Hi. You probably don’t remember me, since I’m just one of a number of people who got the axe during the latest round of layoffs. Despite 15 dedicated years of service. What’s with the lack of appreciation? I understand the need for cuts, but what I don’t understand is the lack of empathy behind them. I was cut. Slashed. Kaput. This letter is not from a disgruntled employee who is furious about being let go. I’m upset about losing my job, but I’m so much more upset about how poorly I was handled during my layoff.

There’s never a good time to be let go in today’s modern job market. It is so difficult to find another job. It is especially difficult for someone like me who hasn’t had to look for a job in 15 years. We know how much the world as a whole has changed in that time, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the job search world is wildly different too. I’ve been fumbling around, trying to do my best and learn about the modern job search, but with little to no help from anyone, I seem to be spending more of my time trying to figure out how to look for a job than actually going out and getting one. I know there are resources out there for me, but I’ve had no way of getting them.

This layoff has affected my whole world. My family, my social life, my financial plans, everything. My spouse and I have had to rethink all of our plans for the future. My kids have felt the hit. How are we supposed to get them off to college when our income has been cut in half and there’s no foreseeable fix coming in the future? The stress is eating away at all of us. What happens when our bit of “just in case” money runs out and I still don’t have a new job?

I’ve talked to many friends that have also been laid off, some of whom faced (and still are facing!) the same challenges as me. But others have had different experiences because of what their companies provided for them when they were let go. While we were provided with generic outplacement, they got so much more. When my one friend was laid off, he was provided with an amazing deal. His outplacement plan had no end date and unlimited career coaching until placement, so they stuck with him until he got a job. But despite having no end date, the outplacement company helped him land his next job in less than 3 months, which is faster than most other outplacement providers! The company is online and has a platform that is very easy to use, accessible, and updated to today’s job search. My friend hadn’t looked for a job in years, but the resources were provided for him were top notch and totally modernized. A professional certified resume writer wrote a custom, tailored resume from scratch in just 5 days. His career coach was incredibly helpful and the online tools like the video interview prep and the PerfectMatch job dashboard were so useful, and in line with what he was seeing in today’s job search. They even knew about keyword matching for his resume so that his resume would get pushed to the top in applicant tracking systems.

While I’m sitting here, trying my best to move forward, other people have already landed their next job because of what their HR Execs provided for them during their previous company’s reduction in force. I wish you could have made the effort and provided us with outplacement that actually helps. (Oh and my friend also told me that his outplacement provider is less expensive than its competitors. So it benefits the company too.)

I hope you reevaluate your options for next time, so any others affected have the opportunity to use these great services.

Best,

Your Former Employee

P.S. Pretty sure the provider is called Careerminds. You definitely need to check it out. Click here to get more information about their program. 

Raymond Lee

Raymond Lee is the President of Careerminds, a global outplacement company based in Wilmington, Delaware. He has over 20 years of human resource, outplacement, and career consulting experience. He has his bachelor’s in psychology and holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. He is active in SHRM and ATD. Raymond’s been featured on SiriusXM Business Radio, CareerTalk, and the Wall Street Journal and he’s published a book titled, Clocking Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Career Transitions.