Is it normal to be disgruntled after a layoff?
I got laid off my IT role for a biggish MSP firm, they just called some people to say they had difficult measures to take, I was one of those people…
So a month and so later, I’m still searching and I just feel bitter and jaded, I’m not getting calls back.
Is it perfectly normal for me to feel this way about companies? I’m still confident I can try to get back into it from this setback but I just feel these firms no matter what industry they are, are utterly void of any camaderie.
Am I going insane?
(TLDR - Bitter Bri’ish guy who’s just asking if being infuriated with this isn’t like a mental disease)
are utterly void of any camaderie
Contrary to what all these companies claim in their internal propaganda, they are not your friends, they are not your family, and you are not even a person to them - you are just a human resource. Your work shouldn’t be your life or your way to “fulfill yourself” or “grow” (whatever the fuck that means). It is a way to obtain money so you can live your actual life. Never feel like you owe anything to a company.
However, the individual friendships you made at the workplace are often real. Stay in touch with people you know, and help each other out.
Yes, I agree.
Yup. At one point, I was loyal to a fault. Always in early, staying late, helping out when no one else would. Turns out none of that is as important as sales, so they taught the salesmen my job, and let me go a month before Christmas.
Haven’t put up with bullshit or given any extra since.
Yes it’s normal. I got laid off some time ago, and even though I was able to find a better job fairly quickly, I feel like I lost my mojo.
I always knew that a job was a relationship of convenience, but I figured being good at my job, relatively cheap, and well liked, would protect me from this sort of action.
It’s demoralising to realise just how shallow the relationship is.
Anyway good luck on your job search.
It is normal but you may want to keep it in check. It can easily spiral down into depression and you won’t notice.
Source: personal experience, 1yr+ unemployed, now seeing a therapist
Completely normal to be bitter. You were doing your job and had your life in order, then your company disrupted all that by laying you off.
But that’s the past and now you need to put on a positive face and work smart and hard to find another job. Don’t let your bitterness cloud your attitude. You’ve got to show the best you to potential employers, not the disgruntled you.
Word of mouth is often a good way to find positions, ask friends and acquaintances if they know of any positions.
Universities need a lot of staff and tend to be more stable than businesses. Also I’ve heard many times that working for temp agencies often leads to permanent jobs when the temp job is over.
Yeah it’s normal. It will pass, this is temporary. Good luck in your search, the right thing is coming for you
I was never gruntled in the first place.
Yes, I would say that is a fairly typical reaction.
Try to get some fresh air, or go out with friends, or whatever, clear your head a little bit from time to time. There’s only so much that can be done at once, and it’s good to try and get a break from dwelling on it too much. Changing your immediate scenery for a short span can aid in this.
Yes.
Yeah, that’s totally normal.
No matter how much you think of a job as just a commercial transaction between you and your employer it’s hard not to have a visceral, emotional reaction to being told ‘we don’t need you’.
I don’t know your financial situation, obviously, but my advice would be to try and take a bit of time out to clear your head of the old job and the layoff before you really get stuck in to finding your next gig. If you can afford to step back for a bit and clear the understandable negativity you’re currently experiencing then you’ll be far better set up for job hunting than if you just try and push through while you’re still in that negative mental space.
This is what I was taught.
You’ve got 24 hours in a day. The time you spend being angry is time you’re not doing something constructive.
If being upset actually helps motivate you, then revel in it.
If it hinders you, realize that being productive is the best way to screw the ones who fired you.
Absolutely. I worked my way out of my existential lay-off crisis by volunteering. It got my mind re-focused on cool stuff, which in turn lead to a much better job.
It really depends. I did not at all when funding ran out from a university position. The lab tried its hardest to get funding and keep the positions. Part of that though is they had rules and regs such that I got termination contracts for some years before the end. They don’t mean termination per se but they basically mean they do not not have funding to do it again next year. My lab eeked out a few more years by managing to get some small grants and projects and such before the end. Also though the university pays poorly so I basically started making better money once I had a job again. Had another one where the guy who owned the place made poor decisions and needed a scape goat to bs to his clients about. ie he could not say he was cheap and directed me to reformat and install laptops under assumptions the former employees backed up properly. Pretty bitter on that one. One was for covid and like the company was literally doing the keep the lights on thing so totally understandable and of course there was gov action to soften things. Most of my other jobs were straight up contracting so it was expected. So I only have one bitter situation and even then its more like. F that guy and I hope he gets whats coming to him.
