It’s Over: Your Step by Step Guide of Immediate Steps To Take After A Layoff
- Corporate Kate
- Aug 16, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 28, 2025
You may be reading this in a state of shock or potentially resignation. But no matter if you are leaving a job you loved (or one that you tolerated everyday) you will be feeling one thing after a layoff: anxiety. There is a lot to figure out in your life now that you won’t have a steady stream of income from your corporate job. Layoffs bring about a ton of unknowns, especially if this is your first rodeo into unemployment. Below is a step by step walkthrough of the first steps you should take if you find yourself in this unfortunate scenario. This article will take a generalized approach to describing each step, with links to comprehensive posts about each step for greater detail (coming soon!). Good luck out there!
Step 1: Save all relevant information you need from your work computer
I put this one at the top because you may only have a little bit of time to act on this step. If you have time before either your computer is shut down or being taken by your employer, make sure you save anything personal that you had saved on the device before handing it in. This could be documentation like health savings receipts, certifications you earned, or even personal photos you had saved (although I hope you did not save them here!). Make sure anything that you may need in the future that belongs to you and only you (no stealing sensitive company information please) are backed up. Most corporate laptops will not allow external devices to be connected to pull data from the machine, so if you are using email make sure it will make it through your company’s security procedures!
Step 2: Send out your contact info to people you want to keep in touch with
If your Outlook/Teams/Slack etc. has already been shut off, try and track down people on LinkedIn if you can. But if you still have access, send out a quick email or message saying that your time has come to an end and that you have really enjoyed working with them. This is a great way to establish a relationship outside of work now that you will not be seeing or talking to each other every day in or at the office. You can also send your personal contact details as people may be more likely to use those than social media to stay in contact.
Step 3: Review your company’s severance policy
You should be receiving information about this during the layoff conversation, but if not be on the lookout in your personal email or in your company’s internal documentation with details of their severance policy. This should include information of how many weeks about pay you are entitled to, how that pay will be delivered, and how any unused PTO will be paid out if applicable. Some things of note:
Some companies pay out the entire severance in a lump sum or as just a continuation of your regular paycheck
Some companies pay out unused PTO that was accrued in a separate payment to you (this will be taxed as income however)
Be sure the calculation of years of service is correct. If you were previously part of a different company that was acquired by your current one they may try to shorten severance to only your time of employment under the current company. Fight for your severance!
Step 4: Review your Cobra benefits
Cobra benefits kind of sound like it would be something exciting based on the name but it very much not. Cobra (a.k.a Continuation of Health Coverage) is the ability to extend your employer sponsored health benefits past the date of your termination. While it can be a huge relief to have health coverage post-layoff it comes with a big caveat: most employers are not going to pay their portion of the premium any longer. If you are curious how much that will potentially be (if you haven’t received documentation already), look at your latest pay stub and see how much your employer paid toward your medical, dental, and vision coverage. That total is now going to be added to what you were already contributing to the premium to keep the coverage. Remeber this when working through your budget!
Step 5: Look at your state’s unemployment benefits
There is an extremely wide range of potential benefits extended to you in unemployment based on the state you pay income tax too. If you are a remote worker and aren’t sure which state this would be, check your pay stub to see which state you are paying income tax too. That state will be the one with your income on file for unemployment benefits. Some other things to consider:
Some states do not allow you to receive unemployment benefits if you are still receiving money through severance. Check if this applies to your state
Most states will require you to have worked at the company for a certain length of time, received a certain amount of income, and to not have quit voluntarily or been fired for misconduct
Average unemployment across states is available for 26 weeks, but check with your state to see how long you can receive benefits for
Step 6: Create a budget
Ideally you already have one that you use each month, but if not there is no time like the present. Look through all your expenses for the last 3 months and figure out what the average spend is in each category and write it down. Then review how much money you have saved or will still have coming in (emergency fund, severance, side hustle) and calculate what bills you have to pay and for how long your set aside money will last. Start looking into options of what you can cut out of the budget to have your money extended further.
Step 7: If you have debt, look at forbearance or deferment options
This won’t be an option for every debt you have (or at least not right away) but some creditors will allow you to place your loans in forbearance (such as student loans) or to defer interest on the loans while you are without a job. This is also a great time to call your creditors and see if there is anything they will do to help lessen the interest burden so you can continue to make timely payments on your debt.
Step 8: Review potential side income opportunities
Be it an Etsy site, driving for Uber, or selling your old items, be looking into things that you can do in the short term to make money while you are not working for a corporate employer. This is a great time to turn that hobby into a side hustle now that you have some brain power to lend to its creation.
Sack Hack's Layoff Livelihood series delves into some of these options for extra income while you apply to new jobs. Check it out!
Step 9: Update your resume
Dust off that resume from whatever long lost computer folder it’s been saved in and update it to the present day. Make sure that your resume is formatted to pass through AI review systems and has accurate and easily digestible information of your career history.
Step 10: Update your LinkedIn
If you don’t currently have a LinkedIn, then start this step by creating one. (Unfortunately, we have progressed to a time where having a profile for potential employers to review is expected for recruiting.) If you have one already, set yourself as “Open to Work” and create a post explaining what happened at your last job and what type of work you are looking for. Be making connections with people you know and set up job searches to look for job openings.
Step 11: Reach out to your network
This doesn’t just mean sending a couple messages on LinkedIn. Grab a coffee with a former boss or mentor to learn about ways they can help you with the next steps of your career. Tell your family and friends about your situation so that they can provide emotional (or potentially financial) support at this time. One fun way I have seen post-layoff networking in action is a “Not My Problem Anymore” Happy Hour where those that were recently let go met up to commiserate and talk about next steps they were all taking in their careers. This is a time for relying on the connections you have made, do not feel embarrassed about getting the word out there!
Step 12: Take time to grieve
Grieving sounds like such a severe word for a job termination, but it truly describes the feeling one has when being let go (especially from a job or coworkers you loved). Don’t sit and ponder if there were things that you could have done better or differently at this stage that would have allowed you to potentially keep your job. In many cases layoffs are not indicative of our work effort or skills so dwelling on your previous role won't be productive for moving forward. Just let yourself sit with the information and come to terms with the change. Only once you have allowed yourself to truly process the shift in your career trajectory will you be able to wholeheartedly take the actions needed to propel yourself into an exciting new future.
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