The Five Biggest Surprises About Getting Laid Off – By Jeanne Schad

Rejection is difficult no matter what form it takes.  Being told you’re no longer needed by a company can feel like rejection of you personally (the corporate “it’s not you, it’s me).  Add to that the surprise that’s usually associated with being let go and likely you’re going to feel pretty sucky. I did when I was laid off from an agency six years ago.

I’ve since transitioned out of advertising and into owning my own professional coaching firm.  In that role, I work closely with the HR or organization development divisions of companies.  These are the folks who strategically plan the people that are needed, the skills they should have and how much they can be paid – and, often, where cuts can be recommended.  With that perspective, I’ll offer a few insights that might surprise you about your layoff:

1. Talent doesn’t matter. So you put in fifteen-hour days for a pitch.  So you’ve never had a bad review.  So the clients love you.  That’s all good for your integrity but likely not anything that could have saved your job.  Most often, layoffs are made based on a salary level, title or position and everybody meeting those criteria, regardless of their talent or hard work, are cut.  Ad agencies especially run extremely close to the bottom line.  When clients decide they want less from an agency, they pay less, and there’s no magic pot of gold for the agency to tap into to hold people over to the next client.  Even if you have a ton to offer the next client, your company simply can’t keep paying you.
2. Your boss might not have been able to save you. You may have a great relationship with your immediate supervisor who made a great case for you.  Sometimes it doesn’t matter and the decision to cut you was made at a much higher level.  Even if your boss knew and was involved in the decision, he/she was faced with the task of cutting you or risking everybody’s job and possibly the future of the company.  Given the choice between a really bad thing for a few or a worse thing for all, your boss was likely forced to go for the good of the whole.
3. Your alliances at work might not carry over past your employment. This is especially true when you’re friends with survivors – people who didn’t make the last cut but fear they’ll be next.  You might call them for sympathy and find they may not be very willing to kvetch with you.  Recognize that the primal instinct to survive may have kicked in and social niceties may get set aside.  Your former cube pal may have shared your triumphs and frustrations for months but when you’re out, they might be afraid that they’ll be next and put their own safety ahead of your friendship.  Don’t be surprised if they’re not as willing to share your company-bashing.
4. This industry might not fit you anymore. Advertising is a relatively young profession and as we age, our priorities change.  What excited you about the business (trips to LA, nights out to expensive restaurants, late hours on really cool projects) may be the things you hate most now.  With new priorities, it’s fair to re-evaluate whether the industry fits the lifestyle we want.  Think about what possibilities your future held before you were laid off.  If nothing had changed, what would have been in inevitable result?  Now that you’re a free agent, what possibilities open up?  What are other future outcomes that might happen now?  If you’re open to wider possibilities, chances are, you’ll find more attractive options in your preferred futures now.
5. You’re going to be okay. It might be hard to see but it’s important to know you will survive.  More people than not in the great advertising jobs have been laid off.  It’s a cyclical business and soon somebody somewhere is going to need your talents.  Go enjoy yourself in the meantime, do things you might not have tried and expand yourself.  The most important thing now isn’t that you get another job fast; it’s that you find the right job and that may take making a little space and detaching from your current career path to see it.

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Jeanne Schad is owner of Internal Relations Professional Coaching Resource.  This former agency account service suit now works with companies to coach their people to have more fulfilling careers.  You can join Jeanne for a webinar each Wednesday for out of work ad agency professionals on topics like: defining your own success; designing a job search action plan and staying accountable; finding fulfillment and a paycheck.  Jeanne can be reached at jschad@internalrelations.com or (310) 823-8607, @jeanneschad, or http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanneschad.