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1071 points namukang | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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ein0p ◴[] No.43666998[source]
As an ex-Googler I say: blessing in disguise. When working at a $MEGACORP it's easy to think there's barren wasteland out there beyond the walls, so it's scary. But that is very much not so. I get that opportunities to work on browsers are relatively few and far between, but if you can do something else, try working for a smaller company which treats you more like a human being, and less like a replaceable cog.

Not much of a consolation, I'm sure. I've never been laid off, so I can only hypothesize what that'd feel like, but know this: this too shall pass.

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lazide ◴[] No.43671402[source]
It is much easier to handle when departing is voluntary. Layoffs, especially surprise ones, are the opposite.

For someone young with no dependents, it can be scary but doable. For those with kids? Not so much.

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ein0p ◴[] No.43676891[source]
OP spent several years at Google. Kids or no kids, if they managed their finances well, they have a lot of latitude wrt next moves.
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1. omoikane ◴[] No.43684421[source]
The finances are important but possibly not the first thing on their mind. The first thing on their mind is likely how their entire world has just changed around them, beyond their control.

People who left voluntarily can prepare for the lifestyle change, and maybe they can objectively look at this and say it's not all bad. For people who are laid off, it hits really hard in a gut wrenching way. The sense of despair about everything else comes first, the money part of it might not come until all the severance is exhausted.