[time_to_smile]

I really hope that I get laid off in the first round of these layoffs where everyone gets good severance.

My current worry is that the first round of layoff at my first company will get 4 months severance, I'll miss that round, and 2 months later get laid off with only 2 months severance. This would of course mean that my severance ends at the same times as the first group but I had to work an additional 2 months.

[mortenjorck]

It could always be worse. I got laid off last month with 2 1/2 weeks of severance. And of course there are plenty of industries outside of tech where severance itself is an alien concept.

[reaperducer]

And of course there are plenty of industries outside of tech where severance itself is an alien concept.

Absolutely. People in tech don't realize how good they have it.

The first time I lost a job I found out when my company phone started showing alerts on a Saturday night that it couldn't connect to the e-mail server. It turned out that my entire department was canned.

The second time, I came to work on a Thursday only to discover the door locked, and a couple of coworkers lingering around. Eventually, we decided we had the day off. Same story Friday. In the Sunday newspaper there a small note that the company has been bought. So Monday morning, it was off to the Unemployment office.

For 99% of American companies, you're lucky to get notice before you get laid off, let alone severance pay.

[sequoia]

My first full time programming job I got laid off (or terminated anyway, they got rid of 25% of the small staff) at 90 days, and my severance was being paid to finish the project as a contractor. I took the offer of course.

[rkunde]

It’s should be possible to volunteer.