RestartCrewRestartCrew Team
We built this forum for exactly this situation, so we wanted to put a practical starting point in one place. This is a general plan, not legal or financial advice — the details vary a lot by country. Take what is useful, skip what is not, and add your own experience in the replies so this thread gets better over time.
DAYS 1–3: STABILIZE
1. Do not sign anything on the spot. Severance agreements can almost always wait a few days. Read them calmly, and if serious money is involved, have a professional look before you sign.
2. Get everything in writing: the termination letter, the stated reason, final pay, unused vacation, and what happens to benefits and equipment.
3. Ask about references and outplacement support. Many companies offer outplacement help — few people actually use it.
4. File for unemployment benefits as early as your country allows. Waiting costs real money and the process is slower than you think.
5. Tell the people close to you. Layoffs feed on shame, and shame feeds on silence. Saying it out loud once makes every later conversation easier.
WEEK 1: GET YOUR BEARINGS
List your essential monthly expenses and work out your runway in months. Pause subscriptions you do not need. Check what happens to your health coverage and act on it — this one has deadlines in many countries. Resist big decisions (moving, cashing out retirement savings, expensive courses). Keep one small daily routine: get up at the same time, walk, one useful task.
WEEK 2: YOUR STORY AND YOUR MATERIALS
Write the two-sentence version of what happened. Something like: "My role was eliminated when the company automated most of the function. I have used the time since to focus on X." Practice it until it is boring to say. Then update your CV and profile — achievements, not task lists.
Then face the three-path question honestly:
1. Same role, different company (fastest — automation is uneven, other companies still hire your role)
2. Adjacent role that reuses most of your skills (most common successful path)
3. Real pivot that requires retraining (slowest and most expensive — only choose this deliberately)
Most people overestimate how much retraining they need. Start with paths 1 and 2 unless you have both the runway and a concrete target for 3.
WEEK 3: BUILD A SIMPLE PIPELINE
Track every application somewhere — a spreadsheet is fine. Ten tailored applications beat a hundred identical ones. Reach out to former colleagues and managers; a large share of roles are filled through people, not portals, and the message can be as simple as "I was affected by the restructuring at X and I am looking — if you hear of anything in Y, I would appreciate a heads-up." Practice your layoff answer out loud, not just in your head.
WEEK 4: MOMENTUM AND HONESTY
Review what got responses and do more of that. If you are considering retraining, pick a concrete target role first and plan backwards from it. Keep the routine. And take the emotional side seriously: grief and anger after a layoff are normal, and if it tips into panic or depression, talk to a professional — that is a strength move, not a weakness.
WHAT WE WOULD AVOID
Paying for expensive courses in week one. Venting publicly about your former employer. Hiding the layoff or dressing it up as something it was not. Going through it alone.
If you are in the middle of this right now: start a thread. That is what this place is for.