🌤 The Layoff That Changed How I Lead and Live
“Sometimes life subtracts before it multiplies.”
It was a Tuesday — one of those rare work-from-home days we quietly looked forward to.
But that morning, an unexpected company-wide town hall asked everyone to come in.
The Saigon 🇻🇳 office was unusually still.
We gathered in the pantry — a cluster of laptops glowing against white tiles, the hum of the coffee machine filling small silences.
Nobody said it out loud, but everyone felt it: something was off.
Across the screen, the CEO appeared from headquarters — calm, deliberate, too composed.
My manager, sitting in Singapore, kept his camera on, eyes down for most of it.
I’d worked with him long enough to read what he wasn’t saying.
Thirty minutes in, the words arrived: a 10% company-wide reduction.
🕊️ The Moment Everything Shifted
No one spoke at first.
You could hear keyboards tapping in the distance — the kind of sound people make when they’re pretending to keep working.
Then came the steps we all knew too well:
- Impacted employees would receive a Slack message and an HR calendar invite.
- HR and managers would follow up right away.
- Access revoked. Systems closed. The digital heartbeat slowing to silence.
We left the pantry and walked to a café nearby — the whole team, carrying a quiet that didn’t need explaining.
Slack notifications kept pinging.
One of my teammates looked down at his screen.
He exhaled — quiet, controlled — the kind of breath you take when you already know what’s coming.
No one said anything.
We just watched the notification light up,
and then another one,
and another.
Moments later, my own Slack pinged.
There wasn’t much to say.
Just nods. A few hugs.
That evening, we gathered for drinks — not to grieve, but to honor something that had been good while it lasted.
💼 The Build-Up Before the Break
In hindsight, the signs had been there for months.
The pace. The projects. The endless cross-country coordination.
Group-level initiatives that spanned commercial, engineering, product, and operations —
a web of well-meaning complexity.
Everyone cared. Everyone tried.
But large systems have their own rhythm — one that rewards alignment over imagination.
Progress became a matter of synchronization, not spark.
Every week brought a new “urgent alignment.”
Every decision required three decks, two calls, and one more late-night message to Singapore.
It was rewarding work — but it asked for a part of you that doesn’t grow back easily.
On paper, I was thriving.
But inside, I had stopped feeling like a builder.
💼 The Kindness in the Ending
When the news came, it wasn’t cruel.
It was precise. Professional. Humane.
The company handled it with grace — a fair severance, thoughtful outreach, genuine words.
And my manager — the same one who first believed in me years ago — checked in after.
We didn’t talk about loss.
We talked about direction.
That small kindness stayed with me.
🌱 The Reset
Then came the stillness.
The mornings slowed.
The calendar emptied.
The noise of constant motion faded into something I hadn’t felt in years — quiet.
I began spending unhurried time with Milo and my wife — long breakfasts, small detours, laughter that didn’t have to fit between meetings.
And I started something completely new:
the piano.
At first, it felt awkward — my fingers stubborn, my patience thinner than I’d like to admit.
But it gave me something work hadn’t in years: a beginner’s joy.
Then I returned to coding.
Not for deadlines. Not for launch dates.
Just for the sheer satisfaction of seeing logic come to life.
Hours would pass without me noticing — that quiet, creative flow I’d almost forgotten.
⚙️ What Changed in Me
Before the layoff, I measured success by how much I could juggle.
Now, I measure it by how much I can feel while I work.
I learned that:
- Leadership without clarity burns everyone.
- Progress without purpose becomes noise.
- And titles mean little if you lose the joy of craft.
I used to say, “I’ll get back to engineering one day.”
The layoff simply made that day arrive sooner — and more honestly.
💬 The Takeaway
Getting laid off didn’t shatter me.
It softened me.
It reminded me that careers aren’t ladders — they’re seasons.
And every ending carries the quiet gift of rediscovery.
Sometimes, life doesn’t ask for permission to pause you.
It just does — and waits for you to listen.
💡 Quick takeaway:
A layoff can end your employment — but it can also restart your sense of meaning.
🔍 A Personal Reflection
Months later, I can see it with gratitude.
The company was fair. The people were kind.
And the silence that followed became fertile ground.
Now, my days are simple:
code, piano, family, peace.
And for the first time in a long while,
I don’t feel like I’m running anymore.
I feel like I’m home.
📖 Written with gratitude for a hard ending that became a gentle beginning.