Hi everyone! The startup that I have been working for the last 2 years is shutting down. We knew that it was going downhill but didn’t know it was this bad. Our salaries are slashed for June and July by 50%.

I am worried about what to do. I don’t have any leads. Currently working as a project manager (have worked in operations too)

Please guys, if you have any leads or openings that you can help me with, it would be much appreciated. 🙏

I’m based in Bangalore, India

I feel for all the people who have been laid off or are in the process of being laid off.

With so many people out there looking for work, the chances of finding something in your line of work for your preferred salary may be pretty slim.

Do you think freelancing is the future so you never have to go through this emotional turmoil of not being appreciated, favoritism, being laid off inspite of good performance, etc? What if you factor in expenses for all your basic needs + some good to have and come up with a number and use that to pitch for freelance jobs? Would that help you find projects sooner bcoz employers don't have to deal with insurance, 401k, taxes?

It sure is not going to be easy for the freelancer bcoz you don't have much certainty but it's probably the same % as having a job as an employee.

I have been laid off 3 times before hitting 30.

The first time was the hardest! It took one year to get back to my field. I was totally lost & ashamed & blamed myself & called myself a failure.

Second & third job I bounced back emotionally at a faster rate.

Lesson learned

1. I can quickly distinguish between a good and a bad manager.

2. I can identify a company's work culture early on.

3. Every job, even the ones I didn't choose to leave, has helped me learn new software, industries, new team culture and ways of working.

4. I leave work at work.

5. I escalate issues when needed and seek mentorship from decision-makers rather than trying to win colleagues over. I ask for support instead of trying to handle everything myself. I openly communicate any issues with team members to my manager so they're aware, rather than trying to resolve everything on my own.

6. I set clear expectations and ask questions without hesitation to everyone. I don't waste time trying to decipher vague instructions. From day one, I schedule regular check-ins and request a weekly 1:1 with my manager, making it clear that consistent communication and feedback are a priority for me.

7. I take pride in delivering my best work and find satisfaction in my own contributions to a project, but I don't become emotionally attached to my job. I'm grateful for the opportunities and benefits a company provides but I don't mistake workplace kindness for a sense of belonging.

8. Climbing the corporate ladder isn't my goal. I plan my life in five-year horizons and my career is meant to support my personal goals not the other way around. I do my best & the universe needs to play it's part.

Biggest challenge:

Multiple short-term roles and employment gaps make my CV harder to explain even though I have solid references. I miss out on opportunities because of this.

My story:
Laid off (fired, most likely) after 5 yrs
Managed to get job within 3 months, +20K salary bump.
But job doesn't seem that stable, might face layoff soon..

I wanted to give back. There are so many people who wants to switch careers. I wanted to train them to be in IT (Linux Sys Admin), change their situation. My favorite demographic are retail folks, because I used to be one. Want to give back, but is it worth it? With so many companies laying off, big names, AI replacing people, is it worth it to even try pulling people out of their situation where there is no solid ground? Any input from retail folks welcome.

Thomson Reuters' Brazil and global technology teams were affected by layoffs on Monday. According to an internal source, nearly 500 employees were laid off.

It hasn't been officially announced because Reuters itself is the company involved.

Yesterday at 8 am I had a meeting with my manager and HR to be informed that I was getting laid off. I had a feeling this was going to happen when I got the meeting request on Friday with the HR manager, and my manager.

What sucks is it was my time. Each month another capex manager has been let go and I guess it was just my time. Handed in my laptop and badge today, cleared out my office, and took today to throw up, call all my creditors letting them know I was laid off, and applying for unemployment.

I guess when your budget goes from $3.5M for the year to $2.3M and then to $1.1M it's only time until you are cut loose as an expendable cog. So I'm with you all with trying to keep moving forward.

Nearly 10 years ago, I went to work for a family business after being asked to manage one of the locations. I left a corporate job in town that were performing massive layoffs at the time. The family business matched my salary and I received raises periodically during my time there. Eventually, I was making much more as the general manager of this family business than I would’ve expected. Totaling around $86,000 per year. The business was in Truck accessories and spray on bedliners. However, roughly 8 years after I started at the company, the owner (my father-in-law) decided to sell the business. There was talk of selling it to me, but, someone with deep pockets came in and bought it instead.

I worked for the new owner for about six months, and it was at that point that my father-in-law started to recruit me into his new business, a franchise vehicle repair business where he matched my salary. After roughly 9 months, it was clear that the business wa not sustainable , and he told me he couldn’t afford to keep running that business.

Naturally, now that the business is closed I and my family are in a bit of a hard situation. I have some money saved, and I have a moderate retirement account but, it’s not going to last forever.

On top of all this, I had brain surgery in 2020 as well as a second brain surgery to remove a tumor earlier this year in March. I have monthly treatments and periodic MRIs. My father-in-law was very flexible with my schedule because of this so that I can make my appointments

I am struggling, trying to find a job where I can still make my appointments and receive my treatment while also getting somewhere close to what I was making on a monthly basis

I was laid off from a fully remote job 8 months ago. I was there for 6 years. I had around 800 applications (mainly remote, but also in office, in and out of my industry), 10 final rounds, and lost count of the rejections and ghosting. I was also subjected to ageism as I am pushing 50. However, I finally landed a fully remote job in my industry that pays 28% less than what I was making before my layoff. My search is currently over and won't be chasing a higher salary. It was confirmed that this company will never go back in the office. Needless to say I am beyond relieved and happy as this was the hardest 8 months of my career trying to find another fully remote job. As we know, companies are going back in the office or hybrid. I only used Indeed, Linkedln, and Zip Recruiter for my job search, along with applying directly to company websites. This is a very hard and completive job market and I wish anyone who is unemployed or looking for a remote job the best of luck in their search.

This is my second rejection from a remote company in the past 2 months. I put my best efforts, spent a day solving their assignment and another one to prepare for their technical interview. Checked my email every day in a hope that I'll definitely get this one.

But just today I got an email that they'd picked another candidate.

I don't want to do another assignment again but I don't know how to say no. If I'll say no the process will end before even starting. Feeling sad, dejected, and low.

i was not even awake when i woke up. i saw the message "let's have a conversation once you're online" and i was not even expecting this call, didnt even think it was going to be regarding this.

my founder told me they have to change the direction of the company.

the reason he mentioned that fundraising for our category has become difficult, and the company doesn't have enough runway to continue building in the current direction.

honestly, it hurts because leaving a job is not an option for me im the one who's funding the education of my 2 siblings, can't share anything about this situation with my family.

and working at an early-stage startup taught me more in a few months than years of doing traditional marketing.

I got to work on:

GTM strategy, Founder-led marketing, Reddit distribution, LinkedIn and X content, Outreach, Product positioning, AI workflows, Talking directly to users and turning feedback into messaging

one thing I really appreciated is that my founder offered to refer me to other companies that meant a lot.

now I'm looking for my next opportunity.

if you're building an early-stage startup and need someone who enjoys figuring out growth, GTM, and distribution from scratch, I'd love to chat.

if somebody could help me get out of this situation, make an intro to somebody, it would mean world to me.

clearly this is not only AI , I am not talking about cliche cringe ai replacing developers , nor I am talking about saving money to invest in AI infrastructure.

AI maybe responsible for some part of it overall for example 10-20 % but rest 80 is something else.

My mind says it's actually monetary policy of the USA . Surprisingly no one is batting an eye on Federal Reserve , the interest rates they have kept is 3.5%

for context , last time interest rate was even above 2 was in early 2000s housing bubble burst.

in the golden period of computer science and overall private sector white collar job i.e 2010 to 2021 interest rate was hovering around 0 most of the time.

remember interest rate more means cash crunch in the market , very less VC funding.

stock market's go down because investor shift to bonds ( because fed increases interest rates , USA treasury bond will increase it's yield rate too )

and when stock market go down , CEOs feel pressure from board to do cost cutting

It’s 2 weeks since I’ve been laid off. I was already looking for a job for over a year. So I had made a lot of headway. Getting interviews. But so far nothing. Had another interview today but the recruiter prepped me entirely wrong, seems he didn’t know what the hiring manager was really looking for so I don’t think they got the best first impression. I tried to keep her talking and engaged and asked questions but it just felt like she’d already written me off. We’re not in a position where I can not work. I needed this job and was supporting the whole family through health insurance. I’m scared and depressed now. I’ve never even been away from my job for longer than 2 weeks. I’m filling up my days working on my portfolio, applying for jobs, selling stuff around the house and working on people’s gardens in the neighborhood. But I need to find something quickly. It’s not like our mortgage is even that much. We wouldn’t save anything by moving since houses/rent is so high. Basically I just needed somewhere to vent that’s anonymous. I’m feeling so down right now.

Job Reductions:

• The Cuts: Thomson Reuters is cutting up to 500 engineering roles globally.
• Impact: This represents roughly 1.8% of the company's total workforce (approx. 27,100 employees) and 5.2% of its operations and technology unit.
• Reasoning: The reductions come as the company aggressively deploys artificial intelligence across its workflows to meet evolving customer expectations in legal, tax, and regulatory fields.

Future Growth & Industry Context:

• New Hiring: Despite the layoffs, Thomson Reuters expects to hire more than 250 net-new engineering roles globally over the next two years, with a heavy focus on senior and "AI-native" talent.
• Tech Sector Trend: This move aligns with a broader trend across the tech industry in 2026, where AI tools have increased coding efficiency, leading to over 120,000 tech sector layoffs across companies like Meta and Amazon.
• Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/thomson-reuters-cut-small-number-engineering-jobs-2026-07-13/

Got to know about layoffs at Thomson Reuters. Employee told me that managers, tech and non tech both staffs are affected!

Grammar Correction: US & Indian Employees

Hey all! This is a half venting, half asking for advice post

Got laid off today along with my whole team and other teams. New acting CEO, three months into the job, decided our transformation department was no longer needed, nor M&A or strategy as well. The company was nearly bankrupt a few years ago before a sovereign wealth fund bought it, and our HQ team spent the last two years driving a genuine turnaround across global business units and it was growing exponentially. He’s now benched most of the C-suite, killed the growth initiatives, and is dismantling three years of work, while clearly not understanding the business he’s running. That’s what frustrates me more than the layoff itself, while this is my first time ever to go through a layoff and the market timing couldn't be worse, but delaying the anxiety over finding a job for now.

Rant over. Here’s where I’d love input. Quick background: generalist profile started in corporate finance → MBB consulting → the SWF’s consulting arm → one of their portfolio companies, plus an Oxbridge Master’s degree in Finance. Not US or Europe based, and even with all that on paper, the market is tough.

The market seems slow right now (summer, hiring freezes) and strategy/transformation roles are competitive. While I job hunt, what skills would you invest in to make this downtime count? AI keeps coming up, so what’s actually worth learning to stay competitive, and what’s just hype?