, on top of your actual project, otherwise your performance looks weak. it’s a scam imho...

staffing is a constant headache and the process is not clear at all andd you never know who makes the decisions, and every time you’re scrambling just to land somewhere. feels like you’re rolling dice more than planning a career.

and forget about keeping your tech skills. most people get pushed into business analyst or pm type roles whether they want to or not. you stop coding, you stop building, you end up in meetings taking notes. your skills just rot away.

ok, soooo -- no promotions, no raises. fine... 2+ yrs of nothing for a lot of people. they just say wait, be patient... but nothing changes. what’s the point of working harder if the outcome is the same??

nobody will be surprised when I say that everyone i know is pulling overtime, weekends, late nights. they say it’s temporary but it’s always like that. that's just acn, that's what they say. and that's the game they've been playing for decades. it just becomes normal. at this point you start asking yourself, why am i even here???

Title: She quit her six figure big tech dream job after burnout from AI and layoff fears, and found more happiness in uncertainty
Company/Org: Atlassian
News Source: The Economic Times
Location: Unknown, US
Summary: A former Atlassian product marketing manager left Big Tech amid burnout and job insecurity tied to AI reshaping roles, describing a deliberate pivot to flexibility and lower stress.
URL:https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/she-quit-her-six-figure-big-tech-dream-job-after-burnout-from-ai-and-layoff-fears-and-found-more-happiness-in-uncertainty/articleshow/123412371.cms

Keep your resume polished and LinkedIn updated because opportunities can appear out of nowhere. Start building a solid emergency fund, ideally six months to a year of living expenses, so you aren’t scrambling if things go south. Try to avoid major purchases and trim unnecessary spending now, even small savings add up. And if the worst happens, use any severance wisely, take a breather, and give yourself time to regroup. Staying organized and calm can make a stressful situation much more manageable.