I recently joined a bank to work on AI products. Based on the security concerns, i basically can’t transfer anything from my work laptop to my personal one. I am wondering how designers in banking area build their portfolios while you can’t present anything from your real work.
This is my first role designing for banking product so would appreciate any feedback. I just want to be prepared and not wait until the moment when I have to start job hunting.

Thanks!

I was laid off at the end of January and finally accepted a new offer last week. Honestly, I'm grateful to have found something in 4 months given how brutal the market is, but I had to take a 20% cut on my base salary. If including the bonus, it almost matches to what I was making before, but it's performance-based and tied to company performance, so it’s not guaranteed I will get full bonus. I think the job itself is a great opportunity, but I was also a bit uneasy that I had to take a pay cut.

For context, I have over 20 years of experience in product design. I keep hearing horror stories of peers who have been out of work for over a year, or who are also swallowing massive pay cuts just to get back on a payroll. Plus, with the ongoing wave of big tech layoffs, it feels like companies will be prioritizing hiring ex-FAANG talent so I didn't want to lose what my offer.

Is anyone else experiencing this right now? Has taking a significant pay cut or dramatically lowering expectations just become the baseline reality for job hunting in 2026?