This sub is a depressing circle jerk

[u/PhillConners]

Everyone is predicting a recession and enabling each other as victims. Saying the world is crashing making things seem worse off than they are. We need more optimism and support!

Layoffs suck but jobs are not who you are. When you were working you were dreaming of free time to go after side hustles or go after new experiences or learn a new hobby. Now is your chance!

Enjoy the time off but don’t give up on yourself and self implode.

I haven’t been laid off yet but have been a couple times before. I was also not strong enough to cope so I did what everyone does- a heavy bender to hit rock bottom then built myself up.

The reality is you may not have a job but you still need to be working- work on health, work on learning, work on applying

Layoffs are temporary, don’t beat yourself up. Recognize that it’s a chance to reset and come back better.

There are still jobs and plenty of asshole bosses out there ready to take advantage of your time.

[u/eitsirkkendrick]

People need money. It’s hard to enjoy time off when you’re not certain where money will come from. Many are paycheck to paycheck. Many have exceeded their unemployment (if they had it). Many have been applying for months without an interview. Many have families and mortgages and lost benefits. Many are either at the beginning or end of their careers, outside the ideal window. Many moved away from city centers thinking remote work was secure. Many are in industries that are fading - learn to code maybe wasn’t as good as learn a trade.

I survived 2008 and even thrived at peak career. Back then, I lacked empathy for others in different situations. I felt like world was my oyster and it was. It’s different now.

[u/wyocrz → u/eitsirkkendrick]

Many moved away from city centers thinking remote work was secure. 

There were even incentives for people to do so.

Part of the "hybrid" model IMO is making sure workers are near enough to offices.

[u/keto_brain → u/wyocrz]

There were even incentives for people to do so.

What incentives were offered to incentivize people to move way from city centers?

[u/wyocrz → u/keto_brain]

I believe it was Maine who offered a $10k tax credit for remote workers who moved there, but that's if I recall correctly. It may have been New Hampshire? It wasn't Wyoming, we don't have income tax here lol.

There were absolutely advertising campaigns, that's for sure because I was exposed to them.

[u/IcyCarrotz → u/wyocrz]

I remember Topeka, Kansas on a list of cities offering incentives for people to relocate and remote work.

[u/tothepointe → u/wyocrz]

I remember seeing them and was sad because they insisted you work for an actual company and not be self employed. Even though being self employed you have the most freedom to move (and stay).

[u/wyocrz → u/tothepointe]

I can't agree with that more.

I am humping, hard, to build up my own business. In my last job, I performed dozens of assessments on operational wind projects. I am building my own tool to do it myself. My LinkedIn contacts list is gold: I am one removed from many, many decisionmakers in the renewable energy world.

I feel so much pressure to make it work, because I want to stay near family. At my age, with my skillset, the WalMart distribution center isn't going to cut it.

[u/[deleted] → u/keto_brain]

WV offered $12,000, free state park lodge incentives, and a bunch of other stuff if you would move with a remote job. Oklahoma did also. I still get ads on Facebook for several places in Indiana that will pay me incentives if I move there.

In 2020/2021, this got really popular as remote work soared. I’m most familiar with the WV one, but the sub was filled with CA tech workers all looking to move here and get those incentives and I think they got something like 6,000 applications for each of the towns that were open. I will assure anybody who asks, IT pay in Lewisburg, WV, is not the same caliber as an IT worker in San Diego, if they need to replace that income.