
Ask HN: Laid off today for the first time, anything to be wary of? Advice? - layoffthrowaway
Hello HN, posting under a throwaway since I&#x27;ve been around for quite a while.<p>Long story short, I got laid off this morning for the first time ever (without cause). The reason for the termination was cited as an internal re-org. Truth be told I was planning on quitting at 3pm during my bi-weekly one-on-one with the CTO, so I&#x27;m taking it in stride&#x2F;happy.<p>I&#x27;ve worked here just under a year. The company is paying me 4 weeks salary as severance, with medical benefits ending 1 week after pay ends. This is contigent upon my signing a release which essentially ensures I maintain confidentiality and prevents me about the company publicly, due one week today.<p>Just posting to ask if there&#x27;s anything I should be wary of, and if there&#x27;s any advice from people who&#x27;ve been through a similar situation, thanks!
======
greenspot
1\. You must _reframe_ the situation as quick as possible. Don't think, 'shit,
why me, what happened, am I not good enough?' Such thoughts bring you a
vicious cycle. You must treat this situation as the best thing ever happened,
you _must_ be happy about it. And I promise you, heck I bet $10,000 that
you'll tell us in one year that this lay-off was the best thing ever happened
and led you to x, y and z. So, basically it's not reframing or lying to
yourself—no, what happened was really the BEST what could have happened (so, I
just did the reframing for you). Change is always good and rarely gets
triggered by oneself.

2\. Reach out to as many people as possible, preferably people outside the
company. Most people from the company won't help you and even if they did,
they just remind you of the company again, what happened and this brings you
again to a bad state and you need to start at zero and reframe again. Just let
them go, all of them, really. So, look for prior peers, old friends. Further,
write applications or just plain emails to many CEOs and tell them that you
are out. You don't have to write that you look for a job. Just get into
conversations with as many people as possible. It's more about staying
connected and keeping a social context (after you lost the one of the company)
than finding the next job.

3\. Work on a pet project with a technology you always wanted to work with,
get into flow and put it online. This will be the most fun and will give you
tons of self-confidence in a very short time.

You should spend 30% of your day on 2 and 70% on 3 and 0% on thinking about
the past.

Sounds good?

~~~
alistairSH
* Work on a pet project with a technology you always wanted to work with, get into flow and put it online. This will be the most fun and will give you tons of self-confidence in a very short time.*

In addition to the personal mental benefits, as a hiring manager, I would look
favorably on this. It shows initiative. It shows that you aren't wasting your
time between jobs. Should your unemployment extend to a few months or more, if
you can show you were doing something useful, that's a huge plus.

~~~
jkchu
This is great advice. I'd like to add emphasis to the importance of creating
something that is tangible and complete. The extra effort it takes to actually
host and launch a web application or to release an app to the app store will
go a long way to greatly improve the weight and impact of your project to your
next potential employer.

~~~
alistairSH
While that's certainly true, I wouldn't be put off if you just had the app
side-loaded or webpage/DB hosted locally.

Having anything functional will put you ahead of the majority of candidates I
see (DC area, enterprise software, so def. not the same market as SV/NorCal or
start-ups in general).

------
snarfy
Since you were laid off and didn't quit or were fired, you should head down to
the unemployment office so you can start collecting. You don't know how long
it will be before you find a new job, and the bills will keep coming in. You
may have savings, but there is no need to blow through it when you've been
paying into the safety net.

~~~
falcolas
I agree with this recommendation. It's easy to do, has simple ongoing
requirements (that you are applying for jobs), and while it's not going to be
a lot of money, it's fairly dependable money. Set up an alarm to submit your
weekly reports, and that's it.

~~~
JBlue42
Honestly, this would be the first thing I would do, though, since you've been
there less than a year, I'm not sure if you would get the 'max' or not. In CA,
that's about $450/wk.

I would recommend checking the box to take the taxes out when submitting your
forms. Or however they have it set up online now.

I second the other suggestions about letting it be known that you're available
for hire. I assume that you might have already been putting out feelers since
you were planning on quitting anyway.

------
jzwinck
If you are not hard up for money you should immediately look for a nice trip
somewhere. Be flexible with location instead of time to get a good price. Take
three weeks off. Nice places this time of year might be Cuba, Thailand, Costa
Rica, Florida, or Big Sky.

Polish your resume on the plane.

~~~
revo13
I agree with this one. You are never so free as you are between jobs (for
whatever reason). Even if you can't afford to take a far away trip, go see
family for a week, drive somewhere new, or just goof off all week for a week.

...but yea, also file for unemployment immediately. Your former employer paid
for that safety net.

~~~
bogomipz
I really agree with this as well. Jumping right into another job at another
company can have its draw backs. If you can afford to, take a trip and change
your perspective and reflect about what you want next for yourself.

When a potential employer inquires as to a gap in time on your CV just say you
went and did some traveling and "recharged your batteries." It is completely
respectable and envious thing. Also you will be glad when you are sitting at
your desk at your next job working late that you went out and saw some of the
world. Likewise you will also be glad when you are sitting on a beach in
Southern Thailand somewhere :)

------
tyingq
>if there's anything I should be wary of

Don't cave to the temptation of making an ass of yourself. You never know when
you might run into someone in a future job.

They'll likely make you sign some papers for the 1 month severance. Pay
attention. Sometimes there are unsavory clauses, like non-competes, non-
disclosure, etc. It would be helpful to know where you are located. If you're
in California, for example, you can sign a non-compete without reservation, as
they are largely unenforceable.

>any advice from people

Was it a really large layoff? Sometimes, there's opportunity there. Often,
some of the key people already smell blood in the water, and are thinking of
either jumping ship to a competitor, or even starting up their own competitor.
If you know any of the key folks that might b e planning this sort of thing,
invite them out to lunch a week or two after the layoff and probe around a
bit...you might find a place to land.

~~~
layoffthrowaway
Forgot to mention and it doesn't seem like I can edit my post anymore, but I'm
located in Vancouver, B.C (Canada). The release includes the following
sections:

* no admissions

* further claims (agree to not make claims against the Releasees)

* indemnity for taxes

* no denigration or defamation

* non-disclosure

* confidentiality

I don't believe it was a large layoff, in fact, I'm not sure if anyone else
got hit. The reason was cited as an internal re-org, where the group of
developers I belong to went under a different person within the company. I
suspect it may have to do with the fact my options vest in about 2~3 weeks.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
> I suspect it may have to do with the fact my options vest in about 2~3
> weeks.

OK, _that 's_ a whole different kettle of fish. You may want to talk to a
lawyer before signing, because if you sign, you most likely sign away your
right to sue for the options. (On the other hand, you may not have any case
for suing for the options anyway. And your expectation value of what you would
get from the options, times the probability of winning them, may be lower than
the cost of talking to a lawyer for an hour...)

~~~
thegreatco
I agree, a lawyer is a good idea. I've had this happen to me. Not pleasant.

~~~
partisan
How did that turn out for you?

------
byoung2
I had a similar situation back in 2009. I gave my resignation to my boss on a
Friday and he said I should hold off until Monday. Monday came around and they
laid off most the the dev staff. Instead of having to work for 2 more weeks I
got 6 weeks severance and got to leave that day. I already had a job lined up
to start 2 weeks later so I booked a week in Cancun in the interim.

They make you sign a paper that says you resigned, so you can't claim
unemployment, but the severance sounds better than unemployment since you were
leaving anyway. Negotiate that severance, too...they offered me 4 weeks at
first but I asked for 2 more and got it.

~~~
NonEUCitizen
I have not heard of layoffs making you sign paperwork that you resigned. More
common is they ask you to sign paperwork that you won't sue them, and give you
more severance payment if you sign it. You can still claim unemployment as you
were laid off. But check your paperwork.

~~~
LordKano
Not only have I never heard of this, it doesn't make any sense to me.

Unless you will be starting a new job in two weeks, why would you forgo 26
weeks of 50% of your income in exchange for 4-6 weeks of 100%. The math just
doesn't work.

~~~
scarface74
Unemployment maxes out in most states between $350-$450 a week.

------
vesak
Do something with your free time. Shut down Netflix, HBO, Reddit, Hacker News
and all such distractions. It doesn't have to be profitable or even remotedly
useful, just as long it's something that you know that you should be doing.

Examples: create things (write, program, compose); exercise; meditate; start
learning something.

Sleep 8 hours every day. Or whatever is your optimum. But no more and no less.

[https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-
Battles/dp/1...](https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-
Battles/dp/1936891026) \-- this book might resonate especially well now.

------
youdontknowtho
Your friends will want to take you drinking. Be careful.

Be sure to get lots of exercise and sunlight. I'm serious you have be very
careful about slipping into depression.

~~~
layoffthrowaway
Thank you, I am aware. I personally do not touch alcohol, and have gone
through periods of quite severe depression. Luckily this lay off was quite
ideal personally (despite being slightly unexpected), so I don't believe I'll
sink back into depression (in fact, some things at the place were starting to
make me depressed), but I'll be mindful.

~~~
youdontknowtho
That's the main thing. It's hard to underestimate how psychologically hard
periods of unemployment can be. Take care of your self. If you ever want to
talk fee free to hit me up on here.

------
scarface74
In 2011, I was "laid off" from my job along with almost everyone else when the
scraps of my company was acquired. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that this
day was coming, management was completely open with us about the dire
situation of the company and most of us stuck around until the bitter end
hoping that our options might be worth something (they weren't) or that we
would get a severance.

From looking at people's LinkedIn profile, everyone from developers, to
managers, to the L1, and L2 tech support staff had better jobs within a month.
Once recruiters got a whiff of the company being in trouble, they started
contacting people. Don't ignore recruiters. I have 15 recruiting contacts from
different companies in my contact list.

I put "laid off" in quotes above because immediately after I was laid off, I
did contracting work for one of my company's clients (based on a written
agreement they had with the acquiring company). After that contract was over,
I spent a day contacting every recruiting company I knew. Three days later, I
had a phone screen with a Fortune 10 company, one day after that I had an in
person interview. By that evening I had an offer letter. At the time, I was a
an experienced developer but a middling .Net developer trying to get into full
stack development.

Moral of the story, aggressively reach out to people, recruiters aren't evil,
study up on interview prep, and don't be afraid to take chances on going after
jobs that you might feel that you are not 100% qualified for. I've conducted
about a dozen interviews over the past four years. I don't care if you meet
all of the bullet points. I care if you are "smart and gets stuff done." And
if you are an aggressive learner.

------
lucozade
As your being made redundant, there's nothing untoward about their reason.

1 month for each year served is fairly normal so again, nothing untoward.

Signing a release is also fairly standard. Under these circumstances I would
always recommend showing the release to an employment lawyer. For me, peace of
mind is worth a couple of hundred dollars but YMMV.

Also, in the UK at least, there are tax breaks on some of the redundancy
package so it's worth looking into.

Otherwise, what you do next depends a lot on what your financial situation is.
I was made redundant a number of years ago and it worked out great. I was
married and had a child at the time but we had enough money for me not to work
for a few months. I had a bit of a break, in hindsight I was quite burned out,
then got a job at a startup, refreshed and raring to go.

Obviously, it's not always a positive experience but it's not always negative
either.

Good luck. Hope things work out.

~~~
edejong
You are not obliged to sign anything. So, it's always disadvantageous to sign
these documents. Don't do it.

~~~
blauditore
Depending on OP's country, the employer may not be obligated to pay any
severance at all, and this document may be part of the agreement.

------
Kushan
Looking for a job is a full time job in itself. Start looking immediately, get
up early as if you were going to work and keep looking until it's time to "go
home".

The release you've signed is pretty normal, nothing to really worry about
(Unless they've done anything illegal, in which case you're not obliged to
adhere to the release but I don't think that's the case).

Just get back on the horse. This happens to the best of us.

~~~
dingaling
> Just get back on the horse.

But if you have some funds to tide you over I wouldn't recommend jumping onto
the first horse you find. Go for some fun pony rides first.

Most people have a list of "minor aspirations" that are constantly deferred
due to the pressures of work. Now's a good time to achieve those. Much better
than going on vacation, which I believe is a bad idea after a lay-off as your
mind constantly replays what has just happened and you come back to the real
World having achieved nothing but self-criticism.

They don't have to be World-changing aspirations, just something to achieve on
your own schedule. For example I kept reminding myself to schedule time to
take photos of some derelict local buildings as I passed them every morning en
route to work, but I never found the time and eventually they were demolished
and rebuilt as anonymous apartment blocks. I wish I'd taken one morning off
work to photograph them.

~~~
greenspot
> going on vacation, which I believe is a bad idea after a lay-off as your
> mind constantly replays what has just happened

so true

------
arethuza
If you are in the UK you may qualify for legal advice where you get a lawyer
and your employer has to pay for it.

A couple of years back I resigned from a job in the UK and although I was on
good terms with the people I worked with the HR department (inevitably) did
their best to try and screw me and having a good lawyer on my side made the
process fairly painless as they actually did the negotiation with my former
employer and I got 3 months salary and various other benefits.

~~~
jblok
How did they try to screw you? If you resign you withdraw most of your
termination rights surely, as you are the one terminating yourself.

~~~
cmdrfred
I'm in the US but I've had employer's hold on to final paychecks out of spite
and refuse to payout vacation time. My state department of labor took care of
it after a few months.

~~~
chiph
Regarding accrued vacation time - when a firm offers "unlimited" vacation,
that means they no longer have that on their books as a liability (since the
employees aren't building up a balance). So you don't get it paid to you when
you leave. If your firm converts to unlimited vacation and you have a balance
at the time, talk to them about being paid for it. Either lump-sum right then,
or offer to let them pay it to you over time. You earned it, you deserve to
either take the time or get the money.

~~~
erichurkman
Also note that being paid out for earned PTO is as state-specific thing. A
fair number of states do not require this.

------
LordKano
First thing's first. Sign up for unemployment benefits.

I was laid off last April and my employer gave me a severance package in
exchange for a similar confidentiality agreement.

It took me several months but I was able to secure a new job with better
benefits but with a lower salary.

Update your profile on LinkedIn. Update your résumé.

Talk to lots of recruiters. If you have friends in the industry, ask them if
their companies are hiring.

Just keep pounding away at it and you'll find the right spot.

~~~
alistairSH
Unemployment benefits - YES YES YES! Too many people view this as "welfare".
It's not, at least not in the negative sense. You have been paying taxes into
this system your entire career, for just this eventuality - in a sense, it's
your money.

~~~
LordKano
If you've been working and paying taxes for years when times were good, taking
a little back in a time of need is not at all shameful.

I am not sure if it works the same way in every state but in mine, we pay for
Supplemental Unemployment Insurance (SUI) with every paycheck. You'd file a
claim if you had a car accident, so why not file a claim when you lose your
job through no fault of your own?

------
yoctonaut
A lot of good advice here. Whenever I was laid off, I tried to send out a
minimum of ten new contact emails a day. (Longest layoff, two months. Shortest
was 14 days.)

Make sure that you sign up for unemployment compensation immediately--sign up
before you need it. If you're in the US, there's (often?) a waiting-week
period you won't be compensated for; if you sign up immediately, you can get
that out of the way first thing. Good luck!

~~~
ghaff
It probably varies by state. You probably also won't get unemployment until
after the severance pay and/or paid-off leave period ends but you should
absolutely start the process.

------
tbendixson
Hey hey. I was in the same boat last year. Loved the company but there just
weren't enough contracts coming through the door to keep me fully employed.

One thing that really helps to keep me sane during tough times is to catalog
every teeny tiny expense I've made over the past year. When you know exactly
where your money is going, it will help alleviate lots of stress.

Before I did this, I felt a vague sense of panic. After I did it, I realized
that I had already earned two times more than what I typically spend in a
year. It gave me a sense of calm, knowing that I had plenty of "runway" before
having to dip into my investments.

If you have any egregious expenses (I know I did), now is the time to
systematically eliminate them. You might be money poor, but you are time rich
now. If you treat your life like a business, now is the time to make some big
cuts to ensure your longterm survival.

Just last month, I cut my phone bill in half, figured out how to cut food
expenses by a few thousand a year, and reversed a bunch of b.s. charges for
services I no longer use.

Make this your new job & you will thrive.

~~~
tbendixson
Shoot. I forgot one thing.

If you haven't done your taxes already, do them. It will give you a better
picture of where you stand & what you can expect in terms of a refund (if you
get one).

Admittedly this advice probably applies more to the self-employed folks as we
have to pay quarterly estimated taxes. The worst thing that can happen is to
lose a client and then discover that you owe the government a few grand in
April.

But if you are getting a refund, it should make you feel more calm about your
situation.

------
southphillyman
That sucks. Luckily in this environment you have a good chance of actually
making "extra money" due to the layoff (severance + new job pay overlap) I
echo the suggestion to take some time off and travel if your state's
unemployment situation allows it (some states now require you to physically
check in to receive unemployment benefits)

------
JanneVee
My advice is don't burn any bridges on your way out.

------
stevenmays
I got laid off a year ago. I got severance + unemployment, making more cash
then I did at work. Within a month I found a new job making 40% more. This
could be a blessing. Treat it as such, and enjoy the paid search for better
employment.

------
edw519
_Truth be told I was planning on quitting at 3pm during my bi-weekly one-on-
one with the CTO, so I 'm taking it in stride/happy._

Happy? You should be _ecstatic_. You just won the lottery!

What you would have received if you had quit at 3pm: nothing.

What you will receive because they beat you to it: 4 weeks pay, 5 weeks
benefits, 26 weeks (potentially) unemployment. I dunno, something like $10,000
to $20,000.

Count you lucky stars and enjoy your lottery winnings. I wish I could figure
out how to do that.

------
codemogul
1\. Incorporate - Create a name and make yourself a company. In the US, do
your state incorporation papers (most are on-line) and get a TIN/EIN from the
IRS, and open and fund a bank account in the company name. This allows you to
do consulting work or even be called back by your former employer as a
contractor, and it puts you in the right frame of mind for maintaining
accounting and expenses while you are off work. 2\. Meet people - Get out for
networking events in your industry and visit a BNI chapter. Look for
professional associations and groups in your area. Make networking your new
job, even if you don't think you are good at it. Time to practice! The way to
find better job opportunities is to be actively exploring the market. Sitting
behind a screen mining the job boards is not a motivating exercise and does
not make you visible. 3\. Keep your schedule - There are work hours, and non-
work hours, and don't let your typical work patterns fall out of sync. It's
better for your brain and your emotional state. 4\. Cut your expenses - Your
revenues just went to 0, so time to get rid of subscriptions and habits that
are costing you money. Cook at home and stop eating out, and make those rare
times that you do eat out or grab a coffee be as an expense for your business.
5\. Get fit - Join a gym, buy some running shoes, get out and restore your
body. Fitness sharpens the mind, and a fit and trim individual finds work
faster. Sad but true. 6\. Keep a journal - Dump your thoughts. Capture your
ideas. Get that stuff out of your head and make it real. You will find great
catharsis in doing so, and some day you will re-read it from a very different
perspective.

Welcome to the next chapter of your life, cheers!

------
joss82
I would recommend this article which is exactly about the situation you're in:

[http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/laid-off-
one-t...](http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2008/05/laid-off-one-thing-
you-absolutely-need.html)

It was written by a fellow HNer a few years ago, but still relevant today,
IMHO.

Edit: shortened overlong sentence.

------
ajeet_dhaliwal
Did the internal re-org involve only you getting terminated? If not it sounds
like it's a time to celebrate. You were going to resign later the same day and
now you get the same result along with a month of pay. Re-orgs happen and some
good staff are let go (Sony even called the staff they let go yesterday 'high
caliber' [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-01-12-guerrila-
ca...](http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-01-12-guerrila-cambridge-to-
close)).

That said, I like the question, I have never been laid off or terminated, I've
resigned from all 4 jobs I've had (employed at the 5th) and so I'm reading
other answers to see if there are real issues to be aware of should it happen
to me.

------
lr4444lr
Sounds a little more than coincidental that were you planning on quitting
anyway. Can you explain further?

~~~
layoffthrowaway
Well, a while back I was asked to help out with an emergency project on
another team with a major client for a major contract. An arcane system that
no one (not even I) knew how to work, that was incredibly frustrating and old.

Essentially they wanted a major new system built off of a very old, limiting,
and opaque tool. I won't go into the details of the tools for confidentiality
reasons. Anyways, this meant I had a huge task to do, no one to go to for
help, and many top levels within both ours and the client company overseeing
and getting stressed over it.

This project was originally scheduled for 2 months, but due to scope creep and
a lack of push-back from the PM in charge of this project, they begged for me
to continue to help another month, after which they asked me to continue till
the end of November after which I would be on my 5 week vacation.

Anyways, the reason I was quitting was partially because of all the
frustration, stagnation (no learning opportunity) of working on that system,
and because of the main person I have to work with (our product team is ~9
people but this "side" of it is only 3, and 1 is a junior with less
experience/know-how).

During my whole time there, this person I had to work with only trained me on
the existing system only when he felt like it, but only ever scratching the
surface. Any further questions about this unfamiliar domain (very niche
service for extremely niche work) that I was unfamiliar with and unable to
learn from anywhere else was met with "I'm busy.", occasionally followed by
expletives and heavy sighing. Often times this person would also get
incredibly passive aggressive. Long story short, it was very stressful working
with this person and the general environment at the company is very heads-
down, hard working, so virtually no other social interaction was ever had (or
very rare).

------
foxylad
Don't take it personally. Any energy you use being bitter and making yourself
a victim is worse than wasted - it makes things worse.

It's great that you were thinking of leaving anyway. Rejoice that you get the
benefits for slightly longer than you would anyway, and move on.

------
oldmancoyote
I'm seventy. It has happened to me three or four times. My own experience and
the experience of those I know has been: I always find a substantially better
job. It was good for me. I know it HURTS. Boy do I know it hurts! But it will
be good for you.

Buck up!

------
z5h
Send an email to your peers explaining that although you might not agree with
reasons, you understand management needs to do what they think makes sense.
And that you enjoyed your time together, wish them success, etc.

------
rajacombinator
File for unemployment, use the safety cushion to work on your own startup!
When I was laid off years ago I believe you could get 99 weeks which is
totally absurd!

------
icedchai
Since you were planning on leaving anyway, what's the concern? Enjoy your
severance, relax, and sign up for that government money (unemployment.)

------
anonu
Don't disparage your former employer - regardless of how the breakup went. I
feel that in retrospect these things are for the better. You didn't want to be
there anyway - they just made their move first.

~~~
layoffthrowaway
Yea, I definitely have no intentions of doing so. Overall my PM and CTO were
pretty great people, the general team overall also. I've been through much
worse plights in my career, I'd say it's more a win-win for this particular
situation.

------
mrmondo
Clear your mind of feelings of self doubt, clarify with yourself what you
learnt from your role and the work you did. Find value in this and use it to
move forward.

------
codingdave
You have 4 paid weeks not to think about what to do next, but to think about
where you want to be in the future, and plan your first steps for getting
there.

------
nolite
Don't get down on yourself. It happens to the best of us (and probably more
often to the best of us because we cost more)

------
mxuribe
I feel for you. I just recently went through a similar situation. I had never
before been laid off. A re-org took place in my business unit, and a few
people in my department were laid off including me; the company stated very
clearly it was due to re-org and __NOT __for performance reasons. Further, it
happened immediately before the holidays.

I was very lucky in that another division in the same company was having a
different re-org. and a few jobs opened up, so I applied for, and got another
job. Same company, different business unit. Less than ideal, but I count
myself lucky. (Although jobs are posted out there, its extremely rare that
companies hire or conduct interviews during the holidays!) But the feeling of
having been laid off was quite devastating; again especially since I had never
gone through something like that.

I think the advice that others have been offering seems pretty good. While my
lay off period was extremely short, I myself woke up every morning - as if at
any other regular job - and kept searching/applying for jobs. I think that
"routine" helped me deal with the whole thing at least emotionally. I also
like some advice throughout the comments here about working on a side project.
That could help in several ways:

* Keep your mind off the challenges (physical, social, emotional, etc.) associated with finding new employment.

* Maybe it could turn into a little revenue on the side to supplement unemployment, etc.

* Possibly, it could turn into an opportunity to go into business for yourself. Even if it doesn't make you a millionaire, or is short-lived, its still work. Maybe it might pay bills, and you can feel good about putting it on your resume/linkedIn, etc. (In the state of NJ, you are allowed to collect unemployment and __still __have a part-time side business [1]...But there are caveats and of course I 'll disclaimer that I am not a lawyer. So you'll want to seek out professional legal advice if you're considering this.)

* Even if the side project results in no new business, you will have picked up some new skills, or perhaps improved any existing skills. And, if it involves other people - like a meetup - maybe you can get some future business/opportunity contacts - i.e. networking!

The only other advice I can give you: stay positive, and keep yourself busy so
as to avoid getting into a negative groove. Good luck!!!

[1] See "Part-Time Corporate Officer/Owner" section on
[http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/ui/aftrfile/corporate.html](http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/ui/aftrfile/corporate.html)

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xchip
It also depends on what the labor law in your country says. Are you in the US?

~~~
layoffthrowaway
I'm in Vancouver, B.C (Canada)

~~~
lancewiggs
Almost all the advice here is aimed at US employees. Does Canada have, and it
should, stronger laws about your rights under termination? If you are the only
person affected you may have basically been fired under their law and they are
using redundancy as a way to get around the law. I don't know but a local
employment lawyer or consultant does. I strongly advice speaking to someone in
the game before your next meeting. You may be in a stand down period where
that is what you are meant to do. Do this properly and you should get your
options and perhaps more cash. You are getting ripped off if they don't give
you the options or compensation for losing them.

Saying on a public forum that you wanted to leave anyway was probably unwise
btw as it makes it harder to negotiate a decent severance.

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kapauldo
You may want to buy some time by contracting with a staffing agency. You'll
earn a nice premium in salary and can take your time contemplating your next
chapter.

