LogInAleksey Savchenko shared a list of important pieces of advice for fired developers, explaining how to manage the layoff itself and giving some tips on how to move forward.
Intro
Hello, y’all, my name is Aleksey Savchenko, and I have been in the gaming and tech industries for 26 years from about 42 now. Since lots of people are going through hard times after leaving companies they have been working at for a long time, I’ve decided to share some of my experience which might be helpful in this regard. Mostly, because I spent lots of time researching and rationalizing some of it, plus, I mean, helping each other is what we still do here in the gaming industry.
1. You should be ready for a full cycle of denial, anger, rejection, acceptance, and all that.
Modern tech and entertainment business enrolls you into a highly addictive environment that cares about most of your basic life functions from early years, softly controls your communications, sets your tone and narrative, gives you the feeling of working for something grandiose together, and provides you with figures of authority. Being all of a sudden stripped of those things momentarily is an extremely stressful experience. Sign up for therapy, just in case, you will appreciate this advice really. I did for half a year, counseling are good strollers and sometimes we all need those. If you feel very much down, get yourself to SSRI, it helps as well and I’ve been doing those for a year.
2. Start rebuilding yourself at all levels and change your routines.
Get yourself a new phone, laptop, new routes to walk, new bars to visit, take a trip to the suburbs, kill a habit, develop a habit, start talking more with people outside, literally spend more time with your family, start a new hobby.
3. On communication, your first instinct will be to talk to people inside the company you left as usual, but a large part of them won’t talk to you or gradually would start talking less.
It’s not because they are bad, it’s because there are either things they feel they can’t discuss with you, legally or otherwise, or because of the Survivor Syndrome, they would feel awkward if they did stay and you did not. You won’t listen to me, fume, get drunk, and write to people at night. I did. Over time this will pass, it’s kind of like heartbreaks, after some time you will be happy to see your ex-colleagues and all. True friends will stay anyway for sure. I was blessed to have those, it really helped me.
4. Collaborate with your ex-colleagues, but don’t feed each other non-constructive behavior.
Building something together, supporting each other, and changing information that is interactive. Spending a month or two for wind-catching rumors of “what is still going on there” is OK, but move on, really. Don’t get overly toxic for the sake of being toxic.
5. Now, if you are not in a position of choice between retirement and a gig, and you are in the active stage of your career – get yourself a gig in the next three months.
You need to capitalize on your previous position as soon as possible. You need to use all the industrial help while it’s fresh. You most probably will get better money by the way. But moreover, you need goal orientation replacement and re-fuel your sense of being capable.
6. Don’t be me, with all that “I do all my stuff myself, I’ll show you all, now watch me”.
Get all the help you can immediately, I wish I was better at that two times in my career I had to leave places I loved. Friends, people you don’t think are, HR people, someone you met once and feel you can reach out to, your family, whoever can help. You don’t ask for it, you don’t get any, so ask for it.
7. Now, if you are going entrepreneurship, get yourself a partner or two, going solo after a layoff is a hardcore mode.
You will start and will be able to move forward based on anger (and yes, I know more than many, it’s fuel that can run you for a long time), but you will very soon need positive affirmation and dynamics, and you get it from partners.
8. Learn your lessons.
When you join the next gig, hold more to your independence, judgment, working hours, boundaries, attitude, denial of over connectivity, hype, develop real value recognition. It’s a real chance to make your life better.
9. Breakups are hard.
They rarely come equal on anything, and you will be sad, angry, dwell in the past, sometimes frantic in behavior, emotional, feel like bipolar, etc., it’s totally ok, it’s because you are human and live real life, and just left the whole set of rules and constraints you maybe never noticed. It’s fine, be you, break some stuff, stand up, rebuild, do better.
10. Things will 100% be better.
You will eventually remember most of those experiences as good old days. For the moment being, take care of yourself, get practical, start the new gig, and make it better than the previous one. I mean, as humans, this is the only actual thing we do right.