My thoughts on being laid off

Image description: Picture of a MacBook Pro with moth and butterfly stickers and a Google badge placed over the Apple logo.

I guess it’s time for me to add my story about being affected by the #GoogleLayoffs on January 20. It’s taken a while for me to come to terms with getting laid off, and I still experience some cognitive dissonance, where it feels like I’m just on vacation, and then I snap back to reality and remember the things I’ll have to get done, like returning my badge and work devices, and getting my personal belongings from my old desk. Things still feel raw sometimes. I have my ups and downs, day to day. I was at Google for almost 11 years (1 year as a temp, almost 10 years as an FTE), so I was there before Google Play existed (I worked on the Google Play Partnerships team). This was the first job that I felt really passionate about and had confidence in my abilities. My managers actually cared about me as a person and respected my opinions, instead of thinking of me merely as a resource.

(Tangent: I’m not a fan of calling people, “resources”. Let’s move away from that.)

My thoughts are with my former colleagues in APAC and EMEA who don’t yet know how they’ll be affected. I also wish my former team all the best as they figure out how to proceed in this post-layoffs world. I’m going to miss the people I worked with. At a good job, it’s the people who surround you who make it a great experience through collaboration, camaraderie, and commiseration.

I don’t have much else to say at the moment. I really am still processing and thinking about what I want to do next. I appreciate the kind notes I’ve gotten on LinkedIn. I’m thankful for the Xoogler.co network that popped up for those laid off and for people still at Google who want to help.

If you are connected to me on LinkedIn and feel so inclined to provide a recommendation for me, that would be awesome. If you know of opportunities related to mobile app or game UX, or foldables, those are two areas in which I have expertise and continuing interest.

Otherwise if you want to just talk about random stuff like tech, photography, fountain pens or stationery, I’m game. You can find me on Mastodon, Instagram (begrudgingly), or LinkedIn.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you.