I work at a private university as a Graphic Designer on the Marketing Team and found out yesterday afternoon that my boss, our blogger, and all five of our marketing managers were fired on the spot. Apparently the budget didn't allow for both an internal team and working with external vendors, so they chose to fire the people who'd worked for them for years doing the best they could in favor of outsourcing the work to some random firm that knows nothing about us. Myself and the Web Developer were the only ones who weren't let go and we both acknowledge that it's only because of our technical knowledge and access to important assets.
Gonna start looking for a new job now, because it feels like it's only a matter of time before they unceremoniously fire us too. Personally I'm absolutely devastated. I've known many of my team members for years and we had excellent working relationships. Any advice on how best to handle my situation would be much appreciated.