The last conversation
You will not absorb much of that meeting, so ask for everything in writing. You need your official last day, the date of your final paycheck, whether unused vacation is paid out, the date your health coverage ends, and what the company will say when a future employer calls. Rules on final pay and vacation payout vary by state. If you are handed a severance agreement, do not sign it in the room. It almost always includes a release of legal claims, you are entitled to time to read it, and an hour with an employment lawyer costs a few hundred dollars.
The first week
- You file an unemployment claim with your state agency.
- You settle health coverage. COBRA lets you keep the employer's plan at full cost plus a small fee, you have sixty days to elect it, and the election is retroactive, while losing coverage also opens a sixty-day window for a marketplace plan that is often cheaper.
- You cut the budget to essentials at once.
- You call any lender you may have trouble paying before you miss a payment, since hardship options are far better at that stage.
- You leave your retirement account alone. It can stay where it is or roll over to an IRA, and cashing it out costs income tax plus a ten percent penalty.
Unemployment pays a fraction of your old wage up to a state cap, in most states for up to twenty-six weeks. It counts as taxable income, so choose to have tax withheld.
The search
Give the search a working day's structure, with a start time, a target number of real applications and conversations each week, and an end time. Tell people promptly. Most jobs are found through someone who knew you were looking, and a layoff carries far less stigma than the person who was laid off imagines. Prepare one neutral sentence about what happened, such as "my team was eliminated in a restructuring", and move on to what you do well.
What it is, and what it is not
A layoff is a budget decision, and it lands on good workers constantly. Even being fired for performance is information about a fit, not a ruling on your worth. Expect some anger and a few bad nights. Keep regular hours, move your body and see people, because isolation makes a search both longer and worse.
Note Most states require you to record your weekly job contacts to keep receiving benefits, so start a simple log on the first day.
