LAID OFF! Maybe Making a Professional Identity of That Isn't Smart

In this era of extreme cost-efficiency, the odds are that 1) If you are a knowledge worker you will be laid off and 2) You will be tempted to ease the pain and perhaps get the edge in landing another job through becoming what's called a "Layoff Influencer." The latter ranges from Cloudflare whistleblower Brittany Pietsch to Zoe Pritchard who initially made $5k from being "the layoff girl."

Bloomberg covers this trend, citing the pros and cons. 

Obviously, losing a job because of the employers' financial situation or changed strategic direction is shaking off its stigma. That's progress. When I had been laid off from a Fortune 50 in 1987 I experienced shame. That shadowed me for about three years even though I had launched a successful executive communications boutique. 

Things have changed a lot since Corporate America shifted from being paternalistic to being lean and mean in the final decades of the 20th century.

For a while now LinkedIn, the network for professionals, has been posting long-form heartfelt good-byes from the terminated. Those gush about the great experience of that former employment and present their suitability for other jobs. The network also has instituted a badge "Open to Work." Visual platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, along with podcasts, have become popular for starting up an influencer layoff identity that can be monitized. 

What's maybe not so good is that such a stance - call it celebrating surviving being given the boot and now being without work - can 1) Distract from the job search and 2) Send a negative signal to employers. Even the LinkedIn "Open to Work" badge has become controversial, with some contending it tarnishes the personal brand. After all, think about this: You want to redo your kitchen. Do you hire the home-improvement specialist in most demand, or the one who hasn't had contracts for months and months?

In addition, the layoff identity should be brief, if it is adopted. Pritchard put it this way: "But I can't be the girl who got laid off forever." 

Because it is temporary, is it worth risking the negatives to adopt it? More effective in landing the next job could be quietly networking one-on-one with those who can make referrals. In essence, the search for any kind of work has become primarily about smart networking. In building my intuitive coaching/tarot-reading practices in the southeast I got lucky through networking, that is, establishing relationships with the major players in the area. They allow me to leverage their names in my seeking out contract work. 

Another caution in taking on a layoff persona is the risk involved in supposedly shaming the former employer. Well known is that Pietsch did that with her illegal/unethical videotaping of the termination process at Cloudflare. In the resulting heavy media coverage Cloudflare looked bad, for a while. But right now Cloudflare is humming along nicely. Pietsch isn't. 

Amid the whistleblowing hoopla Pietsch did land another marketing job at EQ.app. But after a short time she was laid off from that. Currently on her LinkedIn profile she outs herself as again jobless and "desperate." She had labeled herself the "voice" of her generation which was struggling to navigate the new kind of work world. However, that role hasn't brought enough of a ROI to keep the wolf from the door. 

Meanwhile, the big fat elephant in the room on this one is this: Pietsch's field - marketing, like content-creation, film production, tech, junior lawyering, management consulting, public relations, graphic design and finance - is glutted. As the saying goes for professionals in those sectors: "You are a dime a dozen." Before she went public about Cloudflare's termination process she might have factored in how difficult it was and still is to obtain well-paid employment in that particular niche. About three years ago I shifted out of content-creation as my core competence. 

So, here we are. Although it might "feel" good to become tribal in sharing the experience of a layoff and relish a sense of belonging, that can be counterproductive. One danger of those in-person outplacement centers is that aura of fellowship. The jobless could become too comfortable in that particular sense of self. Showing up there mutates into the new routine. 

Of course, employers who still maintain a no-layoff policy can leverage that commitment to the workforce for recruiting and holding onto talent. Among them is law firm Paul, Weiss. That dates back at least to the brutal global financial downturn of 2008 when current chair Brad Karp accepted the leadership role. Its branding has been sustained as a talent powerhouse. 

In contrast, at that time, another law firm - Latham - had cut loose about 400 in a single day. The brand took a hit. However, as frequently happens, the Latham brand recovered. Those contemplating taking on a layoff identity by denigrating their former employer have to get it that if that organization provides prestige and pays well there will be no shortage of applicants. That tactic also could blow up their own marketability. If you badmouth one employer, the odds are you will do that to the next. 

In coaching I warn the unemployed to keep their eye on the ball: get another job, any job, because nothing gets you (a good) job like having a job. After 9/11, when my industry collapsed and with it my boutique I grabbed onto a security guard position at an inner city big box. I regained my confidence and within eight months I was putting together the next in digital communications. Within 12 a prominent public relations agency had hired me. Within 24 I created another boutique.

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)