A colleague of mine got a Slack message on a Tuesday morning. By noon, his badge didn't work. Seventeen years in tech, senior engineer at a company you'd recognize, and it was over in 45 minutes including the HR call.
That was 2024. And honestly, 2025 heading into 2026 hasn't been much gentler. According to Layoffs.fyi, the tech industry cut over 152,000 jobs in 2024, and Q1 2025 was already tracking above that pace by March. This isn't a blip. This is the new normal, and if you work in tech, you need a plan whether you think you need one or not.
I'm not writing this as someone who's watched from the sidelines. I've been through a layoff, helped friends prep for them, and spent way too long figuring out what actually helps versus what just sounds helpful. Here's what I know.
The Financial Stuff — Before and After
Build the buffer before you need it
The standard advice is "three to six months of expenses in savings." Fine. But in tech, where hiring cycles are long and specialized roles can take three to five months to fill, I'd push that to at least six, ideally nine. Especially if you're in a senior or niche role — staff engineer, ML infrastructure, security architecture. Those searches just take longer.
Where to keep it? Not your regular checking account where it'll disappear. A high-yield savings account like Marcus by Goldman Sachs (currently around 4.5–4.7% APY depending on when you're reading this), Ally, or SoFi. That's real money on $30K sitting there. Don't overthink it, just move it.
What to do in the first 72 hours after a layoff
This is where people panic and make bad calls. Here's what actually matters in the first three days.
- File for unemployment immediately. Don't wait. In the US, most states have a one-to-two week waiting period before benefits start. The sooner you file, the sooner that clock starts. If you're in the UK, look into Universal Credit. Canada has EI — file within four weeks or you lose eligibility.
- Read your severance agreement carefully before signing. You usually have 21 days to review it (45 if you're over 40 in the US, under the ADEA). Don't let HR pressure you. If the package includes equity acceleration or extended COBRA, that matters.
- Sort out health insurance fast. In the US, COBRA is expensive — often $600–$900/month for an individual — but it's there. Also check healthcare.gov marketplaces. If your income drops significantly, you might qualify for subsidized plans or even Medicaid.
- Don't touch your 401(k) or retirement savings. I know it's tempting. The 10% penalty plus ordinary income tax makes it a terrible deal. Exhaust other options first.
Cutting costs without cutting your soul
Go through your subscriptions. I did this myself when money got tight and found $340/month in stuff I'd forgotten about — SaaS tools from old side projects, streaming services, a Duolingo subscription I definitely wasn't using. Use an app like Rocket Money or just pull your last three bank statements and go line by line.
Pause, don't cancel, where you can. Some services will let you pause for a month or two. Cancel the ones you genuinely won't miss.
The Job Search — What's Actually Working in 2025–2026
The job boards aren't enough
Look, LinkedIn is still useful. So is Indeed, Dice (especially for US tech roles), and Wellfound for startups. But if you're only applying through job boards, you're competing with hundreds of other people for every single posting, many of which are either already filled internally or were never real to begin with.
The numbers bear this out. According to LinkedIn's own data from 2024, roughly 70–80% of jobs are filled through networking before or alongside a public posting. That's not some motivational speaker stat — that's why cold applications have such a brutal response rate right now.
How to network without feeling gross about it
The word "networking" makes people cringe. I get it. But what it actually means in practice is: reach out to people you've worked with before and tell them what you're looking for. That's it.
A simple LinkedIn message to a former colleague: "Hey, I was recently laid off from [Company] and I'm exploring senior backend roles, ideally in fintech or SaaS. Thought I'd reach out since you're in the space — no pressure at all, but if you hear of anything or can think of someone worth talking to, I'd really appreciate it."
Most people want to help. They just need to know what you need.
"The candidates who got through to us fastest were almost always warm referrals. Not because we're lazy — because the signal is better. A referral from a current employee tells us something a resume can't." — Engineering hiring manager at a Series B SaaS company (shared with me in a conversation, anonymized)
Upskilling — what's worth it and what's not
If there's a gap in your resume that's costing you interviews, fill it. But be strategic. Not every certification pays off equally.
Right now, the ones I see making a real difference in hiring conversations:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03): Still the most recognized cloud cert globally. Doable in 6–8 weeks of focused prep. Exam is $150 USD.
- Google Professional Cloud Architect: More weight in Google Cloud shops and enterprise. Harder exam, higher signal.
- CISSP: If you're in or moving toward security. Requires 5 years of experience, so not a shortcut, but it's respected globally.
- TensorFlow Developer Certificate or AWS Machine Learning Specialty: Useful if you're trying to move toward AI/ML adjacent roles.
I'd skip anything that doesn't have real employer recognition. Some bootcamp certificates look impressive on landing pages and mean nothing to a recruiter.
Remote and international opportunities
This is underused, especially for people outside the US or people in the US willing to work across time zones. Companies like GitLab, Automattic, Basecamp, Doist, and Toggl have been remote-first for years. Platforms like Remote.co, We Work Remotely, and Himalayas.app list specifically remote roles filtered by region.
If you're in a country where local tech salaries are low — India, Nigeria, Brazil, Eastern Europe — a remote role with a US or EU company paying in USD or EUR can be a significant income shift. It's genuinely one of the most underrated strategies in 2025–2026 for mid-to-senior engineers anywhere in the world.
The portfolio matters more than the resume
A resume tells someone what you did. A GitHub profile, a deployed project, a technical blog post — those show what you can do. Especially for engineers who've been at the same company for a while, external proof of skills matters.
I'm not saying build a 10-project portfolio from scratch. Pick one good project that solves a real problem, make it clean, document it well. That's often enough to give a recruiter or hiring manager something concrete to talk about.
The Mental Health Side — The Part People Skip
Getting laid off messes with your head more than you expect
Even when you know it's not personal, it feels personal. Your identity, your routine, your social circle — in tech especially, a lot of that is tied to your job. Losing it all at once is disorienting in a way that's hard to explain until it happens to you.
The first week I was laid off, I kept waking up at 6:30 AM out of habit, laptop open by 7, and then just… nothing. No standups. No Slack. It felt surreal. I didn't feel sad exactly, more like I was floating. That's actually a pretty common reaction.
Treat the job search like a job — but with limits
Structure helps. Set working hours for your job search. Mine was 9 AM to 1 PM, applications and outreach. Afternoons were for learning, projects, or breaks. That boundary kept it from bleeding into every waking hour.
But don't grind 12 hours a day applying to 50 jobs. It doesn't work, and it burns you out fast. Quality over volume. Five targeted, personalized applications a day beats 30 copy-paste sprays every single time.
The rejection spiral is real
You're going to get ghosted. You're going to get to final rounds and not get the offer. It's going to sting every time. That's normal.
What helps: keep a log of every application, every interview, every outcome. Not to torture yourself, but because it turns rejection from something that happens to you into data you're collecting. It creates a bit of emotional distance. Weirdly, it works.
Also — talk to people going through the same thing. There are active communities on LinkedIn, Reddit (r/cscareerquestions, r/layoffs), and Discord servers specifically for tech workers in job searches. You're not the only one. Being around other people in the same situation normalizes it without making it feel like a catastrophe.
Therapy isn't a last resort
If your company offered an EAP (Employee Assistance Program), check whether you still have access post-layoff. Some programs give you 30–90 days of continued access. That often includes free therapy sessions.
Platforms like BetterHelp (around $65–$100/week in the US, with financial aid available) or Open Path Collective (which offers sessions for $30–$80 for those with financial need) make therapy accessible without insurance. If you're outside the US, options like Oliva, Spill, or SupportRoom serve UK and European users.
I know the instinct when money is tight is to cut everything non-essential. But this is the wrong thing to cut. A job search that runs four months instead of seven because your head is in a better place is worth more than the cost of a few sessions.
Physical stuff matters too
Get outside. Move your body. I know that sounds like a wellness newsletter cliché, but the correlation between regular exercise and resilience during unemployment is documented — the American Psychological Association has covered this repeatedly. It doesn't need to be the gym. A 40-minute walk while listening to a podcast counts. Just don't spend the entire day inside staring at job boards.
The Longer Game
Here's the thing nobody wants to say: layoffs are going to keep happening in tech. AI is changing what teams look like. Companies are leaner than they were in the 2020–2022 hiring surge. The people who make it through this period in decent shape aren't necessarily the best engineers — they're the ones who built financial cushions, stayed visible in their networks, and didn't disappear into a shame spiral when things got hard.
If you've been laid off, you're not broken. The market is weird. It'll shift again. But you don't want to be scrambling from zero when it does — you want to be ready.
Start the prep before you need it. That's genuinely the best advice I can give.