Layoffs will continue all year

Free resources to help you plan and prepare

Hi, it’s Ethan & Jason from Level Up: Your guide to grow fast, avoid mistakes, and make optimal career moves.

---

Some of the news in January:

• Amazon announced 16,000 roles impacted

• Citi announced 1,000 with more coming

• Meta (Reality Labs) around 1,500

• Autodesk announced 1,000

• Pinterest plans 780 cuts

• Dow will cut 4,500

I (Ethan) was laid off twice, once 3 days after adopting my daughter.

My wife had quit her job to stay at home with our new baby, and now I was out of work too.

We went from two incomes and no kids to no incomes and a child in just days.

I was *scared* as I had very little savings.

But I thrived and you can too.

After this layoff, I became an Amazon VP and was able to retire early.

How I did it:

1. I reached out to my network to find a new job. It was 2003, like the date in the photo, and the economy was at least as tough as it is now. But I found a job with an old manager at his startup.

   1. Most jobs (80% !!) come through networking connections.

2. I treated the job search as a full time effort, putting at least 40 hours a week into networking, meetups, etc. If you get laid off, take a few days to grieve and a few days to relax, but then get to work at your new job - of finding a job.

3. I kept trying when it got depressing. I got nowhere for 3 months. I was running out of money. But I kept at it every day. The lead came in after I thought I had tried everything.

4. When I had no more contacts to reach out to, I spent time updating my skills. I learned about SQL and databases during this time.

The small "silver lining" for people impacted in large groups of layoffs — no one will think you have a personal flaw. When I was let go, it was personal and it was my fault. I had to recognize and change some behaviors.

But when it is thousands of people and the Nth layoff in an endless string of cuts, everyone knows and they realize that it had nothing to do with your skills or behavior.

I coach plenty of people who have found better jobs in this "bad economy."

The jobs are out there but you have to do the work to find them.

I'm sorry for your shock, pain, and loss.

Take the initial week to mourn, then get to work!

I encourage you to start networking right here. If you are hiring or know who is, put that in the comments on this post. Helping someone out today could be a favor that pays you back tomorrow.

I do not expect layoffs to stop because of the “AI-driven efficiency” and other reasons, but we can all adapt to new opportunities.

YOU can come out better off, like I did.

---

Audience Insights

Additional wisdom and viewpoints from our readers:

1. I love that you shared the 'scared' part of your story. It makes the success you found later feel so much more reachable and real. Your reminder that a layoff isn't a personal flaw is so spot on. It really brings to mind Sheryl Sandberg’s 3 Ps of resilience, which are so helpful in times like this: — Gela Fridman (CTO)

   1. Personalization: Realizing it’s the situation, not a reflection of your worth.

   2. Pervasiveness: Remembering this is one chapter, not your whole life.

   3. Permanence: Knowing this is a temporary setback, not a forever state.

2. Consistent effort and skill building tend to matter more than timing in tough markets. — Dave Kline (Founder)

3. One thing that stands out is that you took action, even when you didn’t feel like it. Jobs are definitely out there - you just have to separate yourself from the pack. — Rajdeep Saha (Founder)

4. I’ve worked with many job seekers recently who’ve been caught in repeated rounds of layoffs-some of them twice in a year. The emotional toll is real, especially when it feels out of your control. What stands out in your story is the balance of realism and action: the reminder that a consistent, focused job search-paired with upskilling and leveraging your network—is still the most effective path forward. There are roles out there, but too many candidates are stuck in application loops instead of shifting to a proactive outreach and referral strategy. Posts like this make a real difference. — Margaret Buj (Talent Acquisition Lead)

5. “Do not expect them to stop” - the advice based on that I’d add is to respond to every 1st-level contact’s news with personalized wishes in Messages vs Comments so that they see you are staying in touch vs reaching out only for favors. It can be relentless and tiring but it is priceless when needed. I can testify personally to that. — Patrick Andrew Thomas (Deal Management & Acceleration)

6. It really helps to hear stories like yours and be reminded that there is light at the end of the tunnel. From my own experience, I can only confirm how powerful staying in touch with former colleagues and managers can be: networking truly makes a difference. — Filip Cholewczynski (Game Producer)

7. Desperation has a smell. Hiring managers reject it. That energy subconsciously infects every sentence you write. So, fix your emotional state first. Before you write a single email, check yourself. You’re not asking for a favour. You’re offering a resource. And build your presence now. Know your UVP. Add value on LinkedIn without asking for anything in return. MIT studied 20 million LinkedIn users. Weak ties — not immediate colleagues — are more likely to land your next opportunity. They bridge you to chances your inner circle doesn’t see. And reframe your CV. Business value, not tasks: “Reduced attrition by 30%, saving £X in rehiring costs.” When applying, diagnose their headache. Read the 10-K. Read customer complaints. Find the bleeding: revenue risk, latency, burnout. Your value is the specific medicine for that specific wound. So, skip the gatekeeper. Send a hypothesis directly to the hiring manager: “I noticed [data point]. In my experience, this usually points to [opportunity]. I sketched a diagnostic based on public data. It’s a hypothesis — but it’s yours to use.” — Malcolm Barlow (PM Career Accelerator)

---

Free Resources

Articles, videos, AI tools, and startup opportunities.

If you know of other free resources, please share in the comments. Let’s build a strong repository to help people plan and prepare.

1. Resume tips:

   1. Avoid these 3 mistakes

   2. Do not use “Happy Words”

   3. Sample resumes (including Ethan’s)

   4. Stand out with your Career Walking Deck (instead of just a resume)

   5. Multiple Level Up YouTube videos on real resume reviews and examples

   6. Ethan on Business Insider sharing the 6 most common resume mistakes

2. Interview tips:

   1. How do you best explain that you were laid off in an interview?

   2. Multiple Level Up YouTube videos on how to answer hard interview questions, thinking on your feet, executive level interviews, explaining gaps, and more

3. Networking tips:

   1. How to be a high-value connector and networker

   2. Multiple Level Up YouTube videos on how, when, and why to build your network (and how to use your network effectively)

4. Navigate a layoff (or potential upcoming one):

   1. Ethan’s Maven Lightning Lesson on “How to Stay off the Layoff Lists”

5. All topics: Use Ethan Evans AI (we made it available to everyone but ultimately ChatGPT decides access gate — meaning free or behind one of their paid plans).

If you want to join a startup, The Shortlist NYC (founded by our friend Andrew Yeung) connects ambitious business leaders, engineers, and designers with breakout founders before roles hit job boards through monthly founder showcases and a bi-weekly newsletter. Each showcase features six founders at the seed through Series B stage where they present what they’re building, why it matters, and the specific roles they’re hiring for right now, followed by open, candid conversation with the room.

The next Founder Showcase is February 23rd (Monday) in New York City. Free to attend but application-only due to limited seats. Apply here.

We are fans of Andrew’s north star metric: “Hires made following the event.”

If you know someone who would benefit from these free resources, please pass them along.

---

Connect With Ethan & Jason

• Follow Ethan on LinkedIn.

• Get our career advice on YouTube.

• Connect with Jason (Ethan’s Co-Founder & COO) on LinkedIn.

• Learn more about our live online courses and on-demand courses.

• Contact us for corporate training, keynote speaking, guest writing, and more.

• Join our Level Up Slack Community of 1300+ members and 23 specialized career channels with active peer support.

• Reach out if you want to sponsor this newsletter trusted by leaders and builders scaling companies and careers across Fortune 500s, Big Tech / FAANG, and high-growth startups.