Please don't go "harsh and critical" or cross into personal attack. We're going for the opposite here: thoughtful, respectful, and above all curious conversation across differences.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

In a time when there's 10-20% unemployment, I'd profoundly disagree with you. But we're living in a time where there is constantly an enormous shortage of labor. It's unbelievably easy to get a job right now, especially if you're in tech.

Companies that are laying you off are doing you a favor: you'd be making much more money working for someone else!

> It's unbelievably easy to get a job right now, especially if you're in tech.

It's not true, at least not universally. I have plenty of examples when very competent people, no less than seniors, spend months - in today's market conditions. A big chunk of the reason is this - you're laid off, so something is wrong, and often it takes time to get to interview - so you're without job, and you're offered inferior salary, and the time isn't on your side. Many people don't specialize in searching for work, they specialize in e.g. software.

I don't think you have to disclose that you were laid off.

You in practice have to disclose the last date you worked for your most recent employer which at a minimum makes you look very strange for quitting without another job lined up if you try to play it that way.

....bullshit

If the jobs are so plentiful, why are there 500-1000 other applicants for a Sr Unix SysAdmin role.....

I doubt this will be the case in 6-12 months.

What's your basis for this assessment?

If anything, in the US, there's reason to believe there will be an even lower labor supply in the future with the baby boomers retiring, a generation larger than the ones replacing it.

I suspect parent is talking about a shorter cycle downturn.

You can say that all you want, but it still hits hard to be suddenly and unexpected out of a job. I think for me the lack of closure (I never did really find out what precipitated the layoffs) and lack of ability to say goodbye (remote company and my slack access was removed while I was informed) were hardest. To work somewhere for any amount of time and just suddenly not, of your own volition, is a really hard thing to cope with.

The uncertainty leads to anxiety which can be overwhelming especially for people who value a lot of things in life outside of a Zoom call and don't want their lives disrupted because of work.