Name: Having The Proper Mentality To Minimize Your Chances Of Getting Laid Off
Uploaded: 2023-03-03T20:49:19+00:00
Duration: 5 min 57 s
Description: It's way too easy to start panicking and living in an anxiety-ridden world in this current layoff-rich tech economy

Having The Proper Mentality To Minimize Your Chances Of Getting Laid Off

It's way too easy to start panicking and living in an anxiety-ridden world in this current layoff-rich tech economy. However, this is a very counterproductive mentality to have as a software engineer - This video covers the mindset shift you should make to actually set yourself for success against layoffs.

Here are the core points:
- **Stop freaking out** - It is not healthy to be constantly checking the news for layoffs and having it always take up prime real estate within your mind. *This will ironically make you more likely to get laid off as your performance will suffer.*
- **Your behavior shouldn't change** - The optimal things to do to insulate yourself against layoffs are things you should always be doing anyways. [Building relationships](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/), [optimizing your performance review](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/b0B8uqIAUnBLE10jJHJG/masterclass-how-to-navigate-your-performance-review-in-tech/), and [working on a high-impact team](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/9OwPRwFFSMvEoVj6Zt5Q/how-to-figure-out-if-a-team-is-important-to-a-company/) are all necessary for fast career growth in general.
- **Focus on what you can control** - It sucks, but if you're already working a job that you like, it's simply not possible for you to directly control your destiny when it comes to layoffs. Just do your best as you normally should be and hope for the best. Continue treating those around you with kindness, shipping great projects, and improving your skills.

Related resources:
- ["Staying motivated among lay-offs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/EEMkoCSNPzdRToTHjuSb/staying-motivated-among-lay-offs/)
- ["How to survive potential layoffs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ydZFpJz0x8wKUIfd8E1r/how-to-survive-potential-layoffs/)

It's way too easy to start panicking and living in an anxiety-ridden world in this current layoff-rich tech economy

This collection represents the best of what Taro has to offer, personally curated by Alex and Rahul. If you're short on time, go through the content here.

Layoffs are the temporary suspension or permanent termination of a group of employees for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization.

[Masterclass] How To Survive Tech Industry Layoffs

Layoffs: They will always be a part of the tech industry. 2022 was the first year of massive tech layoffs in the post-covid economy, and 2023 is sure to bear several more. Not even FAANG is safe with Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon all having layoffs in 2022.

There were a ton of important points from this masterclass, so here's our Top 5 (in no particular order):
- **Layoffs are effectively random for almost everyone** - Individual contributors (ICs) and more front-line managers are generally not privy to what happens behind the scenes with cut decisions. You can be a well-connected high-performer in a healthy revenue-generating org and still be laid off. It's crucial to recognize this reality and be at peace with it.
- **Stop freaking out** - Ironically, the worst way to deal with layoffs is to worry constantly and drastically alter your behavior to optimize for them. It's not healthy to go to places like Blind regularly to stay "up-to-date" with layoffs. The best way to deal with layoffs is to continue living your life as normal and double down on responsible software engineer behaviors. For more context on what those behaviors our, read this discussion: ["What are software engineering fundamentals?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3VNPK7wol76s89EkgFeW/what-are-software-engineering-fundamentals/)
- **Be deliberate with your performance review** - So many software engineers, junior ones in particular, assume that if they do good work and don't see any red flags, they'll get a good performance rating. This is very much not the case, especially at high-performance tech companies like FAANG. Maintain a transparent dialog about your performance with your manager and create a concrete growth plan. Here's our masterclass to help with that: [[Masterclass] How To Navigate Your Performance Review In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/b0B8uqIAUnBLE10jJHJG/masterclass-how-to-navigate-your-performance-review-in-tech/)
- **Build a stellar, wide professional network** - It is more important than ever to build meaningful, high-quality relationships in the workplace. Tech is an inherently collaborative space: You need a multitude of connections to help you grow, vouch for you in performance review, and provide warm referrals for your next opportunity if you are laid off. If you want to deepen your network, watch this: [[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)
- **Getting laid off isn't the end of the world** - There's nothing wrong with you if you're cut during a layoff. Don't dwell on how you messed up or what you could have better to avoid the layoff: Focus on your next step. The silver lining is that getting laid off opens the door to your next opportunity and likely comes with some time in the form of a severance package to allow you to seriously think about your future. To optimize your next move, check out: [[Masterclass] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/0WEmTNZOMIh8xAdfO3JH/masterclass-how-to-choose-a-good-company-and-team-as-a-software-engineer/)

Related resources:
- ["How to survive potential layoffs?"](https://link.jointaro.com/zGwioWXPLe8xhuA89)
- ["What are the signs of an impending layoff in an organisation that can help an employee prepare themselves better?"](https://link.jointaro.com/tkUnst8KKBdktPQq5)
- ["Staying motivated among lay-offs?"](https://link.jointaro.com/g9462CQrqy1KGtqR8)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Uyf04xDGTweN0ija_Z3nr9NZ_WsoDikh_54LR5AfZjU/)