This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Jack Nguyen, a Deloitte worker successful his 40s, surviving successful Virginia. He antecedently worked for Amazon earlier being laid disconnected successful January. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.
In January, I learned that I'd been laid disconnected from my engineering domiciled astatine Amazon. After spending much than 7 years astatine the institution across 2 stints, it was beautiful surprising, but besides not surprising, astatine the aforesaid time.
I'd already been somewhat concerned astir my occupation security, peculiarly aft the company's big layoffs successful 2023. While immoderate of the teams we worked intimately pinch were affected by the layoff, my squad made it done unscathed, which was encouraging.
The company's five-day return-to-office mandate, announced successful precocious 2024, felt for illustration a "soft layoff" — a measurement to promote group to time off connected their own. It made maine deliberation Amazon mightiness beryllium trying to trim headcount.
After being laid off, I started looking for activity aft astir a week. I thought astir taking much clip to recharge since I was still receiving my plot time off paychecks and knew severance was coming.
However, you ne'er cognize really agelong a occupation hunt will take, truthful I decided to get started correct away. Once I knowledgeable the occupation market firsthand, it felt for illustration the correct decision.
Why I near — and why I came back
I joined Amazon successful 2017 arsenic an IT support technologist based successful Arlington, Virginia. In 2021, I near for a support engineering domiciled astatine a cybersecurity institution aft emotion for illustration I'd deed a ceiling connected my compensation astatine Amazon.
But little than a twelvemonth later, I came crossed an engineering domiciled astatine Amazon connected a brand-new team. I saw the position arsenic an opportunity for profession growth.
After going done the question and reply process, I received an connection and returned to Amazon successful 2022 — little than a twelvemonth aft leaving the company.
The return-to-office instruction brought caller challenges
For the first mates of years aft I returned, things went really well. It felt for illustration a caller challenge; the occupation required agelong hours astatine times, truthful it could decidedly beryllium stressful, but overall, I enjoyed it. Over time, though, occupation information concerns from layoff announcements and adapting to return-to-office mandates made the acquisition much challenging.
In the beginning, I was still moving afloat remotely because location wasn't yet an agency requirement. Then, successful 2023, Amazon announced that labor would beryllium expected to activity from the agency 3 days a week, and successful precocious 2024 came the announcement of the five-day return-to-office mandate.
During my first stint astatine the company, different organizations and managers seemed to person a batch of elasticity successful deciding whether labor had to travel into the office. This time, the argumentation came from the apical and applied crossed the company. A batch of employees weren't happy astir it.
My family had bought a location farther from Amazon's offices for much abstraction and amended schools, truthful moving person to the agency wasn't an charismatic option.
My commute was astir an hr and a half each measurement connected nationalist transit, which became portion of the tradeoff. In my past twelvemonth astatine Amazon, the institution added a shuttle work that trim my commute to astir an hour, which helped, but I still had 2 kids and a family to get location to each evening, truthful it was difficult.
By the clip I was laid off, I knew I wanted my adjacent domiciled to connection much elasticity than Amazon's five-day agency mandate.
The occupation marketplace was challenging
As I began looking for work, I recovered the job marketplace rather challenging. I was competing pinch much candidates, getting ghosted aft applying, and it felt for illustration much companies were utilizing AI to surface résumés earlier a personification ever saw them.
In erstwhile occupation searches, I could simply update my LinkedIn floor plan to opportunity I was unfastened to work, update my résumé, and taxable acold applications. That wasn't the lawsuit this time.
During this occupation search, astir of the interviews I landed early connected came done referrals aliases people successful my network.
One strategy that I judge helped maine was posting astir my layoff connected LinkedIn. The station helped link maine pinch personification who referred maine for an engineering domiciled arsenic a task transportation master astatine Deloitte. I was willing because it offered the chance to enactment successful engineering while doing thing different from my domiciled astatine Amazon.
My schedule is much elastic now
In March, aft a fewer rounds of interviews, I landed the job. I'm now successful a overmuch much customer-facing role, helping clients execute their business goals. It's been a bully alteration of pace.
My in-office schedule depends connected the needs of the customer I'm supporting, but overall, I've recovered the institution to beryllium overmuch much elastic astir agency attendance, which has allowed maine to walk much clip pinch my family.
My proposal for different occupation seekers is to trust connected your network. It's difficult capable to find a domiciled by blindly applying online. Reach retired to group you know, ask for referrals erstwhile you can, and support building your skills truthful you tin marketplace yourself much effectively.
Do you person a communicative to share? Reach retired to the newsman via email astatine [email protected], aliases via Signal astatine jzinkula.29.
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