[caspercrf]

I was laid off in 2009, in the middle of the housing bust and it was rough. Fortunately, I was on my own, so I only had to take care of myself, but being laid off taught me to keep current with my skills when times are good. I was caught flat footed and unemployed, and it took me nearly 9 months to get another job. 9 months is a looong time to be sitting around wondering about your future as you watch more and more layoffs happen.

The one good thing about layoffs is that it grows your network. Eventually you and your old coworkers find new jobs at different companies and now you have new contacts there. This is how I got my first job after being laid off, my old co-worker got a new job and he reached out to me.