I will not lay off, the Layoff advice

First of all, can we just call them layoffs.  

Not redeployments, not resets, not permanent terminations of employment, let's avoid "no longer in alignment with corporate strategy", no right sizing or downsizing. They are layoffs. They happen everywhere. Building a team/company is complex task and layoffs are bound to happen to most of us, eventually.

With that said, it happens to a lot of people and I can relate. It happened to me in 2019 and I was able to shift and find a new position working at the same company. Rebounding into the same company happens infrequently, normally you enter a vulnerable zone and are now looking for new job in a vast new world. I got a lot of support from friends and co-workers when it happened to me, I have included their advice and my own to hopefully help others.

From Office Space:

Bill Lumbergh: Milt, we're gonna need to go ahead and move you downstairs into storage B. We have some new people coming in, and we need all the space we can get. So if you could just go ahead and pack up your stuff and move it down there, that would be terrific, OK?

 I came away with some observations that I think help people through a layoff event.

1. Externalize: Look at the situation from the outside in. Often these layoff actions can happen to you personally, they are often not personal at all. Separating your past work and accomplishments from the business realities that precipitated layoffs is helpful to the ego and boosts your motivation to move forward.
2. Empathize: This layoff hurts you, but consider what it is like to build a hire a team, then be forced to layoff employees. These are tough and required decisions and often very difficult to deliver and managers often bear significant stress when executing workforce reductions. This also benefits you by in getting out of your own head and using different perspective to see the situation in different way.
3. Euthanize: It is time to move forward and don't let you previous role hold you back. This is time to reframe your experience, what you have learned, relationships you have made. You can move forward with fresh start and new perspective bringing forward what you choose to your next work life.
4. Eulogize: It happened and your previous role is now gone. You did to bring your best self to a role is something to be proud of.  It is now gone, remember and document the ups and downs, and accomplishments. You grew, you learned new skills and you take that experience with you to what is next, because you are moving on.
5. Evangelize: Describe what you want and what you can bring and start telling people in your network. You are now a shameless self-promoter of a great employee that can make a difference. Be inquisitive, what are the new initiatives that companies are launching? Ask for help, "we worked together and I could use a good recommendation, could you write one for me? " You evangelize because you have good message that needs to be shared, you can help, you have experience and you are ready.

Storage room B is not for you. Leave a comment about the best advice or recommendation you got after a layoff that helped you successfully transition and move forward.