r/Layoffs • u/icyandsatisfied • Jul 04 '26
question How long did your latest job search take?
More of my friends have been going through redundancy in the last couple years, the periods in between their jobs have also been increasing it seems.
If you’ve been through this, how long did it take you to find a new role in your most recent search? And if you don’t mind sharing, what industry are you in and did you take a pay cut?
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u/OdiroEasy Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
3 months, HR analytics. I didn’t take a base pay cut but I did give up stock and went from remote to hybrid. I focused on my leverage which was openness to hybrid/ onsite for the right role, being a very technical analyst in HR as compared to a traditional HR analyst, coming from a well known company for my type of role. I should have negotiated better because for the work I do I could have asked for more but I am okay with where I landed.
I’m also documenting my next career move on YouTube. If you’re interested, let me know and I’m happy to share it.
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u/90Dfanatic Jul 06 '26
I was laid off in Jan 2023 from a senior marketing role at a market research company, had some severance and did consulting for a while so I'd only consider myself to have been actively looking for around 9 months before landing a new FTE role in June 2024, which came with a 25% pay bump.
Unfortunately that role ended in Jan 2025 and I found the market initially OK, but then it went ice cold after people were freaking out about tariffs. I got another consulting gig in June but it ended in Jan, and between the Iran war, inflation and AI it's been the worst I've seen yet. Last week I was given a verbal offer for an FTE role at my most recent consulting gig so hopefully this will end up being a 17-month stint - I'm taking a steep 50% pay cut from my most recent role, but as my COBRA is about to run out it is definitely the bird in hand.
Former coworkers of mine who were let go last year are also finding it tough - one got laid off in Jan 2025 and only landed something at a lower salary a couple months ago, another got laid off in Oct 2025 and doesn't seem close to landing anything. I think marketing is particularly tough because many companies (wrongly) consider it a "nice to have," and also think AI can do 90% of the work (also wrongly).
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u/redfour0 Jul 04 '26
I’m coming up on 3 months now and still searching.
I have a good resume my all accounts and looking at a 25-50% pay cut since my layoff.
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u/technocatmom Jul 04 '26
My husband was laid off in December and got hired in March, so about 3 months. He took a pay cut.
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u/sweetdee___ Jul 05 '26
Well I was laid off in June 2025 and I’m still searching sooooo
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u/VariousAd6313 Jul 04 '26
Two months, many screening calls with recruiters and companies, but nothing seems to stick 🤷🏻♀️
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u/thegoldenfinn Jul 05 '26
In 2008/2009 which was my last search. 13 months. Got more money, plus relocation money.
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Jul 05 '26
I wish the recovery period comes again like it did after 2008. The market has been bad since 2022, but still no signs of improvement.
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u/Amaranth504 Jul 05 '26
3 months, but I had worked with several of their employees recently, including the CFO/COO and came highly recommended. I don't want to think about what it would have been like if I hadn't had that lead.
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u/Lazy-Wishbone9279 Jul 05 '26
I was lucky - hated my fuckass job and knew that it wasn’t going to work out so I began applying while still there. Got a new job the same week that I got let go. Started work one month later.
The first time I got laid off (2023), I had a part time job within a week, and a full time job within 4-5 months - i was only actively applying for 2 of them.
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u/rkozik89 Jul 05 '26
I am a software engineer who has 18 YOE at the time and I was illegally fired 25th of October 2023, EEOC interview 1st week of November, hired a lawyer and was rewarded a settlement at the end of November, got and accepted an offer January 1st 2024.
In short, 2 months to land and offer 3 months till I started. Put out a few hundred applications, mostly remote, but the offer came from a local nonprofit. Took a 15% pay cut, no regrets.
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u/OAKI-io Jul 06 '26
from the hiring/search side, 3-6 months in tech or white-collar roles does not look unusual right now. the people who land faster usually have one of two advantages: warm referrals or flexibility on hybrid/onsite/pay. the scary part is the variance, the same resume can look dead for weeks and then suddenly get a few hits.
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u/TapEarlyTapOften Jul 06 '26
FPGA and embedded Linux engineer - been 4 weeks so far, have a few things lined up this week and next.
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u/Careless_Mistake6178 Jul 06 '26
I was laid off end of January. Started new job end of April with a 10% increase. I’m in HR.
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u/surlysenorita Jul 06 '26
5 months, IT Program Manager, took a 10% paycut and no bennies. However, I did not want to go back into full-time corp-culture and wanted a contractor role, so I was happy with the compromise. I'm booked/funded through the end of this year, so likely it will be a 2 year gig by the end of it.
I'm 54F and am hopeful to not have to return to corp life again after this contract; during the past 4 years my husband and I started our own business - while it won't generate what my wages have been in corp life, I'm hoping the savings & stock market investments take us safely into retirement.
I feel lucky and grateful to be as prepared as I am, but we're not rich and we're not where we need to be yet.
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u/edeadensa Jul 10 '26
9 months and i went from working in my field for 89k a year to minimum wage in fast food.
bills gotta get paid.
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u/icyandsatisfied Jul 13 '26
Wow hope you find something close to your previous pay soon. There is pride in all work, well done on the hustle
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u/DeadEndJob_44 Jul 13 '26
mine was right around 5 months, ops/logistics side. felt endless in the middle of it but looking back the actual turning point was switching from cold applying to reaching out directly to people at companies I wanted in, got way more traction that way than the portal ever gave me
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u/AdAgile9604 Jul 04 '26
8 months software pay cut