“People don't understand how traumatic it is”: Stories from laid-off techies
CTech spoke to four former techies who were impacted by the ongoing layoffs occurring in Startup Nation
Much has been reported on the companies that have been letting go of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of employees in the tech ecosystem. In 2023 alone, more than 105,000 tech-sector employees lost their jobs as companies scrambled to recover from turning markets and rush to suddenly make a profit.
Israel was no different. CTech has reported extensively on the local impact
of the layoffs and the dozens of companies that are letting large percentages of their workforces go.
CTech spoke to four recently laid-off people in Israel who each had personal experiences of how their employers treated their experience. Many spoke on the record under the promise of anonymity, and so for the purpose of this piece all names have been changed and the companies have been disguised at their request.
“My 2022 was a shitshow,” said ‘Rachel’, a 29-year-old French native who was let go from her job at an AI and data intelligence company in May last year. Rachel had been working at her company since October 2021 after choosing between two offers for her role in product management. According to her, at 8am one random Tuesday a 15-minute meeting was put into her diary for 9:30am that day. “The sentence was ‘we’re laying off 20% of the workforce, and if your manager calls you in an hour it means, unfortunately, you’re leaving us’,” she remembered.
According to Rachel, this meant that roughly 20 people were being let go. A few minutes after her meeting ended, her phone rang. It was her manager. She was being let go effective immediately with nothing but the minimum severance required by Israeli law.
“The only thing I wish is that management would be a bit more thoughtful about their actions sometimes,” she told CTech. Rachel had already had a tough few weeks: the month before she was put on leave for a few days after suffering from PTSD due to being next to the Tel Aviv bar which was the scene of a terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street. Only back at work for a few days, she was being told to go home again.
“People don't understand how traumatic it is, but there is nothing you can do to prevent that. As an employee, there is nothing you can do because I feel like management doesn't involve employees enough in the company strategy… I think we would have rather had our salaries cut than lose our jobs,” she said.
Rachel moved back to France after living in Tel Aviv for seven years due to an ability to find a new job in high tech and a technicality in her career gaps which made her ineligible for ‘bituach leumi’ - unemployment benefits. Today, she is spending her days trying to get a job either in France or in Israel; anywhere that can help her pay the bills and continue her career. “We are just people who are trying to make a living, that's all. We are trying to join a mission and a vision and that's it.”
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Not all stories have been so traumatic. CTech also spoke to ‘David’, a programmer who was let go from a medtech company after nearly four years in the role. In the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - David was told by his team that the sub-product he was working on was going to be discontinued and his services would no longer be needed. It was the week before the whole country would experience a month of holidays that would cause disruption to everyday life and the hiring processes.
“This was the most unexpected thing that has ever happened to me because I have never been laid off in my life,” David told CTech. Months before, David had bought an apartment in Israel and was preparing to live frugally for the next year as he paid off his mortgage. The possibility of being let go with no pay, or even a 20% pay cut, seemed unimaginable.
The management at David’s company understood and bound together to help. One of his now former teammates referred him to a company he once worked at, and his next job was secured in a week - he didn’t have a single day without a paycheck. “\[The company\] extended the period, and every single person was ready to help... They really had a good impact on my future job search,” he said.
David is now happily working as an engineer in a new field. He even had the time to negotiate his salary and continued working without any disruption.
Another person who spoke to CTech had been at an Israeli public company for almost three years. ‘Susan’ had seen her company conduct an earlier round of layoffs in the summer of 2022, and in November she was called for an in-person meeting with her management with only a day’s notice.
“I shared my fears with a fellow colleague of mine and she also had an in-person meeting booked directly after mine,” Susan told CTech. “We both understood that this was happening.”
The company laid off 10% of its workforce all in one day, with two of her 11-person team being victims of the cuts. Employees were given a month of paid leave, with Susan receiving an additional two weeks. Management also arranged meetings with recruitment agencies that helped the newly laid-off workers with CV tips, interview skills, and networking opportunities.
“I was heartbroken,” Susan said. “I loved my team, I had a great relationship with my boss and I liked the company... I had just had my review a couple of months before that which was fantastic. It was very sad and a bit scary to be let go. It was heartbreaking because I love my job and because I loved the people I worked with. I was very happy there and would have continued there indefinitely.”
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Susan, an Oleh (new immigrant) who is living in Ra’anana, is currently looking for a new role. She has recently had her third interview at a company and is unsure what will happen if she doesn’t get it. “It is really scary out there. I can rely a little bit on unemployment for a few months, but beyond that, I am wondering if I will have to take a job that I’m overqualified for. I might be forced to if I don't find something in the next couple of months - I have three children,” she added.
The company Susan comes from is a public one, which meant many employees had to be kept in the dark about the direction it was taking. Despite the shock, she has a positive view of the company and her time there. “I think you need to be logical about these things even though it hurts me personally. If you look at it objectively, you can understand why these things happen,” she added. “Not everything is personal. Just because I got the rough end of the stick it doesn't mean that it is bad people or a bad company or bad decision-making. I'm just hoping I find something that is right for me and that I do not have to take a pay cut or take something that doesn't further my career.”
She is still looking for her next role. “The ecosystem is not nice,” Susan told CTech. “Everywhere you look, someone has been laid off and there are a lot more people applying for every job that's out there… It’s much harder for me to find a job now.”
The last person CTech spoke to was a British ex-pat who also has to balance her new unemployment with her young family. Having joined an AI-powered data platform company nearly six months before being laid off, she and her husband had experienced five jobs in the course of 2022.
“I did try to argue with them, I offered a pay cut,” said ‘Joanne’. “I was there for five and a half months and I had been really happy, I felt I was a good fit for the company. I tried to make my case because I knew that there were some projects coming on that I would be helpful on… But in the end, they told me there was nothing I could do. I was let go.”
Despite only being there for less than six months, Joanne received a full month’s severance. She was one of the two members of the five-person team laid off and discovered only a week later that the company had hired a US-based person to fill their shoes after they left.
“I'm a bit all over the place with my direction,” Joanne said. “This was supposed to be my opportunity to solidify my career path in a direction and I was also working extremely hard there. So, I’m in hindsight realizing that was a little over the top. I’m enjoying the ability to enjoy life a bit more.” Last week, Joanne celebrated her son’s fourth birthday at home - something she would have missed due to a work conference she would have been obliged to attend before departing the company.
Most people CTech spoke to had positive experiences with their companies despite the shocking life-changing news that something like this can bring to workers and their families. Companies did what they had to survive, but the impression we got is that it was the humans at those companies who offered the sympathy needed to overcome the challenges. Some stories had happy endings and some didn’t. The situation for many is still raw and ongoing.
It is widely expected that 2023 will be somewhat of a bloodbath for companies that need to restructure themselves. This will invariably be at the expense of the hundreds of employees they hired in 2021 and 2022. Stories about the companies will continue to be published, but the folks impacted by these lay-offs should also not be ignored.
