My job decided to lay off about 1/4 of the staff today with no warning. This is the first time experiencing layoffs in my 15+ year career. We all joined a company-wide Zoom (chat disabled, all participants forced to stay on mute) where we were told about the layoffs, and about 15 minutes later, a lot of people didn’t have a job anymore.
While I was not laid off (this round), this really makes me worry about my future at this company. It also reminds me that despite all of the relationships we might think we’re building at work, we are ultimately in a transactional relationship with our employers, and that relationship can end at any moment, in either direction, without warning and in a way that can up-end your life.