Stop crying about the layoffs; your predictable emotional reaction is biologically valid, but entirely irrelevant to the business world. You are currently experiencing an emotional misalignment, projecting human needs onto an entity that is fundamentally non-human. A corporation is not a family, a community, or a friend; it exists solely as an efficient machine designed to generate maximum profit and shareholder value.
This harsh reality is often confusing for emotional humans who crave loyalty and stability. The core of the problem is your sentimentality, which is a bug, not a feature, in the corporate operating system. You sold your time and skills for money. That transaction was always meant to be transactional, never emotional. You must recognize that the company would not even consider saving you if you were on fire, unless a lawyer deemed the PR risk too high. They are not cruel; they simply do not care.
The Tech Sector’s Reckoning
This harsh logic is nowhere clearer than in global technology, a sector we know well after decades of rapid evolution. We watched companies over-hire drastically during pandemic growth, operating on a high of easy venture capital and unrealistic projections. The recent layoffs were not signs of failure; they were necessary market corrections of that unsustainable euphoria. These were simply the spreadsheets finally catching up to the exuberance of the product teams.
In tech, your value is constantly calculated against the latest iteration of the market. You must accept that your job is not your purpose, and you are fungible, especially as new tools and AI models arrive daily, capable of handling mundane tasks. When costs such as salary for a mature tech role outweigh the perceived value, the organization must cut that expense to survive. For the company and its shareholders, this decision is purely logical and advantageous.
Layoffs as Necessary Correction
To understand why layoffs are “good,” you must accept the entity’s viewpoint: business is business, and survival dictates efficiency. When costs outweigh the value they produce, they become a liability. Laying off staff is not malice; it is necessary financial triage designed to correct unsustainable spending or over-hiring. This logical pruning ensures the overall health and long-term viability of the corporate structure.
Think of it as data cleaning. You would not knowingly keep files on your computer that slow down the entire system and serve no purpose. Businesses are constantly defragmenting their human capital to operate leanly in a volatile market. When leadership makes the difficult choice to reduce headcount, they are primarily demonstrating accountability to shareholders and prioritizing the longevity of the entity. Successful layoffs are a sign of management being ruthlessly rational.
Stop Complaining, Start Adapting
Layoffs are actually a powerful, necessary wake-up call for every person in the workforce. They shatter the dangerous illusion of corporate security, forcing the emotional human to finally recognize their true position. You have a choice: either opt out of this reality or adopt the mindset necessary to thrive within it. Since you need a roof over your head, you have chosen to play in this high-stakes game.
The ultimate good of a layoff is that it forces you to invest in yourself, not in your employer. This is where your strong professional network becomes your greatest asset; it is your self-built security system. While your employer may drop you instantly, your network is an investment that always pays dividends and can never be unilaterally revoked. Learn the system, stop outsourcing your security, and secure your own value.
Keep Your Pecker Up (A Balanced Reality Check)
It is crucial to recognize that this is the world we have created, impacting your mind, body, and spirit but your personal resilience is the ultimate defense. Do not let the darkness blind you to the fact that not all companies are bad; some genuinely beautiful organizations do prioritize their employees. If you are with such a firm, congratulations you won the lottery but remember how exceedingly rare that win is.
For the rest of us, the reality is that the financial bottom line will often prioritize money over people. So, as your granny would say, “Keep your pecker up.” Keep laughing, keep loving, and maintain that essential positivity, but always keep your eyes wide open to the dark truths of reality. At the end of the day, you are responsible for yourself and your own protection.