About seven years into my career, having just turned 29, I got canned.
This was well over a decade ago, my millennial friends. I didn’t believe it at the time, but looking back, getting canned was a blessing in disguise. Here’s the sordid tale about how I got laid off without warning…
Several factors made getting laid-off “easy” for me. For one, I was single with no kids. The only mouth I had to feed was my own. And man, did I have a typical bachelor diet back in the day.
McDonald’s was still on the menu, mates. Heck, I even owned a few shares of Mickey D’s stocks!
I had a roommate. This was an incredibly helpful situation, since just a year before getting laid off, I had purchased my first house.
And oh yes, making house payments (along with the utilities and insurance) is pricier than the cost of sharing an apartment. A roommate who’s also a paying tenant should be a de facto arrangement for any single, young homeowner, in my humble opinion…
Why I Got Laid Off
Leading up to being laid off, I was a punk. Sure, I had my moments of charm and brilliance, but my EQ was dismal. I had a hard time taking feedback.
I figured I was smarter than everyone else, including my bosses. And that, young readers, is a surefire recipe for getting sh*t-canned at some point.
I remember one instance where I got upset at my boss and colleague for overruling me on something website-design-related, in front of a client. I was so upset I up and walked out of the meeting. That was keeping it real, eh?
On another occasion, I swooped in to save the day to get a key application server up and running. Except, my boss (same guy) wasn’t grateful. Instead, I was admonished for not alerting him of the problem while the sh*t was going down. So I proceeded to have a heated argument with him.
Granted, this guy was not a good manager of people. He was reassigned as an individual contributor a few months before my exit stage left. His EQ was probably about as poor as mine. Regardless of how crummy he was at his job, it gave me no excuse to punk out on him. Twice.
Funny. I think my situation isn’t all that different from when you have a favorite babysitter as a kid that you mind well. Then you get the new sitter. Poor, poor new sitter. The little brat in you comes out because deep down, you liked the first sitter.
Along came September 11, 2001
Life got turned upside down for everyone. Tragedy struck and affected many lives, from that day and for several years afterward. It didn’t take long for the markets to react. Recession and war were on the horizon.
The company was hit hard enough to let go of a significant number of technology types. November rolls around. I remember the day the layoffs were announced.
Very much in denial, but still nervous, I went through the motions of another workday. In hindsight, I should’ve been a bit more perceptive about what was to come.
See, I had spent the previous two months effectively transitioning my job responsibilities to an outside vendor. DUHHH… Well, that sucked. At any rate, I ended up being the only one from our team of ten to get called into my new manager’s office.
He proceeded to lay out the terms: I could stick around for the next six weeks and would get a decent severance that amounted to about three months of pay. I remember sitting there in a state of semi-disbelief, but interestingly not shaken all that much.
My boss on the other hand? This guy starts tearing up! I’m like, “Oh no, just take it easy big fella…”
Unlike some of my peers in their late 20s, I would be going home to a paying roommate, not a family with kids to feed. I put two and two together back then to figure out that sh*t could’ve been a lot worse.
I got laid off without warning but the beach came later…
How to Survive After Being Let Go
After my six weeks were up (and the de facto happy hour where work friends bought me lots of pity beer), I started my new routine. I’d get up out of bed when the bleep I felt like it. Wait, there’s no alarm going off? That was an instant, nice change.
With more time on my hands, I started using my gym membership. That was fun too. Going to the gym in the middle of the day is a wonderful thing. No competing for the machines or weights you need.
I also had time to get to the tanning salon. I must not have realized then how relaxed my life had become. But because I’d already booked a cruise with friends before getting my notice, I couldn’t rightly go to the Caribbean all pale and flabby, now could I?!?
Going on a cruise, right after getting laid off??? Did I mention how fortunate I was to have had a paying roommate? That cruise was fun but could’ve been more fun if I didn’t have a looming jobless situation to come home to.
At least we all went cheap – four dudes to a room. It was a short-sheeting fiesta. And half the time we down at least one person at lights-out…
Within a few weeks of the cruise, and suddenly dumped soon afterward, I took stock of things. Lessee… No job, no girlfriend, hovering around zero $0.00 net worth-about-to-get-whole-lot-worse.
Still, I wasn’t too down about things. I figured I needed to make some changes. That was obvious.
Getting laid off is not a sustainable thing for one’s psyche, much less survival. I know this first-hand growing up in the remnants of GM’s empire back in Michigan.
Nevertheless, I had confidence that things would work out. And I chose to enjoy the next several months of non-working by improving myself.
Looking back now, I can appreciate the preview of an early retirement lifestyle: Freedom to be productive, be lazy, practice my guitar, or go to the gym. I even had time to practice my tennis serve.
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
What a great little platitude that header is. In this case, the layoff was my big fat Greek lemon. The first thing I did: After I applied for the Peace Corps, I got hot on securing a home equity line of credit.
My severance (and unemployment checks) would eventually run out. And my roomie’s rent payments weren’t substantial enough to cover my mortgage. I’m not sure if the bank would have cared, but I made sure to get that HELOC done before my employment ended that November.
I already mentioned my newfound GTL habit (God bless Jersey Shore.) But the biggest pitcher of the pale yellow stuff was my decision to finish my MBA full-time.
Pretty nuts, right? I’m jobless and over my head budget-wise, and I’m about to take on full-time tuition for three full semesters of classes. Ha! HELOC to the rescue!
Even with three classes, which is a light class load, admittedly, I still had time to work with. So, I decided to learn how to cook. See, I wasn’t finding it very easy to date during this stretch.
I remember one first date where soon after I mentioned not being employed, the air just about went out of the balloon. You could hear the squeaky, fart balloon sound, I swear.
Knowing how to cook from scratch, I figured, would be a nice feather in my cap for when I did get a job and my dating prospects improved. And without a doubt, that tennis serve would be a game changer.
Getting laid off ultimately was a blessing in disguise in my case. I needed that jolt. I needed something to help me recognize what was truly important.
I learned that I couldn’t rely on employment-at-will arrangements to be, well, reliable. I learned that people (girlfriends included) can be fickle, and getting hurt is just a fact of life.
When I did find my new gig, just a month before graduating, I approached it with more humility. Granted, I now carried this pervasive fear around my neck, like I believe many folks who have been laid off at some point do.
How Getting Laid Off Compels You to Improve Your EQ
I still had my work cut out for me on the EQ front. Taking feedback was still for some odd reason a hard deal for me. But I got there. Eventually.
Over time I grew more patient and able to tamp down my ego. Mainly, I learned how to listen effectively and mediate disputes. D.C. here I come? vomit
I suppose this whole ordeal is the kernel of my current plan to retire early. Not having to rely on that paycheck will be a nice little burden removed.
That weight around my neck is much less for me these days, but only since starting down a path to early retirement a few years back did it start to truly lighten up.
Please share in the comments if you’ve been through a layoff. Was it ultimately a good thing for you as well, in retrospect?
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I look back at getting “let go” in my 40’s and honestly think about it as the best day of my career. Glad you do as well. Tom
I’m thinking it’ll be the second best day of my career, come July 31, 2019! 🙂
I will find out really soon, will let you know! Lol
Oh dear – Hold on tight!!!
By the way, I think it’s the french in me, but at first I read “Getting Laid: A blessing in disguise?” I wonder how many page views you would get then???
Sorry I had to share ,it was just too funny (to me!)
Ok, this was funny.
I know. I had to tweet about it. Caroline rocks!
I just had to look for your tweet! Glad you appreciated the humor:)
Hahaha! Talk about a Freudian slip! Jesus. Maybe next time I’ll try “strategically” to leave a word missing- see what kind of trouble I can get into that I haven’t already…
I worked for five years for a company that was in loss, and lay offs were pretty common.
Every time there was a new bunch of people being laid off, I hoped, prayed and kept my fingers crossed…I wanted to be laid off. The severance packages were too good to not get it. But no luck!
And I am smarter than everyone, including my bosses! 🙂
Funny you should say that. I’d certainly hope to be in a pool like that, now that I’m so close to the finish. But I’ve continued to impress enough to probably avoid falling below the line. Not one to take a flop, so to speak. 🙂
And really, Busy Mom, are you smarter than Cubert? (I’m wearing my glasses now, so I at least can appear smart.)
Watched everyone around me get laid off twice (different companies) but never been cut myself. In some ways it’s worse to be the person left since you get all the remaining work, know there will be no financial thanks for that extra work, and start to fear future rounds.
I feel that too. It’s happened more than I’d like to recall at my current company. Lots of good people, but often people with very bad EQ. You can only hope they take the experience as a stepping stone, and avoid any serious financial troubles. Layoffs hurt 10X when you have a family.
—Best dang thing that happened to me. Twice. The first time got me thinking about starting my own business. The the second time ( a dozen years are) cinched it. Looking back, 30+ years of running my own consulting engineering firm was great. Much better than another 30+ years of cubicle life.
—The first layoff came two years out of college, with a very pregnant wife. No cruises or other goofing for me. Fortunately, soon found another job, but the experience profoundly affected me. I became Mr. Money Mustache of the 1970s (no blog although my own blog came many years later.)
—I also started planning my escape, whatever it was going to be. Dropped the MSEE studies. Got practical. Took a class on TV repair (not practical today), followed by getting a Master Electrician’s license (more practical.) The goal: be able to put food on the table for a now growing family.
—Stepped in up a bit when a friend and I started moonlighting. Got my PE (Professional Engineer) license, something I had blown off in school. Spent time learning and doing, not wasting time on TV and sports. Even made a career change to sales engineering to hone my business skills.
—The second layoff came twelve years later with a startup. After providing much needed help with sales and marketing, got laid off (OK, fired) after 18 months when the founder’s buddy joined the company. (The buddy did not have the cojones to join at the start. ) It was a learning experience,
—So I hung out my consulting shingle. Bad way to start a business. I lasted three months before climbing back into the corporate womb. Was not FI, and could not generate income fast enough. But now even more determined to have my own consulting business.
—Socked money away, and started creating visibility via writing and teaching. When it became apparent layoff number three might be on the horizon, I made my “JumpToConsulting” (the name of my blog.)
—That was in October 1987, the very day the market crashed. But once again I survived, and was now OI (Occupationally Independent.) Thanks to hard work, frugal living, a very supportive spouse, a great business partner and a bit of luck I reached full FI status a few year later.
—The last 30 years have been a blast. I’ve traveled the world solving problems and teaching classes in my engineering speciality. In 2010 I started a blog (JumpToConsulting.com) to help guide others who might be inclined to pursue this path to independence.
—In 2015, my business partner and good friend of 40 years passed away, and I decided to wind things down. Now semi-retired, I split my time between MN (where there are grandkids) and AZ (where there is no snow.). Finally achieved LI (Location Independence) yielding the hat trick of FI/OI/LI.
—Those are my layoff stories. Last fall, fellow blogger Cubert and I met for coffee in MN. I encouraged him (and encourage all of you) to make your dreams real. Frugal living (Cubert and MisterMoneyMustache offer practical advice) and focused hard work pay off. Best Wishes. Independence Rocks!
Thanks Daryl! I love that you put me in the same parentheses as Mister Money Mustache. That happened later in the day with Josh over at MoneyLifeWax.com. I’ll revel in it, because MMM is the man behind Cubert’s inspiration.
Coffee in May?
About that same time (~2008), I got laid off from my summers-and-school-breaks internship. The company eventually laid off everyone, so it’s not surprising they started with the interns, but it sure was painful to start with. And as a college student, I obviously didn’t have the dire need to have a job, since I lived on campus during the school year. But it taught me for sure to make sure to be irreplaceable at my job (as much as possible), as well as that life situations can change and even the perfect job may not be perfect in the future. Hence the pursuit of FI even with no plans of early retirement at the moment.
Hola, Angela! Great concept you call out there – “Be Irreplaceable” … The irony is that the more effective you truly are at leading, delegating, and developing people, you practically become replaceable, but the good leaders above recognize what you’re doing and hence, voila, you become IR-replaceable.
How about we brainstorm a new name for your blog (or a tag line?) “Tread Lightly, Retire When the sh*t Gets Old” or… “Tread Lightly, Retirement Optional”? 😉
Quite ballsy to take on an MBA with no income coming in. Glad it worked out for you in the end though.
Sometimes, we all need that push to grow. Having the spare time allows you the chance to gain some perspective and recharge. I personally can’t wait till I get a chance for another voluntary laid off – I was given 6 months worth of pay and insurance for cobra from a previous employer during the recession.
Being able to sleep in was sweet!
Ballsy is my middle name. Granted, I have a big optimism gun backing me up. 🙂
Sleeping in is awesome. Except now I have this 5AM habit and it helps me actually get blog posts did.
I was also laid off at 29. My wife was pregnant with our first son at the time. I came out largely unscathed with a new job three months later. Still, it was a huge motivating factor for me to get my finances in order and become FI. I’ll never take “employment” at will for granted again. We cubicle folks are all pawns. I think the impact has been great for me overall. If I was still at that company, I’d have terrible work/life balance and probably fewer greenbacks in the brokerage account. I’m way more focused on my goals today.
Jason! Your story is the one I’d be challenged to tell. Since it’s the REAL PAIN that comes from a layoff. I’m glad you made it through those three months, but it does leave you “marked” a bit, and certainly motivated.
Pawns indeed. Time to bust out of these canvas and sheet metal cages!
Was your MBA from CSOM?
CSOM? Nope – St. Thomas.
Carlson School of Management, only the best business school in MN 🙂
Jerk… 😉
I also was laid off at the age of 23. In the end, things ended up working out for me. But looking back, it could have gone much worse. At the time, I was single, had roommates, and did not have anyone else depending on my income. It did provide me with a life lesson, and now I’m a bit more prepared should I ever become jobless again.
Thanks for sharing!
Glad to share, Random Guy! You, like me, were fortunate in that you only had yourself to worry about. And because of the experience, you’re a better worker now, and also more likely to do what you need to, to acquire that F-You money!!!
This is hilarious! Good, honest spin on job loss. My dad lost his job in his late 50s, and I didn’t think it would work out for him, or be a blessing in disguise.
But it truly was! He found a lower paying job that’s less stress, but he’s super content.
Glad to see things worked out for you as well!
Ha! Glad you thought so, Steph!
Really glad your dad found a job – even if it was lower paying. It’s so difficult for folks in their 50s and older to get hired into anything decent it seems. Another reason I’m trying to be done with this phase of the game.
Thanks for sharing your story! It’s great to look back on our past selves and realize the learning we had left to do. It also makes me realize my story is really just beginning (Just turned 26!) and so much can change.
Thanks, Makayla! See, you can just learn from good ol’ Cubert’s dumbassity! Definitely take heed – follow Angela’s advice and make yourself irreplaceable. At 26, you’ve got the opportunity to shape a lot of those future decades. Make the best of it – but keep reading my blog to help you avoid stepping in the dog piles of life. 🙂
I have a fantasy where I’m laid off and given a fat severance… I don’t know if I want that or not, but it does seem like a great scenario for potentially FIREe’s!
Thanks for sharing AC
That’s a good fantasy, Erik. I had some different ones when I was in my 20s, but nowadays I suppose a lay off and fat severance enter the picture more readily.
We’re overdue for way strong margs my friend!
Awesome, dude. I had no idea you were (are?) a proud member of Rigg’s Pigs. Glad that layoff worked wonders on your EG and helped you develop a healthy distaste for debt. Cheers.
Always a fan of pork, Mr. G. 😉 EG, EQ, it’s all the same! Now to check out that youtube video… (Riggs – reminds me of Lethal Weapon.)
You really should have put up an affiliate link for that Gym/Tanning/Laundry book. You could go to your deathbed knowing you made a little scratch off Jersey Shore…
HA! Nice. I dunno man. I don’t have the energy for Amazon affiliates anymore. Once my traffic reaches double digits, I may reconsider. 😉
I didn’t realize you were from Michigan too!
And I’ve always been too much of a rule follower to get laid off, but I have quit a few jobs to get my act together. Like my most recent job that was challenging my value system! Sometimes a change of scenery and some time off is needed to build the life you want.
Why yes! Go Spartans (except for anyone associated with the criminal activity of late…)
Wow – how did your recent job challenge your value system? That sounds pretty intense…
GTL, hahaha. Oh man I forgot about that. You spin a good yarn sir! Getting laid (off) at any point is not ideal of course but at least you weren’t in too bad of a spot as a youngster. I haven’t been in that situation yet but I know that working from home full-time puts me in a precarious situation should we face another 08/09 economy mess. Good to be prepared though, and I am!
Great post!
We could use a little GTL with this never ending winter!!! Blechhhhh….
Are you able to go into the office or are you a distant telecommuter? Our company definitely has picked on its remote staff through some of our RIFs…
Ah, yes…after seeing 6 or 7 rounds of lay-offs at my employer, I lost count. But I had been sensitive to seeing co-workers let go. So I did a deep dive into the severance policy and retirement plan. Turns out, once you turn 53 you’re fully vested. Another lay-offs was then announced. I was counting my days to 53. I then walked into my manager’s office and asked to be selected. Been smiling ever since. Oh, and I had my wife pull her ripcord 2 years later the same way.
Hey Maverick! That’s a LOT of rounds, my friend. Great job getting ahead of the process with yours and your wife’s exit. I hope to be able to do the same at just the right time. Help someone keep their job, while I get an early exit. Another public service benefit of early retirement!
This happened to me at 4.5 years after college and I would say I can agree to your blessing in disguise comment. It really helped me refocus on what was important and what I wanted to do next. Also, wasn’t bad that I had a month to continue working and getting paid until I got paid severance too. That allowed me time to find my next job so it wasn’t as stressful as others that are sent packing that day.
Hi Eric! My experience to a tee. Although you’re still stressing quite a bit at the time, because it’s still very foreign territory to be in.