# A Layoff Analysis By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-11-30 Is it better to be laid off or not? Many people likely believe that not being laid off from your job is better. From a financial perspective not being laid off means you still are collecting wages. From a health perspective not being laid off likely reduces the stress involved in the event. From a self-confidence perspective not being laid off may make you feel wanted and valued. These [[assessments]] make not being laid off the option many people would choose. However, there are flaws in these arguments that may make you reconsider whether being laid off is the best choice. While losing your job will certainly result in you having a worse short-term financial position, the long-term prospect is that people make significantly more money when they regularly switch employers. If you are lucky enough to receive a severance package from your former employer and have an emergency fund, you may be able to find a better-paying job well before any financial hardship hits. I've known many people in a better financial situation after being laid off thanks to "don't talk negatively about us" severance packages. They get laid off, feel bad about the situation, receive payments for weeks or months, and find a better-paying job well before the real financial burden arrives. That said, not everyone is so lucky in income potential and life circumstances. However, being laid off doesn't necessarily mean financial hardship, so do not assume it to be true. Assess your situation. From a health perspective, losing your job can be one of the biggest causes of stress and [[anxiety]]. Stress and anxiety not only have a mental toll, but also a physical and social toll. We would often avoid these things if given a choice. However, experiences like these with the right tools can make you stronger, so it is worth considering how much stress is too much. Lifting weights at the gym stresses your muscles in short bursts, but they get stronger and you get healthier. The bigger problem is when the stress never ends. So, would you prefer to have a single stressful event or one that never ends but is much less intense? Being laid off is a big stressful event, but continuing to work at a company that is failing financially and culturally because of leadership is never-ending stress. If stress never goes away, there is no time to heal and become stronger. Not having to work at that crappy company may be the best thing that ever happened to you. Being laid off may be short-term hell for long-term strength, resilience, and maybe even happiness. Most of us do not have a choice when it comes to being laid off, and each person's circumstance is uniquely theirs. There are certainly lessons to be learned from the Stoics on how to handle what the world gives you, but this analysis goes beyond passive acceptance of what is happening to you. Analyzing the alternatives and worldviews helps you see what others have and will experience. This positions you to help yourself if the situation arrives and others by understanding their experiences. There isn't ever a single answer; the universe is infinitely more complex than this. There are only better and worse choices that are highly interwoven with known and unknown short-term and long-term effects. At the heart of meta-modern analysis is accepting this and striving toward a better choice while knowing there will be [[Consequences]]. As for me, I would like leaders and organizations to take proportional accountability for their choices. Layoffs are likely to always exist due to market necessities, but the costs should be proportional to the benefits. #### Related Items [[Analytics]] [[Organizational Analytics]] [[Management]] [[Leadership]] [[Metamodernism]] [[Stress]] [[Layoffs]]