Four things to keep in mind when you’re laid off (and then asked to come back)

Is this risk management?

After laying off around half of Twitter’s workforce in the first 10 days of owning the company, and allegedly dismissing staff for disloyalty and talking back on Twitter and Slack, new CEO Elon Musk is reportedly trying to get some of them to come back on the job.

It’s a confusing and tense time for tech employees, especially as other large companies, like Amazon and Meta, are considering or have already begun widespread layoffs and sweeping cuts to their budgets. Being asked to return just days after receiving a pink slip only adds to the uncertainty.

IT Brew spoke to Chicago-area technical recruiter Alexander Finch. Here are his four things to remember if you’re laid off and asked to return.

1. Judge your risk tolerance. If you get laid off and asked to come back, it’s likely the environment in the office and the company is going to be different than it was before. Any company doing layoffs, Finch told IT Brew, is likely to have a “real or imagined budget crunch” that can have negative effects on company culture. “But the pros are, with less people, there actually is a lot more opportunity for advancement,” Finch said. “There are going to be less people in line for those senior positions, for managerial positions, [so] you will get to cut your teeth working on a lot more.”
2. Don’t lose sleep over the layoffs. Engineers and IT pros who work for companies like Twitter and Meta might feel some responsibility to consumers and users after they leave. That’s normal, but staffers should remember that they don’t control the company’s decisions. In the hypothetical situation of a major breach that you could have stopped if you had returned or stayed on, it’s natural to feel a measure of guilt. But, bottom line is that it’s not your call. “Ultimately, it’s the company's fault,” Finch said. “It’s the leadership’s fault.”
3. You don’t really have leverage. One thing people who have been laid off and called back in for work should know is that they don’t have the leverage they may think they do. If layoffs are happening, Finch told IT Brew, being asked back is not a sign that management is rethinking the strategy as a whole. Rather, they’ve just realized that there are a few positions that need to remain filled. “I really don’t think you have much leverage at all…even though it is a tight tech market right now, we’re looking at 90,000-plus layoffs recently,” Finch said. “These companies are going to reasonably think that their costs should be going down over the next year or two.”
4. If you decline to return, it’s probably not going to damage your future job prospects. But what if you’re called back to work and decline? Maybe being laid off sounds better than going back to work for the people that canned you, but you’re concerned about what that might do to your career.Not to worry, said Finch. Large companies are doing layoffs and cutting staff but the IT job market remains fundamentally strong. “I would not stress about a single incident like this on your résumé going forward,” Finch said.

“Honestly, I think it’d be fine.”—EH

Do you work in IT or have information about your IT department you want to share? Email [email protected] or DM @EoinHiggins_ on Twitter.