I've had a few breakups, but I've only been made redundant once. There's a surprising overlap between the two...
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Venn-Euler diagram with circles representing Romantic Breakups and Open-Source Tech Layoffs (the former overlaid with a broken heart icon, the latter with a background reminiscent of the Automattic logo). The items unique to each are 'paired': Who keeps the dog? / Who keeps the laptop?; Half your friends take "their side" / Half your friends still work for them; Slim chance of make-up sex / Slim chance of meaningful reference; Find out in person (unless they're a monster) / Find out by email (with 10 minutes notice); Comes with a brutal list of your flaws / Comes with no useful feedback whatsoever; "I'm happier on my own anyway!" / "Oh fuck, how am I going to pay the bills?"; Bags in the hallway / Bags under your eyes. The intersection of both circles includes: Trash talk; Risk of rebound; "How did I not see this coming?"; Sadness when you wake up without them; Still feel responsible for the things you produced; Emotionally gruelling.
And with that, I'd better get back to it. Today's mission is to finish checking-in on my list of "companies I've always admired and thought I should work for" and see if any of them are actively looking for somebody like me!
(Incidentally: if you're into open source, empowering the Web, and making the world a better place, my CV is over here. I'm a senior/principal full-stack engineer with a tonne of experience in some radically diverse fields, and if you think we'd be a good match then I'd love to chat!)
Who in hell fires people by email? That's cold. If I ever do that to one of my colleagues then anyone reading this has open permission to give me a slap.
This feels fairly accurate. I have been lucky enough to stay in contact with my team. I have been telling friends that it feels like a divorce none of us wanted.
In my case, I would put "Find out by email" within the intersection ๐