• Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons helps career professionals transition into retirement.
• She acknowledged that many federal workers are being forced to consider retiring early.
• Parsons said processing anger and grief is the first step to take when forced into retirement.

The end of a career — especially when we're not the ones choosing it — can bring about feelings of anger, as well as grief related to the loss of professional identity, purpose, community, and routine.

Many federal employees are now dealing with these heavy emotions and are overwhelmed from now needing to think about a retirement they once assumed to be five or 10 years away.

As a lawyer and retirement transition expert, I've helped many career professionals plan for what comes next when they confront an unplanned retirement.

The reality is that, forced or not, unprocessed anger and grief should never be the defining features of one's retirement. And going into retirement without proper planning is foreshadowing disaster. Here are seven steps to take if you're forced to retire before you're ready.

1. Recognize feelings of anger and grief

While working through these negative emotions can seem deeply unpleasant, processing your anger and grieving these losses are important for a positive transition.

For one thing, unprocessed anger and grief can harden into a form of permanent bitterness and risk defining a rewarding multi-decade career by one moment — its endpoint.

2. Understand retirement can be stressful

Retirement is a major life change and can be a stressful experience for everyone — no matter the circumstances: Research indicates that retirement can be among life's most stressful events.

If you're concerned about who you will be or how your life will work in retirement, you're not alone. It can be helpful to connect with others who have been through or are going through a similar situation.

3. Redefine your identity during retirement

I regularly see my clients struggle with what feels like the loss of their very identity as they contemplate retirement. It's common to build your identity around the major roles that you play in life, and your career often supplies one or more of those roles.

When you have to let those go, it can feel like an existential threat.

During retirement, it's important to explore and reconnect with enduring aspects of your identity beyond just your career roles. How can you invest more in other roles now that you have more free time? What new roles could you embrace to enrich your life?

4. Find new sources of meaning and engagement

Think about the aspects of your working life that you loved the most. Consider new contexts or opportunities to continue working in those ways.

For example, if one enjoyable aspect of your professional life includes mentoring younger people, look for new opportunities to leverage that experience. Or if you have deep expertise in a certain industry, perhaps you can use that experience to speak, consult, or write in those areas.

It's important to find activities and pursuits that provide a sense of purpose, contribution, and connection.

5. Reframe retirement as a "graduation"

My favorite reframe is to consider retirement another form of graduation, which speaks to the opportunity and possibility that waits on the other side of this change.

Instead of viewing retirement as only an end, remember that it's also a new beginning filled with opportunities for growth and new challenges.

6. Plan beyond finances

While financial security is important, it's crucial to plan for other aspects of life.

Human beings need some form of structure to thrive. With the loss of the structure provided by working life, it becomes important to design new routines, habits, and metrics to measure progress in life.

Think intentionally about how you will invest in your relationships, health, and personal interests — given more space and time. Don't just default to the old habits and routines that you developed to accommodate your work schedule.

7. Above all, remember to enjoy the ride

Often, what first seems to be an unwanted circumstance quickly evolves into an exciting opportunity.

As you let go of what has been, remain open to what now might become. Enjoy the path as it unfolds, and surround yourself with others who can take an optimistic view of the adventure ahead.

Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons, J.D., is a retirement transition expert, lawyer, and cofounder of two consulting firms. On February 5, she released her book "Encore: A High Achiever's Guide to Thriving in Retirement."

• Chris Williams is an ex-VP of HR at Microsoft and has over 40 years of executive experience.
• Williams said being visible can help workers avoid DOGE-like emails requesting accomplishments.
• He shared how to track accomplishments, get recognized, and know when to help out at work.

The "five things you did last week" email that DOGE sent to all federal workers has raised an important question for employees everywhere. How do you stay on your boss's radar in a positive way?

Simply put, if your boss already knew what you were up to, they wouldn't need to send an email like that. As the former VP of HR for Microsoft with 40 years of business leadership experience, I've seen a lot of people who know how to stay visible.

Being visible helps avoid uncomfortable inquiries like the "five bullet points" request and makes performance reviews easier for both you and your boss. It helps you avoid being labeled an underperformer when cuts are considered and it can help you be more top of mind when opportunities arise — it's a great way to "manage up."

Here are three ways to help you stay visible to your boss and reduce your chances of being laid off.

You should always track your accomplishments at work

It doesn't matter if your boss sends an intrusive status report request like "send five bullet points from last week" or a simple "Hey, what's up?" inquiry; you should always be ready to talk about what you've been up to.

That's why you should track your accomplishments. There are many ways to do this. Some people keep a "brag book," a simple document where they list the significant things they've done. Others use a notes application or even a complex database.

For years I kept a simple four-column spreadsheet

My spreadsheet had columns labeled: Date, Item, Significance, and Notes. Every day, or at worst, every week, I'd add a couple of rows to the sheet. I'd insert the date and a phrase for the item — just enough to remind me what it was.

In the significance column, I'd put a number to represent how important the item felt at the time, with "5" being the highest. In notes, I'd add a comment or even a link to the project or document.

Then whenever I wanted, I could sort by significance and date and get the most important things from the last month, week, or year. When bosses requested a progress report, I was always ready to respond: "I'm glad you asked."

The best way to ensure this happens is to make it a habit. Spend two minutes updating your list at the end of every day. This also helps at performance review time, where you'll inevitably need to report on your accomplishments for the year.

Don't be shy to take credit where due

Another important way to stay visible is to ensure you take credit when you deserve it. Too many people get shy or humble at work and let others grab the limelight.

Work is not a place for excessive humility. The forever humble, the "I'm just doing my job" kind of people are often overlooked. They're just doing their jobs, after all. If you want to be seen, you have to be visible. Don't be afraid to take credit for your accomplishments.

Ways to make sure you get credit for your work

Insist your name appears on that proposal or presentation. Don't be afraid to put your name under the title of that document. Don't be shy about answering "That was me" when someone asks about a great idea.

Also, don't let others steal your work without objection — even if you lose a battle for representation. For example, when your boss takes the credit, putting them on notice helps for the next time. If you simply let people take credit for your work, they'll never stop.

Raise your hand and help out

A final way to stay visible is to not shrink into a corner when the boss needs help. When the call comes for volunteers, raise your hand.

One of the best ways to stay on your boss's good side is to help them get their job done. The best way to do that is to do things they don't want or have time to do. Just being able to say, "Don't worry, I'll handle that," means a lot.

But it's often hard to know what they need help with. You don't do their job, so it's a challenge to understand where you can jump in. When they explicitly ask, that's where you can most certainly be useful.

Know when to volunteer and when to sit back

You don't have to raise your hand all the time. You don't have to answer your boss's every whim. You shouldn't stretch yourself beyond your limits just to be in their good graces.

But you should also not be the one who never volunteers. Your boss will notice that you never pitch in or lend a hand to your peers. That's how you stay on your boss's radar in the worst possible way.

Essentially, if you track your performance, take credit where due, and learn when to help out, you'll never be blindsided by the "five things you did last week" request because both you and your boss will already know. These are three great ways to increase visibility at work.

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with over 40 years of experience leading and building teams.

• As massive layoffs increase across industries, people are taking to LinkedIn to vent.
• Chris Williams, ex-VP of HR at Microsoft with over 40 years of executive experience, weighed in.
• He said a carefully constructed rant could actually attract new employers.

You've been laid off after being branded an "underperformer," or you've tried forever to get HR to rein in your toxic boss with no success.

Should you vent your frustration on LinkedIn and other social media platforms? Can you make your case and get some resolution online?

As the former VP of HR at Microsoft and an executive with over 40 years of experience, I've seen a lot of rants on LinkedIn. Most were dumpster fires, yet some were actually net-positive. The difference comes from how you construct the message you post.

Be very careful ranting online about your job

The No. 1 rule for social media, rant or not, is to be careful — anonymity is not possible.

No matter how hard you try, someone can find you. If your rant is pointed enough, someone will try. So don't say anything you don't want your name or the company you work for associated with, especially on LinkedIn.

Be careful about burning bridges. Aggressively trashing your company, especially individuals, will provoke backlash. Releasing confidential information is also easy in mid-rant and could get you in deep trouble.

Even if you don't provoke a response, an extremely harsh rant speaks volumes. Other potential employers will see your post and think, "Do I want this kind of drama here?" You look like a risk for volatile behavior, so they'll steer clear.

That doesn't mean you can't be critical, but an unhinged rant is a long way from thoughtful criticism.

Complaining about work on LinkedIn won't help

Perhaps the most frustrating part is that your rant won't fix the immediate problem. Ranting about your layoff or your boss won't change it. You'll still be out of work, and they'll still be someone's boss.

Even if you call out clearly terrible behavior, it was almost certainly already known. The company deliberately chose to label you and lay you off or to keep that toxic boss. Your rant won't change it — that's hard to swallow.

Although LinkedIn features millions of experts on nearly every topic under the sun, be careful of the advice you receive. Many of the most vocal people on the platform simply want to sell you their book, their course, or their service.

Don't look for help from random internet strangers. If you get it, make sure you weigh it against your personal experience, the people you trust, and the credentials of the person giving it.

LinkedIn is free, and much of the advice there is worth every penny.

Venting on social media can still be a good thing

All of this said, social media can help a great deal in these times of crisis.

Venting on social media is a cathartic experience that can help you release things bottled up for years. I never underestimate the value of a good release.

In addition, a great social media post can spread your reputation broadly in ways nothing else can. A crisp, well-spoken, and thoughtful post says a lot about you and your ability to get your point across.

Companies often look for smart people who can communicate well. If you can make a strong case against the status quo, that's very attractive to many employers.

Rather than tarnish your brand, a great social media post is the best publicity you can ask for. As long as it's not more toxic than the behavior that sparked it.

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with over 40 years of experience leading and building teams.

• Debra D'Agostino, a DC lawyer, has represented federal employees for over 20 years.
• She said federal workers should comply with RTO mandates, DEIA rollbacks, and hiring freezes.
• She also shared three ways for federal workers to challenge the executive orders while on the job.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Debra D'Agostino, a 48-year-old attorney from Washington DC who represents federal employees. It's been edited for length and clarity.

As a founding partner of the Federal Practice Group in Washington DC, I've represented federal employees for over 20 years.

Since President Donald Trump's first batch of executive orders, I've observed an incredible sense of fear among government employees about whether they'll be reclassified or have their rights stripped away. Regardless, I hope all federal employees use their resources and see quitting as a last resort.

Here's what every federal government worker should know as more executive orders are rolled out and what I predict may happen next.

RTO mandates will include most federal employees, but there are exemptions

The United States Office of Personal Management (OPM) issued guidance that targets both remote and teleworkers in the return-to-office mandates.

Remote workers are people who live outside of the commuting area, and teleworkers are folks who are based in the commuting area but still work from home.

Those exempted from the return-to-office mandates are people with reasonable accommodations or people with a qualifying disability. Those with a qualifying disability are presumably disabled people who had been working from home but never needed to formalize it into reasonable accommodation until now.

There's also an exemption for those with a "compelling reason." We don't know exactly what that covers yet, but agencies will certainly have some discretion over what that means. The most recent guidance referenced an exemption for military spouses.

Federal DEIA workers might be assigned to new roles with some similar tasks

Employees working in DEIA groups were placed on paid administrative leave. Also, "reduction in force" notices, which are essentially 60-day layoff notices, were issued to some folks.

The reduction in force process is governed by very complex regulations, so we'll have to see how much the Trump administration cares to abide by those regulations.

So far, they haven't been terribly concerned with complying. What's murky is that some of the DEIA employees are reasonable accommodation coordinators, a function that still needs to be performed. I predict some folks will be reassigned to different roles but still tasked with performing that function.

The hiring freeze is messier than it should be and might last for a while

The OPM guidance says that any federal government job offer signed after January 20 at noon is invalid, and those positions will remain vacant.

I've heard from folks who say they thought they secured a federal agency job months ago but still got their offers rescinded. This may be because, a lot of times, the government issues tentative job offers months before making firm offers.

I always advise people not to give notice to their current employer until they have signed the firm final offer. I predict the hiring freeze may continue for a while.

It's best to comply now and complain later

Unless ordered to do something unsafe, my golden rule for federal employees is "comply now, complain later." Even if you think you're being ordered to do something that violates agency policy or goes against your belief system, there may be consequences for failing to comply.

For example, if you refuse a reassignment, the government may just fire you. If you're fired, it's incredibly difficult to get rehired or file a complaint. You'll be fighting an uphill battle.

Being employed by the government is what gives you leverage to challenge an order you don't agree with.

I'd recommend that the same employee take the reassignment and then file a grievance, Equal Opportunity complaint, or Merit Systems Protection Board appeal, depending on the situation. There are several avenues to complain through, and because those resources were set up by federal law, they're not going anywhere.

If you're a federal employee whose job has been impacted by the Trump administration's executive orders and would like to share your story, please email [email protected].

• Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft with more than 40 years of experience.
• Williams says simply doing a good job isn't enough to avoid being called an "underperformer."
• He suggests employees work on becoming well-known in one of four ways.

Several companies are laying off people they call "underperformers." Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Intuit have all recently done this.

The lesson from these layoffs is that simply doing your job well isn't enough. You can toil away for decades doing a fine job and still get caught up in these layoffs.

To avoid what seems like a random label, it helps to understand how it happens.

What is underperformance?

On its face, it seems obvious: If a company wants to reduce costs, it makes sense to discard the poorest-performing people.

The issue is the haphazard way these evaluations are often done. Dozens of long-term employees from Meta, Microsoft, and others have taken to social media to share their shock. They tell of 10, 20, or even 30-year careers with unbroken strings of excellent reviews, only to get one surprise terrible review followed promptly by a layoff.

No one would challenge that poor performers — people who can't meet basic metrics and who repeatedly fall short despite warnings — are candidates for dismissal. That's exactly why companies use this label.

Companies know that layoffs are distasteful, but getting rid of poor performers looks great

Widespread news of a layoff brands the company as in distress. Companies know that potential candidates for their thousands of open positions would avoid joining a company that just did a layoff.

On the other hand, branding a layoff as culling the poor performers looks great.

The company is removing dead wood, holding higher standards, and striving to be the best. Rather than looking in distress, it looks aggressive and healthy. High-performance people will seek out companies like this.

In addition, terminating people for performance helps avoid a range of potential legal issues. Many notification rules don't apply when performance is the justification. A company can avoid or minimize severance obligations when firing for performance, and many of the discrimination laws could be sidestepped as well.

If the performance-based layoff hits older or other protected-class workers disproportionately, the excuse could be, "But their performance."

The way companies execute these layoffs is a problem

These companies already have built-in mechanisms to identify and remove chronic poor performers. Several of them have quota systems that require a certain percentage of their employees to be labeled in the bottom performance tier. Those employees are routinely removed in what is called "unregretted attrition."

But then come these layoffs. Managers at all levels are told to identify poor performers and lay them off. They've already done that for years.

Now they may have to find more, and that's often done in a cynical and random fashion. "They've been here forever, how about them?" "Nobody likes them, they can go." or "What have they done for me lately?"

That's the haphazard way even good people could get branded as underperforming.

How to avoid the underperformer label

Managers don't simply stack rank their team and pull the bottom people — that well is dry. What they do is get together with their peers to try to find the layoff candidates among their ranks. They'll discuss individuals and their accomplishments.

The worst possible thing that can happen in that meeting is for the group to promptly agree on you. That might be because of very visible mistakes you've made, disagreements you've fomented, or chaos you've caused.

Avoiding the label at that point is difficult or impossible. No one around the table will rush to your defense.

But it's just as bad if the group says, "Who?" — for them to be unaware of what you've done and the impact you've had. Your manager might defend you, but without support, you're in trouble. Even decades of hitting KPIs cannot insulate you if you're doing it in isolation.

The way to avoid this is to make sure you're well known. Fortunately, there are several ways to do that.

1. Get noticed beyond your team.

Volunteer for visible projects. Offer to be the face of the work outside your team. Make that presentation to the VP. Find ways to highlight your work well outside your immediate team.

2. Work with other teams in the company.

Volunteer to be the liaison between your team and the groups it's dependent on. Raise your hand to participate in those random companywide initiatives that always come up.

3. Move around to various teams in the company.

Stretch your impact by working for different people, in different groups, in very different parts of the organization — even if they're unusual or off your perceived career track.

4. Network well beyond your team.

If you can't actually move to other teams, make connections there. Look for ways to connect with your boss's peers and the people who work for them. Find other people well outside your discipline and reach out. Have a coffee or a Zoom and make a connection — any connection.

The best defense is a good offense

If you do this well, the managers will move on to someone else, and you'll survive this round of layoffs.

Unfortunately, once you've received this label, it's often too late. Even if it seems you've been randomly assigned the label, it's hard to shake it off.

Work proactively on becoming well known. Find and make connections with people who are likely to be around that table. At all costs, avoid being the "who?"

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with over 40 years of experience leading and building teams.

• Steve Hsu, cofounder of AI startup SuperFocus, says that DeepSeek is an impressive company.
• His team is testing how DeepSeek models run with the SuperFocus system and plans to make the shift.
• Hsu finds that DeepSeek models are cheaper, faster, and more private.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Steve Hsu, cofounder of AI startup SuperFocus and professor of theoretical physics and computational mathematics, science, and engineering at Michigan State University. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

At SuperFocus, we create superhuman AI for businesses. Typical use cases include customer service, ordering, delivery, document analysis, and travel scheduling. When building our AI systems, one of the components we typically use is an AI such as GPT-4o.

From talking to other AI founders and engineers, it sounds like everybody's experimenting with the DeepSeek models. They are among the best — if not the best — open-source models available and are much cheaper than the closed-source model, and I would be very surprised if there isn't a big shift to open-source models in the next year.

We're in the middle of doing a lot of testing on how the DeepSeek-V3 models run with our system, but we're already very confident that it's good enough to do what we need to do, and if a customer would benefit from it, we could make the switch.

Besides client work, we also have our own research development in the company, which includes quite a large monthly OpenAI bill. To save money, we're planning to shift a lot of activity to open-source models like DeepSeek.

Here are the three reasons we're planning to switch to DeepSeek

1. Price

DeepSeek models are about 30 times cheaper to run than comparable OpenAI models. That offers significant cost savings for the customer service industry.

The all-in cost of a customer service employee in the US could be something like $25 an hour. If a company goes to the Philippines, it might be about $5 to $10 an hour. Our models using OpenAI as the LLM provider allowed us to be about 10 times cheaper than hiring a human working in the Philippines.

But now with DeepSeek-V3 as the model, our costs could be another 30 times lower.

2. Speed

We've found that the open-source model is also faster. This matters for us because a lot of our work involves voice interactions, and humans don't like a long latency between when they stop talking and when the model responds. It sounds unnatural and doesn't feel like a conversation.

When you innovate with new technologies, especially in software, you tend to get speedups that can easily be 10x or 100x faster due to better optimizations and the use of algorithms.

The DeepSeek team implemented a large number of very clever optimizations and innovations to modify the actual model architecture, which means they can use less memory and need much less compute to generate tokens or train the models; therefore, the model is faster at generating tokens once it receives a prompt.

3. Privacy

Some customers are concerned about their data flowing through an OpenAI model or a proprietary model. For example, if we had a private equity fund customer, the AI might analyze very sensitive documents that they don't want anyone outside of the firm to see.

Because DeepSeek is open source, anyone can just run the model on their own hardware, or on servers rented from AWS or some other cloud provider. The model itself has no communication channel back to DeepSeek. Therefore, we're able to build the AI software platform fully within the cloud instance where the client's data already lives, never sending the data out through, say, the API for Google AI or for OpenAI.

This wouldn't be the case if, like some other LLMs made by Chinese companies, it were closed source. In that case, you have to communicate with the model via their API, and it runs on hardware that the Chinese company controls, just like with OpenAI.

I could imagine a customer saying, "We don't want to use those communist Chinese models. Even if it costs 10x or 30x more, I'd rather use the OpenAI or Anthropic model." And if somebody says that to us, no problem. But because our company's purpose is building narrow AIs that serve specific purposes, political issues generally don't arise.

I think DeepSeek is a very impressive and open company

I've been following the work of several Chinese companies that build LLMs, and our team has been testing Chinese open-source models for many months now. I think DeepSeek is a very impressive company that produces really good research papers; you can tell that they're trying to be very clear about what they did and their results, and are encouraging others to reimplement or validate what they did.

The founder is very idealistic and has the philosophy, which he's talked about in interviews, that by being open, the field will progress faster, which I think is true. They're much more open than almost any other top lab in the US, including OpenAI, about what they're doing — it's ironic.

The path forward for AI

Now, suddenly, a lot of Americans know about some Chinese technology that they knew nothing about before. But our American self-esteem is so high that people are in denial and pretending that we're still ahead in AI and China hasn't caught up. People online, including prominent founders in the tech sphere, are even saying that they stole information from us, like the claims that DeepSeek distilled their models from OpenAI models and that the $5.5 million cost of their training runs is fake. I don't think these accusations are true.

This AI race is an important competition, on both economic and technological prestige grounds. I think it's going to be a close competition between the US and China, and at any given moment, many of the top models will be Chinese models.

It's going to be a great competition, and consumers will win because the price goes down. People will get more and more inference and applied intelligence at a lower price in their daily lives. With the competition pushing things forward and more brains working on the problem, I think we'll get to AGI even faster.

This will also benefit scientists. A professor at CalTech, for example, will be able to download a reasoning model like R1 and start fine-tuning it to help him solve physics or math research problems. There was no way to do that with the OpenAI models. The availability of really good open-source models will trigger tons of innovation.

If you're an AI expert and would like to share your insights on the latest AI developments, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].

• Mike Manalac, a CPA, found audit work boring and unfulfilling, like he was a "glorified box-checker."
• He left public accounting for a more exciting career in Big Tech, as an accounting manager at Google
• Manalac now loves his work and perks at Google but he says Big Tech has some drawbacks.

After eight years as a certified public accountant, Mike Manalac decided to seek a more exciting career path — one in Big Tech.

Manalac, now 39, started his career as an auditor with CohnReznick, a top 20 firm, where he spent eight years. This was followed by a brief contract stint at Big Four firm PwC. From there, he took a path through the Fortune 500 with an accounting role at Walmart before landing an accounting role at Google.

"They say the grass isn't always greener, but in my case, it was," Manalac told Business Insider.

He was happy but found the work boring

For close to a decade, Manalac was happy working at big accounting firms — the business travel, meeting clients, and seeing the inner workings of different companies. "I liked the social events on the company dime, the generous vacation policy, top-notch training, and the team camaraderie that came with working together in the trenches," he said.

However, he found the audit work itself pretty boring — "mind-numbing grunt work," he called it. "I'd go through long periods where I felt like a glorified box-checker," Manalac said.

One of the worst parts of the job was completing timesheets — what he called the "never-ending chore" of tediously recording how he spent every six minutes of his workday.

Since the firms' clients only paid for the audit work because their investors and regulators required it, Manalac found the work unfulfilling. "I'd spend hours reviewing investment and loan documents for my banking clients, which felt like watching paint dry in PDF form," he said. It was even worse during the industry's busy season — January to April.

If Manalac was lucky, he'd get to work on an audit of what he considered to be a cool company, like real estate clients developing entertainment districts or clients that owned train lines and helicopters. But even then, he felt like he was on the outside looking in.

"I eventually realized that I'd be happier if I worked for that [kind of] company instead of auditing it," he said.

Getting a taste of the "cooler side" of accounting

Manalac decided to leave behind traditional accounting firms and instead pursue internal accounting roles in Fortune 500 companies, with the ultimate goal of securing a position in Big Tech.

In 2016, he kicked off his plan with a five-month contract position at PwC in San Francisco, to put himself "at the epicenter of premier job opportunities for when I was ready to change paths," Manalac said.

During that time, Manalac applied to dozens of roles in San Francisco and Silicon Valley — but only at household name companies that he thought "would be cool to work at." His interview list included Salesforce, Uber, and Pandora Media. He eventually accepted an offer to join Walmart's corporate accounting team, supporting the eCommerce business.

"This was the first time in my career where 40-hour workweeks were the norm, and it was glorious," he said. Manalac found the online shopping business "much more relatable" than his audit work.

"The company was on an acquisition spree, which meant a flurry of exciting accounting projects to work on," he said. "I had a sense of pride in my work that I didn't have at the big accounting firms."

With no more dreaded busy seasons or daily timesheets, Manalac was hooked. "At Walmart, I was busy, but everyone still left at 5 p.m. and the work environment was much more chill compared to public accounting," he said. "I'd gotten a taste for the cooler side of accounting and I wanted more.

Both the work and the perks are great

Big Tech was still on Manalac's radar, so he started interviewing for companies like Amazon, Meta, and Google. After a year of applying and messaging recruiters, he finally scored an interview at Google in the summer of 2017.

Two months and five rounds of interviews later, Manalac landed a job at Google, where he is now an accounting manager.

While he still spends his fair share of time in spreadsheets, he spends much of his time doing data analysis, writing SQL scripts, and building workflows to automate manual accounting processes. He spends less time doing repetitive tasks and more time working with cross-functional teams on new business initiatives.

"I get a kick out of working on products like Search, YouTube, and other apps that pepper my phone screen," Manalac said. "My success is no longer measured by billable hours like in public accounting either — it's measured by the impact of my work."

When he needs a break, some of Manalac's favorite on-campus options include hitting the gym, popping into the arcade, booking a massage, or hitting golf balls in the simulator.

Then, there are the extravagant work parties. "Museums are rented out for Christmas, concert venues for Halloween, and I've even had team outings that had me hopping on a plane for a day at Universal Studios," said Manalac.

And while he enjoyed domestic travel as an auditor, it's been overshadowed by his global travel experiences at Google to places like Singapore and Switzerland.

"The big accounting firms have generous PTO, but there are few companies outside of Google that would've allowed my three-month sabbatical to travel Europe with my family like I did in 2024," he said.

Accounting doesn't have to be a boring career path

Going from a Big Four accountant to one in Big Tech does have some drawbacks, though, said Manalac.

"In public accounting, you're almost guaranteed a promotion every few years, which isn't the case in Big Tech and other Fortune 500 companies," he said. "Additionally, when you work for an accounting firm, you're the golden goose that generates revenue for the company, but as an accountant in Big Tech, you're just a cost to the business." This means that accounting teams are "perpetually understaffed," he added.

But no job is perfect, and all things considered, Manalac feels that an accounting role in Big Tech offers one of the best career paths for an accountant.

"Most people think of accounting as a boring career, but that doesn't tell the whole story," he said.

If you landed a Big Tech after working in a different field and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].

• Nicole Chan Loeb is a 38-year-old photographer, videographer, and mother of two.
• She started her career as a management consultant at Deloitte and quit after two years.
• As a photographer, she's able to be present for her family while doing work that she loves.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicole Chan Loeb, a 38-year-old former Deloitte management consultant who quit in 2010 and is now a photographer and videographer in Boston. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I've always loved numbers and excelled at math, so I majored in finance in college. In my junior year, I took a business class that involved project-based work, igniting my passion for management consulting. After speaking with Deloitte representatives during an on-campus job fair, I applied and was accepted to an internship for the summer after my junior year.

I enjoyed the internship. I had a great team, lots of support, and a clear progression path within the company. At the end of the summer, I received a return offer, which I accepted.

As a first-generation child of immigrants, I felt like my parents came to the US so I could have these opportunities. I think they were excited and proud of me for studying finance, graduating, and landing a job like this. But that path didn't last for long.

I hated the exhausting hustle culture

I started working at Deloitte full-time in the fall of 2008 after graduating. My job required extremely long hours in what was known as the 3-4-5 program — three nights in a hotel, four days at a client site, and a fifth day back in the office. I flew to a client site every Monday, stayed through Wednesday night, and flew back to Boston on Thursday. It wasn't a good work-life balance.

I worked on three significant projects during my two years at Deloitte. Being between projects was called being "on the beach," which could hurt your utilization ratio, affecting raises and bonuses. We were expected to find projects to stay busy with, so I took on initiatives for the company like volunteering and writing white papers.

It was a hustle, churn-and-burn culture, and it was exhausting. I hated it, but was too shy to raise my concerns.

I overheard senior managers and partners airing their frustrations about lack of time with partners and families. Having a family and balance was something I wanted in the future, but I could see myself getting sucked in for the next 15 to 25 years, feeling financially comfortable but never having time to be home.

I also didn't feel much job satisfaction; despite having a lot of work, my impact felt insignificant. One particularly awful week, I thought to myself, I can't imagine feeling like this for the rest of my life.

I remember sitting in a Thai restaurant and telling my then-boyfriend, now-husband, about it. He said, "You're miserable. You're going to run yourself to the ground. Why don't you just leave?" He encouraged me to pursue photography as a career. Ever since I was young, I've loved photography, and with my Deloitte salary, I'd upgraded my gear and kit, but I'd never considered it as a career.

At first, I shrugged him off, but I started thinking more about it and eventually decided to take the leap. In August 2010, I put in my eight weeks' notice to give the company time to find a replacement and in October 2010, at 24 years old, I left Deloitte.

The fear of having to return to finance motivated me

During my eight-week notice period, I created a website, posted on social media, and gave out business cards at marketing and networking events on the Fridays and Saturdays I was home.

I made soft announcements to friends. Some were supportive and immediately referred me to friends and family, but others warned that I'd wasted my college education and that photography should stay a hobby or a side hustle.

I actually didn't tell my parents for the first couple of years. They'd worked so hard that for me to say, "Hey, I'm going to leave my very comfortable, stable job with benefits and a retirement plan to do my own thing" was terrifying.

I gave myself two years to replace my Deloitte salary. If I couldn't achieve this, I'd return to another corporate job and keep photography as a hobby. The fear of needing to return to finance if I couldn't make this work was a really strong motivator.

It took me several months to get my first clients. To get my name out there, I did free photoshoots and assisted established photographers. I poured kindness and passion into my first clients and asked them to give me honest feedback, and they returned my kindness with referrals.

I found that many skills I'd learned at Deloitte transferred over to my new career — active listening to client concerns, professional client communications, presentation skills, understanding what clients want, both spoken and unspoken, and bridging strategy and creativity.

After the first 18 months, I saw that it could be a sustainable career.

I'd never consider going back

I don't ever miss working in consulting and wouldn't consider returning to that fast-paced life, although I'm not sure if the culture has changed.

Being a wedding photographer allows me to be present for my family while doing work I love. I choose clients who align with my values and structure my schedule to be intentional with my time. I can pick my kids up from school every day, take midweek adventures, and never have to ask for permission to travel.

I love capturing small, unscripted emotions that couples and families will cherish forever. I don't regret anything, and I'm very grateful for my supportive partner who encouraged me to pursue this passion.

I'm thankful for the mentors that I had at Deloitte, who were terrific role models, endlessly brilliant, and supportive. I still use the skills they taught me today in my photography work, and I wouldn't be who I am today without the experience of working there.

I hope that the humility and kindness that drove my career forward haven't gone away. It's really cool that I can make a comfortable living by taking pictures, and I don't take that for granted.

Deloitte representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

If you quit a Big Four consulting firm to pursue a different career and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].

• Dr. Dhivya Srinivasa is a double-board-certified surgeon who runs a private practice in California.
• Srinivasa had three kids while pursuing her medical career and is glad she didn't delay motherhood.
• She shares how she manages her busy schedule by prioritizing specific events with her kids.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dr. Dhivya Srinivasa, a California-based breast reconstruction surgeon. Business Insider verified her employment with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Some moms are at every PTA meeting, class party, and basketball game. Then, they're cooking dinner when their kids arrive home. You won't find me doing all of that — and it doesn't mean I love my kids any less.

I grew up with a physician as a mom. She had me and my siblings during her residencies. When I was born in India, my dad told my mom she didn't have to give up her career and they would make it work.

I grew up with strong examples of working parents and I hope to pass this on to my children. You can balance a career with parenting and what being an involved parent can look like is evolving.

I often felt misunderstood as a parent in my working environment

When I became pregnant during my fourth year of residency in 2013, I remember not wanting to tell anyone. I was the only female in my class.

I was a hard worker and supervising physicians' favorite, but I felt like things shifted when I got pregnant.

One time during residency, I remember being in a long surgery that was going past the scheduled end time. I let my attending physician know I needed to leave for a prenatal appointment, which was common practice for health-related appointments.

He said, "Sometimes I feel like you book them early on purpose." He had two kids of his own and should have known there weren't ever later appointments.

I had my first child in 2014 while working as a medical resident, and I was back at work four weeks after a difficult c-section, often pushing through 80 to 100-hour workweeks with an infant at home. Luckily, I had a nanny and my in-laws supporting me, and I completed my residency.

I had my second child in 2016 while completing a fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Michigan from 2015 through 2018.

After having my third child in 2020, I started working on faculty at a hospital in L.A. Some doctors I worked with didn't acknowledge I'd just had a baby. I'd pump in my car as there was no lactation area in the hospital. I felt my colleagues doubted my ability, but I made it clear being a mom only made me a better surgeon.

I'm now a double board-certified plastic surgeon and run my own business for breast reconstruction.

Learning how to succeed at both

I started my private practice in September 2021. Now, I can be a physician and mother on my terms.

I had kids early in my career on purpose. My kids are now five, eight, and 10. I didn't want to wait and compromise my fertility for my career. I knew I could succeed at both, but it meant making sacrifices.

I had to learn where my energy was best directed. I used to prioritize pick-up until realized my kids didn't really care about that. But, I value their education, so I do their homework with them every night.

I've also learned to be proactive when selecting which of my children's events I can attend. When I first started my practice, I didn't block my schedule for certain school events. After my oldest child shared with me that he missed having me at these events, I started proactively blocking out time for my children — even if it meant requesting classroom activities from teachers at the start of the school year.

Now, I always take off Halloween for classroom parties and second-semester field trips. In the office, We've established color codes on my calendar so they're aware when a calendar event is non-negotiable and dedicated to my children.

As my kids get older, I make those decisions with input from my kids about what events are most meaningful to them. I cancel work for one on-campus activity per kid a year. On those days, we go all out. It isn't just a stop by the school for a few minutes, we dress up and plan our activities weeks in advance.

Their excitement, and mine as well, have shown me it isn't the number of events you're at as a parent, but your presence at the ones you can come to.

I've sacrificed at work too. I moved to running my practice versus the world of medical academia. In opening my practice, I had to make the tough decision to stop working with trainees. Though I love teaching, it slows down cases and I had to prioritize my family.

It does take a village — and it makes my kids well-rounded people

My husband Ravi is an interventional radiologist and professor. He is the parent the school calls if a kid needs to be picked up because I'm sometimes in surgery. While he also works full time, he's easier to reach due to set office hours and less time in the operating room.

We also talk to teachers at the beginning of the year about our setup so they know I won't be available at the last minute. I love that they learn that dads might be the first point of contact, not just moms.

My kids spend almost every weekend with their grandparents and sometimes weekday evenings. They are getting a rich education by spending time with their first-generation immigrant grandparents and have learned things I'd never be able to teach them. This assuages any guilt I have about my schedule.

Similarly, I have precious videos of my husband at the park with my kid, which he'd send to me while I was working.

These sweet moments are made sweeter as they show that my kids have so many different people who love them.

• Discovering 'The Third Door' led to career success at Google and Meta for Andrew Yeung.
• The concept involves finding unconventional paths to achieve goals and stand out.
• Yeung used four steps to find the "third door" and launch a successful tech and hospitality career.

Up until a few years ago, I thought I was going to have a mediocre career.

School was difficult for me. Math, English, and science were hard. I didn't think I was terribly smart, and I had below-average grades all the way from middle school up until the point I graduated from college.

It wasn't because I didn't try. In fact, I tried pretty hard. My brain just couldn't grasp basic STEM concepts. Beyond that, I lacked the typical traits associated with success, like charisma, confidence, and genius-level intelligence.

No matter how hard I pushed myself, my results were always below average. I'd spend hours studying in school, only to end up with bad grades. This pattern repeated itself throughout college, where I'd spend months applying to jobs without any kind of response.

I realized I needed to change things up, or I'd end up with below-average results for the rest of my life. I had to stop doing what everyone else was doing because it wasn't working for me.

Everything changed for me in 2019 when I came across Alex Banayan's book, "The Third Door." It completely transformed how I did everything and eventually helped me land lead roles at Google and Meta.

What is "the third door"?

Picture yourself trying to enter an exclusive nightclub. There are three doors: one general entrance that everyone goes through, a second door for the VIPs and celebrities, and a third door that nobody tries.

After learning about this idea, I made it a habit to solve every problem by finding the third door.

I became almost allergic to conformity, ignoring common wisdom. Whenever I saw someone do something a certain way, I would try to do it differently, and I was convinced that there was always an easier, unconventional, non-obvious way of getting things done.

Here are the four things I started doing to improve my likelihood of having a fulfilling, high-growth career.

1. I started creating magnets to attract the attention of decision-makers.

I always had trouble getting into the room, whether it was an interview room with the hiring manager, a private dinner with executives, or a boardroom with decision-makers. To get into the room, you often had to know the right people, have a top-tier résumé, or be exceptionally smart or charismatic. I was none of these, so I realized I needed to create the room myself.

Instead of trying to get into the private dinners with CEOs, I hosted my own.

Instead of trying to get on stage and grab the attention of business leaders, I created my own stage and invited leaders I wanted to speak alongside.

Instead of chasing people, I learned to create valuable things that would attract the attention of those I wanted to meet.

2. I started differentiating myself with my speed of execution.

Throughout my career, I've used my execution speed as a competitive advantage, and it's always paid off.

By replying to her email within 10 seconds, I landed an internship with the CEO of a company with over 20,000 employees.

At Facebook and Google, I had the opportunity to work on the highest visibility projects because I was the first person to raise my hand.

I've also made introductions within a minute of being asked. Being faster is the easiest way to differentiate yourself.

3. I started investing in decadelong relationships when everyone else focused on transactional relationships.

In the last few years, I've interacted with thousands of people, and I've observed that most people take a shortsighted approach to building relationships, especially in fast-paced, metropolitan cities like New York and San Francisco.

It makes sense — there's a high density of remarkable people, giving you what seems like infinite options for relationships, but in reality, this false sense of optionality can hurt you.

Early in my career, I was rejected by dozens of hiring managers. Each time, I accepted the rejection with grace, thanked them for their time, and offered to provide value by introducing them to other candidates. Eventually, it came back around.

I graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in finance and economics. My first job out of school came after I was rejected from a company's internship program. I took this opportunity to build a relationship with their hiring manager and nurtured that relationship for over a year.

My path into Facebook was from a cold outreach that turned into a mentorship relationship lasting over three years, and my entry point into Google came from building a long-term relationship with someone I met spontaneously.

The strongest professional relationships are built when you think in decades.

4. I started giving without the expectation of return.

My strategy for gaining access to job opportunities, CEOs, and influential people has always been volunteering my greatest asset: my time. It's been my trojan horse for opening doors, building relationships, and accessing larger opportunities.

In my early 20s, I knew nothing about startups and tech, so I pitched myself to the CEOs of early-stage companies, offering my help and suggestions. Eventually, a few people took me on, and it became my method of breaking into the tech world as a non-tech person. This approach helped build my personal brand as a young, helpful, and hungry operator.

The third door helped me succeed

These four habits eventually enabled me to get access to opportunities, build relationships with prominent tech leaders, and "break" into tech without good grades or a strong résumé.

In reality, I see myself as an average person who isn't particularly gifted or exceptionally smart in a specific area, but I've managed to find some success by discovering the unfair advantages that are uniquely suited to me.

Andrew Yeung is a former Meta and Google employee who now throws tech parties through Andrew's Mixers, runs a tech events company at Fibe, and invests at Next Wave NYC.

• Former director at PwC and British Airways Michael Doolin has 36 years of experience in HR.
• He shares his advice for job-seekers who have been laid off and are interviewing for new roles.
• Doolin said it's important to frame the lay off as an opportunity and shared suggested scripts.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Michael Doolin, CEO of Clover HR and former human resources director at PwC, British Airways, and DPD in Ireland. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

A redundancy, also known as being laid off, is a forced exit and a permanent loss of employment that occurs when employers need to reduce their workforce.

I've been telling people bad news for nearly 40 years. It doesn't get any easier. I'm impacting the lives of the people in front of me, as well as their partners and family. It has a tremendous knock-on effect.

30 years ago, one of my previous bosses told me that I must never lose that sense of responsibility. Redundancies need to be handled very sensitively. It's important to me that the individual leaves the room with their head held high, knowing that they've been treated fairly and transparently.

It's not unusual to be made redundant. Most of the time, the employee has done nothing wrong. The average person will have 12 jobs throughout their career, and redundancies can happen in that time. Between July and September 2024, 90,000 people were made redundant in the UK.

In future job interviews, hiring managers will usually ask, "Why did you leave your last role?" Here's how to navigate having been laid off in an interview for a new job.

Be transparent

Don't avoid the question. Be upfront and say: "I left my previous company due to redundancy. There were a number of positions lost, and, unfortunately, I was one of those affected." Provide a clear and concise explanation of the circumstances, and give specifics about the scale of the redundancy if you know them.

Do not lie about layoffs. A skilled interviewer can see when people aren't being open. When you can see someone being dishonest as an interviewer, it gives negative signals about the candidate's character and resilience.

Be honest about your disappointment, but stress that you've moved on

It's fair to tell your interviewers that losing your job was a shock. You can say that it's a huge change, and that it's been disappointing or depressing. Expressing your feelings demonstrates emotional intelligence, showing that you can process challenges and learning from them.

Being open about the emotional impact of redundancy requires a balance. Ultimately, you should remain professional and focus on growth. Tell your interviewers that, after a period of reflection, you've moved forward. Interviewers typically respond positively to candidates who acknowledge their challenges while emphasizing how they've used the experience to grow and realign their career goals, not those who continue to be downhearted about their previous lives.

Focus on the positives

It's very possible to draw positives from your redundancy situation. It can be viewed through the lens of change: new skill opportunities, new ways of working, and new horizons.

For example, you can say: "I was sad to leave my employer of X years. I've reflected on that and realized that it gave me the opportunity to be in a room with you, talking about my vision for the future and the skills and experiences that I can bring to this team. I'm very excited about that.

"In a way, my redundancy has done me a favor because I'm enthused, energetic, and looking forward to the future. Possibly, it's a change I wouldn't have undertaken had I not been forced to, but I'm embracing it as an opportunity."

Remain professional

If you're feeling resentment or anger about your redundancy, you need to handle this outside the interview. Candidates should see the interview room as a shop window to facilitate their potential entry into a new career. You have to go into that opportunity with your best efforts. It is not the time to express anger or recrimination.

Don't criticize your previous employer. You can use adverbs like "sadly," "disappointingly," or "regrettably" when talking about your last job. The interviewer may pick up the subtle hints you weren't happy with how layoffs was handled.

Highlight your achievements

It's still important to discuss your achievements in your previous employment, even if you were made redundant. They don't go away. Share specific examples of how you met or exceeded expectations to reinforce your value and forward-thinking attitude.

Just because the business failed, it doesn't mean you failed. Be sure to share any details that give more context to the scale of the redundancy with interviewers.

Remember that redundancies are usually not the employee's fault

Most layoffs are due to changing market outlooks, foreign exchange movements, or world events outside one's control. Either way, redundancy is not something to be ashamed of.

Approaching an interview without shame around being laid off will allow you to present yourself positively, emphasizing your achievements and skills. By framing redundancy as an opportunity for growth, you demonstrate resilience and adaptability.

This mindset shows you can turn challenges into stepping stones, which can be appealing to prospective employers.

• Alma Rex-Ezonfade spent over a year saving up $51,300 to take an "adult gap year."
• She initially found it difficult to do nothing but learned to enjoy herself and explore new hobbies.
• She launched her own clothing brand, is applying to 9-to-5 jobs, and plans to take more sabbaticals.

Editor's note: This list was first published in May 2024 and most recently updated on January 2, 2025.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 31-year-old Alma Rex-Ezonfade based in Toronto, Canada. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

On my 29th birthday, I opened a savings account and put $500 in it. I had told myself that for my 30th birthday, I would gift myself a one-year sabbatical, and this was my first step in making that dream of taking an "adult gap year" a reality.

I was tired of working and always being on top of things. I immigrated to Canada from Nigeria when I was 22 for my master's degree and started working right after graduating. It felt like I had been running on a hamster wheel, and I was just going, going, going, going.

I calculated my budget for the year

Before taking my gap year, I was a customer success manager at Astreya making around 110,000 CAD ($80,500) and a content creator. Between my 9-to-5 salary and my income from working with brands and doing campaigns, I was making nearly 200,000 CAD ($146,600) a year.

I calculated how much I actually needed to save based on my spending at the time.

For necessities like rent, car payments, groceries, gas, my phone bill, and utilities, I estimated around 4,200 CAD ($3,100) a month. I also decided I wanted to travel, which I knew would be a bit pricey because I'm not a budget traveler. I planned for 18,000 CAD ($13,200) for two big trips and a number of smaller ones.

Altogether, I calculated that I would need to save around 70,000 CAD ($51,300) for my sabbatical, which I did by putting most of my content creator income into my sabbatical fund. If I didn't have my job as a content creator, I would've picked up a part-time job to generate that supplemental income.

I also cut back on expenses. I was never too shy to say "I can't afford that" or "I can't do that activity," because I was planning for something that had way higher priority than going out and spending $200 in one night.

I left my job but struggled to not do anything

Saving up took me a little longer than I had planned, but I quit my job in April 2023.

The day I quit, I just spent the whole day at home, watching the TV blankly. I didn't do anything else; I just needed my brain to shut off.

On Monday, I woke up at 8 a.m. as usual because I forgot that I didn't have a job. Then I remembered I could sleep in, but I was already awake, so I tried to figure out my new routine.

I started to put together a plan, and then I realized that would just defeat the whole purpose. The plan was to let go.

Still, I didn't feel like I could just not do anything. I found myself planning for my upcoming trips, brainstorming content ideas for my YouTube channel, and posting more regularly on my Instagram page. I had thought about starting my own clothing brand for years, so I started working on ideas for that too.

One of my friends said to me, "The whole point was for you to not work. Why can't you not work?"

The week after I quit, I checked myself into a hotel for a couple of days, ordered room service, and cried the entire time. My tears were tears of gratitude, tears of exhaustion, tears of relief. I was letting myself feel like, "Okay, I did it and I'm here."

I was used to being a high performer, managing a team, having deliverables, and doing all these things. I had to get used to the idea of not working and get over feeling like I wasn't useful because I wasn't being productive. I had to shift to having my validation come from my own happiness and seeing my value beyond my work output.

Three weeks into my sabbatical, one of my former bosses reached out to me to tell me about a contract role at Google that she wanted me to interview for. Honestly, I almost took it, because I wasn't used to the idea of not having work.

It took some getting used to, but eventually, I was able to go a whole week without doing any work.

Did I make the right decision?

The first few months when I was on sabbatical, I was so sad.

I looked at all the money that I had put in my sabbatical account and thought of everything else that I could have done with that money rather than lounge for a whole year.

Maybe I should just take it out and buy a house, I thought. I even asked my real-estate agent friend to look up properties for me, but I knew that if I bought the house instead, I'd be miserable, always wondering what I could've achieved if I just took the year off.

I remember talking to my therapist and trying to validate the decision time after time. At the end of the day, I realized that I was at the best point of my life to give this gift to myself. A few months in, once I settled on that, I started to have fun with the idea that I was on a sabbatical.

I learned to enjoy myself

I enjoyed having the luxury of time to do whatever I wanted.

I fell in love with working out again. I started coloring, drawing, and doing ceramics. I started reading again and got back into writing. I spent more time with myself and with my family. I picked up childhood hobbies again, like building Legos and taking Polaroid photos. I also cooked more and tried new coffee spots in Toronto.

Some of my favorite memories from my sabbatical are the many days I spent just sitting on my couch watching TV and only getting up to eat. I finished all six seasons of "Downton Abbey" in one week. I also watched all of "Schitt's Creek" and a lot of Korean shows.

Working on my clothing brand became a passion project. I learned about fabrics and the fashion industry — I enjoyed just learning things for the sake of learning.

I visited friends and family in other countries, did some birthday trips with friends, went on a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean, and spent four weeks traveling Europe.

I launched my own clothing brand and am looking at full-time roles

In May, after a full year of my sabbatical, my sabbatical funds were almost fully drained, and my income as a content creator was keeping me afloat. I thought I'd be panicking about my finances, but taking the time off helped me develop a mindset shift; I knew I'd figure it out one way or another. I was the most broke I'd ever been, but I'd never been happier.

That month, I launched my fashion brand, which has been doing well. I've been focused on running and growing it full-time, and in the near future, I hope to hire a team to take over the day-to-day tasks. In the meantime, I've been financially relying on savings and my content creator income, including several brand deals.

I've always been open to returning to a 9-5 workplace after my gap year, and I've been applying to roles that allow me to leverage my skills as a customer success manager, an entrepreneur, and a creative. I plan to continue running my clothing brand full-time as well.

I plan to take many more sabbaticals

I'm very happy with my path. I just feel kind of sad that I had to take a whole year off of work to find joy in my life.

One of the biggest things I'm taking away from this sabbatical is realizing that a lot of things are not that serious. When you're an immigrant, a lot of things are that serious; I had to start life over again in Canada and I had to excel at this life. But I just kept going and going and going, and I realized that I needed to enjoy life.

I'd absolutely do a sabbatical again. My loved ones have pointed out that I'm less grumpy, I shout less, and I'm less controlling. My plan is to work in a corporate job for another three years to get more experience and knowledge, take another year off at 35, and repeat that cycle until I retire.

My sabbatical was really about redefining what happiness looks like at different points in my life. I needed time away to de-stress and prioritize the things I thought were important, and now, I'm going back with a fresher outlook on my professional career and personal life goals.

If you took a sabbatical and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].

• Chris Williams, ex-VP of HR at Microsoft, shares advice on how to bounce back from mistakes at work.
• He suggests employees take three steps: own it, fix it, and prevent it.
• Williams used these steps to fix a big mistake he made at Microsoft and was eventually promoted.

As the VP of HR at Microsoft, I saw a lot of people make mistakes. From simple math on their expense accounts to serious errors in judgment that required the local police to resolve. Also, much of what I learned about handling mistakes at work came from an enormous mistake I made years ago.

Everyone makes mistakes, but at work, it seems like they hit harder.

On the job, consequences often warrant more than simply, "Oops, my bad." Mistakes at work often cost a lot of money and might put jobs at risk — even your own. Here are the three steps you should take to help save your job or even career when you make an error at work: own it, fix it, and prevent it.

Own it

The first step to resolving an error at work is to take responsibility for the mistake. If you made the error, don't deflect, don't blame the computer, don't pretend it didn't happen. Own it.

Tell your boss as soon as possible before things spiral out of control.

For example, many years ago, I wrote the copy protection code for Foxpro, the database software that was eventually sold to Microsoft. I tested it on dozens of machines in every case I could find.

The very day we released a beta version, it froze the receptionist's computer — not just crashed it, but locked it up so the machine couldn't even boot. I quickly discovered it was my code that had caused it, and we had just sent that code to thousands of testers.

My code could've locked up dozens or hundreds of customer computers.

I realized my error wasn't that complex, so I immediately enlisted the help of all of my peers to discover the extent of the problem and potential fixes. My friend in shipping stopped the copies that had not been sent, and my colleague sent a message to every beta tester not to install the software. For some users, it was too late, so I quickly developed a tool to recover the frozen machines.

By the end of the day, I had a fix for the receptionist's machine that we could apply worldwide. We posted those steps as quickly as we could.

I survived the error with the help of my friends.

On the other hand, in very rare cases, the mistake is very serious, even potentially illegal. If you think what you've done exposes you or the company to legal liability, get some protection. It might be a good idea to consult a personal attorney right away.

Fix it

Often the best thing to do when you've made a mistake is to repair the damage. Correct the report and let everyone know it's been fixed. Clean up the mess on the shop floor. Make an adjustment entry to the inventory.

As a manager later in my career, I very much appreciated people who could say, "Hey, I broke this thing, but don't worry, I've already fixed it.

Whatever the mistake, a key part of owning the problem is fixing it. If the damage is out of your hands or beyond your abilities, at least understand and explain it as best you can. You are uniquely positioned to know how it got broken, that knowledge can go a long way to fixing the problem. So tell that part of the story too.

Also, it's never a good idea to fix things and hide them, pretending they didn't happen. Not only is that not true, but it has many negative effects. If your mistake is later discovered, the trust relationship you have with your boss is gone — maybe irreparably. Mistakes can be forgiven, but untrustworthiness is harder to repair.

There may have even been side consequences to your mistake that you didn't see, which could ripple far and wide. That glitch in the inventory could result in distrust of the inventory system overall and lead to far broader issues.

Prevent It

That leads us to the next step: stopping it from happening again.

As the person who made the error, you have a unique view of how similar mistakes can happen. You can provide insight into ways to prevent them.

In my case, I worked to ensure we had a broader selection of test machines and developed a new set of test cases for all our security code. I was probably the only one who understood the impact of my mistake and was the best one to implement changes.

Work with your manager to identify ways to prevent the error. Maybe it's as simple as a checklist. Perhaps more than one person needs to review it. Maybe there needs to be software or physical locks to prevent the possibility of the mistake again.

The one thing we all learn early on is to learn from our mistakes.

A mistake at work doesn't have to end your career

In my case, the error that I owned and fixed certainly didn't slow my career. Not long after, I was promoted to development manager for the company. I'm sure my transparency and ownership were part of the reasons I was trusted for that role.

When you make a mistake, the best way for the entire company to learn from it is for you to own the mistake, fix it, and work to prevent it from ever happening again.

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with more than 40 years of experience leading and building teams.

• Damola Adamolekun, CEO of Red Lobster, shares three books that influenced his career in 2024.
• Adamolekun was formerly CEO of P.F. Changs, which he helped generate $1 billion in revenue a year.
• He describes "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius as a timeless guide to leading.

At 35, Damola Adamolekun is the youngest CEO of Red Lobster of all time. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker and Harvard Business School alum was appointed CEO in August, just months after the seafood chain filed for bankruptcy.

Investors are likely hoping Adamolekun will recreate the restaurant resurgence he accomplished during his tenure as CEO of P.F. Changs from 2019 to 2023, during which he helped the struggling chain generate an estimated $1 billion in revenue a year.

The Nigerian-American businessman shared with Business Insider the three books that helped him navigate his career in 2024.

Business Insider: What three books have shaped your career and leadership this year?

1. "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara

Damola Adamolekun: "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara is a masterclass in creating memorable experiences through relentless care and attention to detail.

Guidara's approach to hospitality isn't just about service — it's about going above and beyond to make people feel valued. The idea of "over-delivering" resonated deeply with me, reminding me that exceptional hospitality, like exceptional leadership, often lies in the thoughtful, unexpected gestures that leave a lasting impact.

Whether in a restaurant or the boardroom, this book is a compelling reminder that relationships and culture are built on doing the little things with great intention.

2. "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius is a timeless guide to leading with wisdom, resilience, and humility.

Marcus's reflections on discipline and self-mastery have shaped how I approach challenges — focusing on what I can control and letting go of what I can't. His emphasis on serving the greater good is a powerful reminder that leadership is ultimately about responsibility, not power.

This book's enduring relevance lies in its ability to ground leaders in principles that foster clarity and purpose, even amid chaos.

3. "The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players" by Pat Riley

"The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players" by Pat Riley is a motivational book that shares leadership lessons and teamwork strategies, using stories from his NBA coaching career to inspire individuals and organizations to achieve success through unity, resilience, and continuous improvement.

As a former college athlete at Brown University, this book's story of perseverance, adaptability, and ambition echoes the mantra that I've carried from the football field into the boardroom as a CEO.

This story is part of an end-of-year reading list series that seeks to highlight the best books influential CEOs and business leaders read in 2024.

Correction: December 27, 2024 — An earlier version of this story listed incorrect publishers for the "Meditations" and "The Winner Within" book covers.

• In October, Meta fired around two dozen employees found to be misusing a Grubhub meal perk.
• An employee perk management expert shares four ways employees may not realize they're abusing perks.
• She says that abusing perks could come at a cost for the company and negatively impact employees.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah-Jayne Martin, a Chicago-based expert in financial operations and employee perk management at Quadient. The firm provides companies with financial automation software, including payments- and expense-related tools. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Many companies offer perks to their employees to improve their working environment or build morale, often offered on the honor system. Instead of putting hard-line policies in place, many companies hope that people will be reasonable with perk usage.

But there's a gray area around what's considered "abuse," which happens when the perks aren't being used for their intended purposes.

Many times, employees don't necessarily feel like they're doing anything wrong. If they were manipulating their expense report, they'd know that that's wrong — but grabbing a six-pack of Coke to bring home to a party they're hosting that night might not feel that bad.

In the case of Meta, the intended purpose of offering GrubHub credits to employees is so that those who are remote or working late can eat. Where I think it crossed the line into taking advantage of the perk was when employees pooled their credits and purchased things besides food.

The abuse of perks is the kind of thing where if one person's doing it, maybe it's not that big of a deal — but if it becomes the culture, it really can negatively impact the company and employees in multiple ways.

Here are 4 ways employees may not realize they could be seen as abusing perks

1. Food

I've seen cases where people in charge of ordering food for a monthly team lunch order an extra pizza so that they can take it home for their family. It doesn't seem like that big of a misuse, but they're definitely intentionally buying something with the company resources that they plan to use not for its intended purpose.

That can also happen with office snacks. Especially in the tech world, a lot of offices have snack bars and fridges where you can just help yourself to whatever's in there. The intended purpose is for people who are in-office to be able to grab a drink or a snack as needed throughout the day.

But then there are cases of people who pack up a cooler and take a bunch of those things home. Maybe they feel like it's there for them to take, but they're taking advantage of that situation.

Grabbing something to eat on your way home is, in my opinion, totally fine. But if you're taking a whole case of trail mix home with you, that's clearly not what it was intended for.

2. Parking

If you're working in a downtown office in a big city like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, one of the company perks that some companies provide to come into the office is to provide parking passes or discounted parking so you can drive to the office. An abuse of that might be giving your parking pass to someone who's visiting from out of town, or taking a parking pass that's meant for on-site clients to use and using that for your own personal use.

3. Travel

A lot of organizations have negotiated contracts with travel companies that provide employees with a code for discounted pricing on hotels, flights, or car rentals. While it may be considered OK for an employee to use it to book personal travel, sharing that code with people outside the organization isn't using it for its intended purpose.

4. Gym memberships

Some companies might offer gym memberships in the office building because they want employees to be able to exercise, be healthy, and have a break from their work. In that case, it wouldn't be appropriate for an employee to give their gym pass to their spouse to come in and use the gym.

It's the company's responsibility to draw the line between OK and abuse

I think the organization ultimately has the responsibility for drawing the boundaries of what's OK and what's a fireable offense.

That can be something as simple as, when rolling out a perk, saying something like, "The snack bar is here for employees who are in the office for meal times or for snacks. Be reasonable with what you take; taking large amounts of those supplies home isn't condoned."

If it's not clearly stated, employees may not feel like what they're doing is off-limits.

My advice for employees is to think about the intended purpose of the perks they're offered: Why am I being given this perk? And are my actions in line with that intention? Thinking from that perspective will probably make you realize when you're nearing an abuse of a perk.

Why misusing perks matters

Abusing perks could damage the relationships that the organization has created with other vendors.

In the example of gym memberships, the organization has probably negotiated discounted rates for company employees. If that gets abused and the gym finds out, it may retract the deal or the relationship between the company and the gym owner would sour. All of the people who've been using it appropriately could be impacted.

Misuse of resources also becomes a cost for the company. For example, if you're abusing the snack bar or using the photocopier to print your wedding invitations, it's a larger cost that the company has to bear.

It probably won't be so catastrophic that it impacts things like bonuses, but if enough people are abusing resources, it could put the financial stability of the company at risk — and impact whether the company is willing to spend money on perks in the future.

If you were reprimanded for abusing company perks and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].

• Jamie Jackson worked in HR for over 20 years and is now a podcaster and consultant.
• Jackson said when you're no longer engaged or growing at work, it could be time for a new role.
• Updating skills and preparing a job search toolkit can aid in career transitions.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jamie Jackson, a 43-year-old podcaster and consultant in Nashville. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As someone who has worked in HR for over 20 years, I've had this conversation countless times. People often confide in me, saying, "Jamie, I don't know what to do next."

They feel stuck in their roles, want to advance, or are considering a new job — but that can be just as scary because it means stepping outside their comfort zones. I've been there, too, wondering whether it's time to quit my job for something new.

If this is you, here are four key signs you've been in your role too long and what you can do next if you need to make a change.

1. You no longer feel motivated

Your engagement level is a good indicator of whether you've been in your role for too long.

For example, you may have previously felt engaged in meetings but now find it harder to do so because you no longer feel motivated.

Or, perhaps you once enjoyed conversations with coworkers at the watercooler or over coffee — asking about their weekends or holiday plans — but now you simply do what you need to do and move on.

2. There's no room for growth

Another sign is feeling stagnant in your growth.

For example, I once worked at a company for five years and kept being promised a promotion. Over time, it became clear it wasn't going to happen — they didn't see me moving up.

For a long time, I believed their promise was coming, but it never did. To advance, I realized I'd need to change companies because the growth I wanted wasn't going to happen there.

Sometimes, there simply isn't room for growth, and when that's the case, it's a clear sign that it's time to make your next move.

3. Your feedback has plateaued

Or, you might find yourself hitting a feedback plateau.

For instance, you may consistently receive the same performance reviews, with your manager saying that you're meeting expectations but not exceeding them — suggesting you've reached a stopping point.

If you're thinking to yourself, "I don't have anything else to offer. I'm doing the same job I was doing three years ago without additional constructive feedback or recognition," it might be time to switch roles.

4. You're burned out

Another sign is burnout. In the past, I had a job where I felt physically sick going into work.

I remember one time needing to pull over to the side of the road to puke because I was so stressed.

As I sat in a parking lot trying to compose myself, I thought, I have to find another job. I knew my mental health was more important — but as I didn't have the luxury of quitting on the spot, I found another job first.

For others, there are times when environments are insanely toxic, and they need to get out immediately — and they should, but when possible, it's important to have a plan in place.

Either way, burnout or feeling physically sick from work might be a sign that it's time for a change.

If you realize you're no longer happy in your role, you need to do some self-reflection

Ask yourself, what are my goals? Where do I want to be? In your mind, try to understand where you want to be in six months, a year, or even further into the future.

Do you need a new title or a promotion, and if so, how do you get there? Before doing anything, it's really important to understand what you want. Then it's time to take aligned action.

Brush up on your skills

Maybe you're perfectly content with your current role; you just need to be challenged more. By learning new skills, you can push for more responsibilities.

You can use resources like LinkedIn or YouTube to brush up on skills like Excel or explore additional training or certifications offered by your current company. New skills can help you stand out in your current role or make you more appealing to potential employers.

Get your tool kit ready

If you're looking to land a new job, you need to learn new skills and prepare your toolkit.

This includes updating your résumé, refreshing your LinkedIn profile, and researching the salary you should be making.

When you start looking for a new job, knowing your market value is key — especially if you've been in your current role for a while and aren't sure what the going rate is. From there, talk to your mentors, colleagues, and friends, and let them know you're looking for something new.

You might say something like, "Hey, I think by March, I'm really going to start looking for another job — so can you keep your eyes and ears open?"

That can really help.

December isn't the easiest month to get a new job, with the holidays and people taking time off. However, January can be a better time as companies enter the new fiscal year — new budgets and new positions are being rolled out. But you can always be passively looking.

Some of us are content where we're at, but if you're no longer interested in stepping up or taking on new challenges, it might be time to reassess your role.

If you're an HR professional with unique career advice you would like to share, please email Manseen Logan at [email protected].

• Alejandra Rojas started building her business as a finance mentor on social media as a side hustle.
• Rojas found a online business coach via their free workshop, then hired them for personal sessions.
• She said the coaching wasn't the right fit and made her doubt herself as an entrepreneur.

Seven years ago, I overcame a five-figure credit card debt. I got into debt through mindless spending during my early career as a finance professional in Washington, DC. It took me seven months of cutting expenses and tracking every dollar to pay off my debt.

As a finance officer, it wasn't easy to open up about my money mistakes, but I started sharing my story with people in my circle. Encouraged by their positive responses, I posted about it on social media and built a following.

I realized there was a need for better financial education, especially for women. I wanted to use my expertise to help others and build a flexible business but didn't know where to start.

I first encountered online business coaches through blogs and podcasts for digital entrepreneurs. I found a coach who positioned themself as an expert in building profitable businesses.

This coach offered a free three-day online workshop on how to create a compelling brand story. The workshop featured many of their affiliates — people I was familiar with from my research — and past students. After the event, the coach pitched a paid course on building your business around a strong brand message.

I found the free workshop very helpful and thought their course would help me clarify my story and sign clients. The initial course cost around $1,000.

By the end of the course, I still didn't feel confident about starting a business. The coach pitched one-on-one coaching program, a five-figure investment. I hesitated but thought this was the push I needed to succeed.

What the coaching promised vs. what it delivered

I had just finished paying off my credit card debt and was working full-time as a finance officer while building my business on the side. I didn't have savings to pay for coaching, so I used a combination of my credit card and monthly cash flow.

I researched other coaches, but I didn't want another general course. I'd already invested in this coach's course, so it like a logical next step.

The coaching program was an hourlong 1:1 session once a week over seven weeks. The program would help me refine my story, create a business strategy, and start generating revenue.

However, the sessions felt unstructured. Each week, I would discuss my progress and ask for guidance, but there was no overarching plan. The focus was on reviewing if I'd completed what we discussed in the previous session. Often, my coach would repeat similar concepts rather than introduce new strategies.

The investment was not worth it to me

During the third session, I expressed my frustration with not progressing and feeling overwhelmed. In between meetings, I mentioned that some of the advice, like sharing personal stories that didn't feel connected to my business, felt irrelevant.

That day, I told the coach outright that I preferred to spend time talking to people about their struggles instead of sharing my own stories.

To my surprise, the coach responded, "Maybe it's not working because you're too messy."

Part of this comment stemmed from my choice to skip some of the resources they had provided, like a sales tracking spreadsheet and a guide on how to win sales calls (because I wasn't making those calls yet).

It was also partly about me wanting to move ahead with multiple areas of my business instead of focusing on one thing.

The comment hit hard. I'd always been OK with juggling multiple projects, but for months after that session, I doubted myself. I believed that my "messiness" was holding me back.

Per the agreement, I couldn't cancel or request a refund, so I had to keep paying for the coaching program even though I was no longer invested.

I stopped working on my business for a while and focused instead on my 9-to-5. By the time the final payment went through, I felt frustrated I had spent so much money and relieved that I didn't have to revisit the tools and resources again.

After finishing my coaching sessions, I ditched the spreadsheets and went back to experimenting.

I followed my instincts and launched my business, The Brown Way to Money. Now, I run a platform that offers money management, financial literacy support and financial education dedicated to women entrepreneurs.

About a year ago, when I became pregnant I had to delegate tasks to what is now my team. I realized that my "messy" approach was actually my strength. People commented on how surprising it was that I could juggle so much.

What I wish I had considered before investing

I don't see my first coaching experience as a complete failure. It taught me that I am ultimately responsible for every business decision.

I've worked with coaches who have significantly contributed to my growth as an entrepreneur, but it took years before I felt ready to invest again.

By that point, I had a better understanding of my goals and what stage I was at with my business. This made it easier to hire a coach to help me build specific skills I couldn't develop alone.

Here's what I wish I had considered earlier:

1. Clearly defining my goals and desired outcomes: I now take the time to outline what I want to achieve with a coach. I discuss my goals with the potential coach beforehand to ensure we're aligned and have a clear path to reaching those outcomes.
2. Researching the coach's expertise and relevance: Now, I look into their social media, reviews and, when possible, speak with past clients to understand their approach. Their expertise needs to align specifically with the stage of my business and my goals.
3. Adopting a return-on-investment mindset: Instead of assuming the coaching experience will "work" on its own, I focus on how I can capitalize on the skills and knowledge I'll gain. I evaluate whether the potential ROI is clear and sufficient before committing.

After you're laid off, what comes next? For many tech workers, there's no easy answer. Following historic mass layoffs in 2023 and 2024, tech hiring has slowed and the job market looks increasingly bleak. Laid-off employees face an uncertain future.

For a road map on how to move on post-layoff, we spoke to former employees at Google, which cut 6% of its workforce nearly two years ago and has continued making cuts in 2024. Eight ex-Googlers impacted by those layoffs — including one who has since returned to the company — shared what it was like to lose what some considered their "dream job," how they found their footing in the aftermath, and their advice for others facing similar circumstances.

Many of the employees Business Insider spoke with said they were caught off guard by their layoff or that they expected only low performers to be impacted. Google said it provided impacted employees with outplacement support and invited them to apply for open roles across the company. Some interviewees told BI they found few openings.

Since their layoffs, these former Googlers' paths have varied. One ran for city council; another took a job at Trader Joe's. Some landed jobs at other Big Tech companies, and others launched their own ventures. While many reflected fondly on their time at Google and felt their layoff was a blessing in disguise, others expressed frustration toward Google's leadership.

Here are their stories, in their own words. Their quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Jonea Gordon, 36, Philadelphia

Gordon is a lawyer by trade who worked at Meta prior to joining Google as a privacy program manager eight months before the 2023 layoffs.

I was at a coffee shop with my husband when a news alert popped up on his phone saying that Google was laying off 12,000 people that day. We'd both survived layoffs before — my husband works at Amazon and I'd been at Facebook prior to Google — so layoff news generally didn't startle us; we were used to it. I'm sure it's not me, I thought. But then I tried to log into my computer, and my password was rejected.

I very quickly recognized the silver lining of the opportunity. I had six months' severance. I'd never taken a break before — I'd been working like crazy since graduating from law school in 2012. I rested and spent more time with my kids. We took a family vacation. I started doing Pilates and got back into therapy. I used the time as a true sabbatical to reenergize myself for the next phase of my career.

After three months, I started applying for jobs. I turned down an offer from a consulting firm because that world didn't feel like the right fit for me. Some big law firms approached me, and I took a contract role at a firm while continuing my job search. I started a new role in data privacy at Cruise, a self-driving car company, the same week my Google severance ended, but a few months later I was laid off again.

I dove right back into the job search and have been at Amazon since December. So far, everything is good. People are very nice and welcoming here, and I love my team. I'm eight months pregnant and plan to take maternity leave, but I'll be back to work after that. I also launched a coaching business recently and will be producing a new podcast next year.

I have peace around how everything ended up. My advice to people is that if you are going into tech right now, you can't be someone who takes yourself extremely seriously. I have a huge sense of humor, and that gets me through a lot of things. Because my husband and I both work in tech, people assume that we must live large, but we don't. We share a Toyota and live with the knowledge that we are very fortunate to be in jobs we love, but it could all be gone tomorrow.

Lois (Kyongsook) Kim, 55, Seoul

Kim led Google's communications team in Korea for 12 years before moving to its Mountain View headquarters in 2019 to establish its international media team. She was the director of global communications prior to her 2023 layoff.

As a longtime Googler who'd been with the company through the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, I felt like I was safe. At first, I thought the layoff email I received was a scam. As reality began to set in, I got really angry; I'd been so loyal to Google. I loved working there and felt so proud to be there. I went through the five stages of grief and wondered, Why me? I got depressed. I'd look at my empty calendar and feel rejected, like nobody wanted me.

I began to see how I could use my severance package as an opportunity. I decided to do a "gap year" and wrote out a list of things I'd always wanted to do: work at Trader Joe's, be a barista, work at In-N-Out Burger, drive for Lyft or Uber, pet sit, work as a bartender. It made me feel really rejuvenated.

That first weekend, I applied to Trader Joe's. But on my first day, I had trouble walking in the door. I'd been the director at a big company, was a two-time published author, and had been featured on a top Korean talk show; I thought people would look down on me because of the Asian cultural concept of "saving face." It was an internal barrier I had to break through, and I did. By May, I was working three jobs at the same time for up to 70 hours a week — Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and Lyft whenever I had time — plus pet-sitting on an ad hoc basis.

I decided to write a book about my experience to motivate other people in the same situation as me. Being laid off is painful — even more so in Korean culture because people don't talk about it. I wanted to be an example and say, "It's not your fault, and you can make full use of your time and then move on."

After 18 months, I ended up moving back to Korea to be the chief brand officer at Hanmi Group, a pharmaceutical company. Things have changed a lot in the five years I was away, but I'm using my experience from 30 years in international companies and learning a lot from local companies. I've also found my customer support and marketing experience at Trader Joe's and Starbucks to be helpful. I hope to retire in the US. Trader Joe's has a really good internal transfer system, so I'd love to work for two years in San Francisco, then in Idaho, then in Florida, and so on, so that I can explore the States while making money.

I miss a lot about Google, but more about the early days when it felt like a family. The company grew and grew, and we had to lose some parts and focus on efficiency.

I did a good job of quickly processing and moving on after my layoff. In hindsight, I wonder why I didn't take a break to travel, but I know I would've been too worried to enjoy it. If I were to share advice with friends going through the same thing, I'd tell them not to feel too anxious, especially about things they can't control. Maybe the future is already ready, even though you don't know it.

Anonymous Google employee

A senior software engineer who was laid off in January 2024 secured another job at Google a few weeks later. They asked to be kept anonymous to protect their job security.

I was really happy at Google. For the most part, I think it strikes the right balance between productivity and work-life balance. I had to take medical leave for depression at another fast-paced Big Tech job I'd worked; at another job, things felt like they moved at a glacial pace. At Google, I didn't feel overwhelmed, yet also felt like I was delivering. It was definitely my favorite place I've worked.

Because of my history of depression, I was afraid that I'd go to suicidality if I was laid off, so I worked with my counselor to set up a well-defined game plan. When the layoff actually happened, it felt horrible — my worst fear coming true. If I were early in my career or if my child and wife didn't depend on me as the breadwinner, I probably would've thought, Nice! Good vacation and generous severance. But I was super anxious about what might happen if I didn't find a comparable job in the next four or five months before our cost of living exceeded the severance.

I had my résumé already prepped and a contact list of people to reach out to immediately, and I went into cortisol-fueled search mode. I reached out to a lot of connections for referrals and applied everywhere, both internally and externally. I checked the Google internal job posting site every day, but there weren't many open positions. I also applied to every relevant LinkedIn EasyApply position. I spent the rest of my time practicing LeetCode problems and reviewing past projects.

A few weeks later I got a response from one of my Google applications and set up a video call. A couple of days later, the manager told me they wanted to bring me on. My biggest priority was securing a job so I accepted, despite having advanced in the interview process at some other companies. The Google role also had some advantages, like maintaining my competitive compensation and giving me an opportunity to develop relevant skills and future-proof my qualifications.

Returning to Google, I feel more anxious and find it harder to focus. Before the layoffs, I had a sense of security, like I was in a really good industry that paid well and had lots of mobility. Now, I have this ever-present fear that the industry will shrink and become too competitive, or companies will choose to take efficiency gains from AI to cut costs. And I've lost trust in Google's leadership. The real responsibility for layoffs lies with upper middle management up to leadership, and I feel there's been essentially no accountability.

Still, I think coming back to Google was the best risk-averse decision. My plan worked well, and I think I went about things the best I could.

Sylvia Duran, 40, San Diego

Duran worked at Google for almost nine years in various roles, including as the first chief of staff to the VP of operations. She also headed YouTube Mexico during the pandemic. Prior to the 2023 layoff, she was the head of strategy and operations for YouTube's Latin American and Canadian markets.

The night before the layoff, I missed dinner with my family to take a strategy call with the creator marketing team based in Singapore. The next morning, I tried to check my work calendar before breakfast and it wouldn't load. People had been nervous about layoffs but thought low performers would be the only ones impacted. That's not what happened.

Once I realized my role had been eliminated, I started bawling. I'd given everything to the company, like so many of us, and it wasn't a possibility in my head that I would be laid off.

I gave myself the weekend to grieve. One of my best friends visited from Seattle to support me. Three days later, I started a podcast, an idea I'd been playing with for a while. I put my head down and worked on it as if it was a full-time job; I loved it. It was therapeutic. I talked a lot with guests about childhood circumstances and how they influence our careers and decision-making. I came from a working-class background, and after getting an Ivy League education, I saw how easy it was to get sucked into thinking, I can't take this other kind of job because what is it going to say about me? I was fortunate that I had enough severance that it took me pretty much through the end of the year.

I became more active on LinkedIn and told people I was looking for a job; before, I'd been a very private person who didn't like asking for help. A friend of a friend, despite not really knowing me, helped pass my résumé on to different leaders at Intuit. I had an informational call with one, and when an opportunity arose within his team, I was able to land the job. I've been really happy here — my manager is really supportive, and we're working on tough, interesting problems.

After working at Google for so long and seeing how it ended, I've been thinking about how I spend my time. Even though I love my job now, I haven't let it interfere with my other priorities, like carving out dedicated time for my two kids. I'm also still regularly publishing podcast episodes, and I recently joined a nonprofit board.

There were a couple of times when I considered leaving Google but didn't because of fear. My advice for people is to not make career decisions from a place of fear. Stay somewhere because you're passionate, not because you're afraid to try something else.

I don't regret that night before I was laid off when I missed dinner with my family to work; I was excited about the project and was trying to be mindful of people in other time zones. But now I know that my layoff decision had already been made at that point, and the company was comfortable having me work really late the night before they were going to lay me off. My advice to people is to make sure that when you're making these trade-offs, you're doing it with clear eyes.

Aaron Gabriel Neyer, 32, Boulder, Colorado

Neyer interned at Google during college and returned seven years later as a developer relations engineer, before being laid off in January 2023.

When I found out I was laid off, I felt almost a relief and a sense of openness. I suddenly had this blessing of a healthy severance to use to build what I wanted outside of Google.

I intermittently job-searched for a few months and almost joined an early-stage startup, but nothing quite landed. I also traveled a bit around the US, did a lot of reading and writing, and participated in a lot of community engagement. I have a thriving community here in Boulder and enjoy being in nature. I also became the executive director of a nonprofit I joined in 2022 called Consciousness Hacking Colorado — now relaunched as Woven Web — focused on facilitating harmony between technology, society, consciousness, and nature.

I've begun a second master's degree, this time in creative technology and design at the University of Colorado Boulder's Atlas Institute. I also ran for Boulder City Council. I didn't win, but the city council appointed me to the Human Relations Commission which has been great. We're working on issues of how to address tensions in our community, especially in relation to the Middle East conflict, and how we can bring about better dialogue to address these tensions.

I bike past the Google office a lot here in Boulder and often feel a tenderness in my heart. For all of the company's faults, there are many things that it does well, like the beautiful community of people who work there.

I don't have too many regrets in life. There are so many pathways, but the one that I'm on feels really beautiful. I'll go back into some form of full-time work at some point, but I'm not rushing to any decisions. For now, I feel stable enough to keep prioritizing learning and creating community, putting a lot of the gifts I received at Google to good use.

Eric Wages, 46, Massachusetts

Eric Wages worked at Google for 15 years in various roles and spent over a decade leading its third-largest data center campus. Before his 2023 layoff, he was the global program manager of the corporate real estate team.

I wasn't surprised by the layoff. I could see the tide turning a year in advance; people weren't working in the office, and yet we had many billions of dollars of office construction ongoing. I spent a lot of effort trying to convince leadership to pause construction, but my attempts weren't well-received.

I'd been laid off before and knew that layoffs aren't personal. Still, I went through the traditional stages of grief. I'm someone who has to live with a purpose, and my purpose evaporated when I received an impersonal layoff email that Friday morning.

I bought a whiteboard, put it behind my desk, and started trying to figure out what my purpose was now: What am I good at? Do I want to ever work for a large company again? I knew I never wanted to work with jerks again — I'm not saying I worked for many of them at Google, but there are many folks who are just a pain. I wanted the flexibility to work with people I enjoyed working with and help them solve problems — that's what I had always enjoyed as a leader.

Three months later, I started my own firm, Idealum Solutions. It's a mix of technical consulting, coaching, and understanding how people work, focused on data centers.

I'm thankful for the layoff, because I'd been in the golden handcuffs. I think I'd be miserable if I were still there today. And as much as I bemoan the golden handcuffs, they've served me well. My 15 years at Google set me up with a wonderful financial backstop, which has allowed me to be picky about how I work and what I charge.

Being an independent consultant and business owner is rewarding. When I couldn't find a contractor this summer to fix some things around the house, I was able to not actively seek new clients for a couple of months and just do it myself. It also allowes me to have a better relationship with my wife.

While I think Google could have done better with the layoff, there's no good way to lay off 12,000 people. Any manager who's had to terminate someone knows to expect the absolute worst. Multiply that by 12,000 — locking the doors and turning off the badge was, dare I say it, the best way.

But one way they could've done better was to ask for volunteers; I would've strongly considered leaving if an offer had been tendered. It was extremely frustrating to see the culture changing after being there for so long.

Shao Chun Chen, 38, Singapore

Chen joined Google in 2016 as an account manager for the company's Singapore advertisers and did a three-month rotation with Google's strategy and operations team in Silicon Valley in 2019. Prior to the 2024 layoffs, he was the head of small business ad sales for the Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan markets.

My last day at Google — my dream job — was on Valentine's Day this year, the day before my 38th birthday. Logically, I knew that industry ups and downs and turnover were pretty normal. Emotionally, though, it was tough. I had been there eight years; that's like an eight-year relationship. My initial reaction was pain and anger, driven by ego. I also compared myself to those who weren't laid off, feeling like I was better or more experienced or more loyal than they were.

I had a lot of sleepless nights and went through the grieving process. My wife was extremely supportive. The toughest part was knowing that the next day, the company just moved on. That was sort of a rude awakening.

I was given two months to look for other roles internally. I panicked and applied for every job available, hanging on for dear life to the possibility of still being able to call myself a Googler — a huge part of my identity. A couple of senior Google leaders graciously reached out about joining their teams, but I knew I wouldn't enjoy the roles and didn't want to do a bad job. When I turned them down, every part of my body was shaking.

I splurged on a solo snowboarding trip to Japan and spent time alone in the mountains. I'd wake up at night crying. There had been so much going on that once I gave my body and mind a bit of peace and space, it automatically went into recovery mode, which was very therapeutic.

I posted my first YouTube video in April. I wanted to share my layoff story to bring comfort and courage to others. Many people reached out to me saying things like, "I felt the same way," and "Even my therapist couldn't articulate how I'm feeling as well as you did." It feels like my calling is to help people have a healthier relationship with their careers and money, and my YouTube channel has grown since then. I've also launched a coaching and consulting business and teach at the National University of Singapore.

While I don't earn as much as I did working full-time, I make more per hour and have much more flexibility. I also achieved financial freedom several years ago, by growing my income from $80,000 to close to $300,000 at Google, saving and investing at least half of my paycheck, and being very conscious of my spending.

I wish I'd been more supportive of people that I used to work with who were laid off before me. While Google was and still is a huge part of my identity, I learned that there are really other parts of my life that I should nurture. Looking back, I'm grateful — I wouldn't have discovered this life was possible if not for the layoff.

Camila Ferraz, 34, San Francisco/Miami/Zurich

Ferraz started in sales at Google in São Paolo, Brazil, in 2011 after college, briefly left for another opportunity, and returned as an analytical lead in Google's San Francisco office. Prior to the 2023 layoffs, she was a senior product manager in Google's internal incubator, Area 120.

When I woke up that morning and saw the layoff email, I was so out of touch with reality that my first concern was that my team wouldn't be able to access a document I'd been up late working on the night before. It took a bit of time for me to realize, "Wait, I lost my job."

I jumped straight into practical things. A friend and former coworker who'd read about the layoffs told me she was hiring, so I jumped out of bed and did an interview, but I could hardly pay attention. I went back to Brazil for a week to be close to my childhood friends. For those of us in tech, it felt like the world was falling apart, but I'm from an island in the south of Brazil, and being there helped me keep that in perspective.

I ended up moving to Miami, where a lot of my friends had moved during the pandemic. Climate tech is one of my personal passions, and I took a remote consulting job with a nonprofit biodiversity lab based in Zurich for a few months.

On one of my trips to Zurich, I met my now-cofounder. Looking for a cofounder in the months prior was almost like dating — finding the right one was the most challenging part, and now that I have, it feels so right. Together, we incorporated biodiversityX, an AI-powered tech company providing real-time forest analytics, in Zurich.

Losing a job is traumatic, but it's humbling to think about how much Google transformed my life. It was such a good place to grow and develop as a leader, and I miss the culture, the food, and the people.

Before, I thought a career had to be very linear — one promotion after another; tomorrow needs to be bigger than yesterday. Today, I see things as a bit more fluid and view the layoff as a blessing in disguise. Being an entrepreneur — the degree of responsibility and the speed at which we can move — is so freeing and rewarding. The pieces are coming together, and I'm grateful to Google for being such a great school.

• Tiya Gordon worked in design before she pivoted to cofounded It's Electric, a climate tech startup.
• Gordon launched the company in 2022 after struggling to find an accessible EV charger in Brooklyn.
• She shared how they raised $11 million in grants and investment from prominent investors like Uber.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Tiya Gordon, 45, the founder of electric charging startup It's Electric. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm a New Yorker and a staunch believer in public transportation. For most of my life, I never owned a car.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all the forms of public transportation I used daily were unsafe.

I had to think about how I could transport my then-five-year-old and how I would reach family members if something terrible happened.

I considered getting a car for the first time. I made this list: It was written in Sharpie on a piece of grid paper, and it said, "New?" "Used?" "EV???" However, I had to immediately eliminate electric vehicles from my potential options because, in 2020, there was no accessible place to charge them in Brooklyn.

I realized there was a lack of infrastructure to transition to EV cars and that was the seed idea for my company.

Although my career was in design, I pivoted and cofounded a climate tech startup called It's Electric in 2022. We're focused on scaling electric vehicle charging in densely populated cities.

We're now a company of 10 people and we've received $11.8 million in funding and grants. Uber invested in our seed round. My best advice is to find simple solutions to big pain points and prove your work with receipts.

We found a simple solution for electric charging

When we started building It's Electric in 2021, my cofounder and I conducted research to determine what was preventing EV chargers from being deployed quickly and at scale in US cities.

In a city like London, there are a lot of lampposts that have been retrofitted into curbside chargers because they can handle 220 to 240 volts of electricity. In the US, the power feeds in our lamposts are typically much lower, at 110 volts.

If we wanted to have lamppost chargers, we'd need to upgrade the utility main and corresponding interconnection agreement, load analysis, transformer, submeter, and customer connection box.

We discovered that one asset in cities, that has plenty of power ready to go, is buildings, which we can use to power public chargers.

If a library, home, or commercial building agrees to power a public charger, we share revenue with that building to give them passive income as an incentive. It's a very simple idea. We say it's not deep tech, it's shallow tech.

Running a pilot helped get investors on board

Our business started with just us two founders, but after we raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round in May 2023, we hired our first two employees.

During our pre-seed stage, multiple investors told me that our idea was so simple that it must not work, or surely someone else was already doing it. We had to prove that a simple solution could be effective.

One way we did that was by getting our pilot off the ground in 2023.

We secured our partnership with Hyundai after winning their EV Open Innovation Challenge. Winners were selected based on their potential to expand market access to electric vehicles.

We knew we needed to test in the real world and in a notoriously hard-to-open city. So we approached the New York City Economic Development Corporation to ask if we could pilot our technology on their buildings in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. After much work, this became our first pilot and was crucial to landing investment.

Our work on this pilot was so successful that EDC launched a brand new program based on our pilot.

Have receipts and discuss your wins

Our pilot demonstrated that our solution offsets emissions, and we could collect data from the demo to show it was scalable, low-cost, and quick to install.

The pilot meant I could provide investors with proven results. We'd gone beyond what investors expected of us, which placated their queries and also attracted investors we hadn't yet spoken to.

Having a small-scale demonstration of your solution is more helpful in pitching to a large corporation than trying to sell a concept. It meant we were able to demonstrate a Series A level of progress at a pre-seed level.

So many investors said, "If it is so simple and such a good idea, then why aren't others already doing it?" My answer was, "Because no one else is doing it, we are the first." My advice to founders is to be tenacious but make sure you have the receipts.

We talked about our wins, such as prize nominations and media acknowledgments, to show investors that, by the jury of peers, our solution is winning.

Uber invested in our seed round

In July 2024, we closed our $6.5 million seed round, which was co-led by a Nordic fund, Failup Ventures, and Uber. Now, we're a team of 10.

Our involvement with Uber began when we met representatives from the company at a conference. Everyone thinks of companies like Uber as big corporate giants, but we started our partnership with them by chance. It wasn't a sales or business meeting; it was just two optimistic people working in transportation who had a great conversation.

A big challenge to Uber's zero-emissions goal is that Uber drivers live in cities and don't have garages, so it's really hard to charge electric vehicles. We provided a cheap, fast solution for urban drivers to charge electric cars. Uber needed more drivers to adopt electric cars to reach its goals, and we pitched ourselves as that stepping stone. A series of productive conversations helped us build this partnership.

Having Uber support our solution has been a great validation for our startup. It's also meant we've had access to smart people on their team to understand different policies and how we can help meet city goals.

My advice for founders who want to develop relationships with established companies is to try to solve problems for other people. Don't say you want a partnership because of what it can do for your startup, but put yourself out there as the problem-solver for a larger corporation. You want to find their pain point and point out that there isn't a solution that's already in the market.

• Aaron Neyer joined Google in 2021 as an engineer after several years of self-discovery and nomadic living.
• In January 2023, he was one of over 12,000 employees laid off. He felt a sense of relief and openness.
• Neyer now leads a nonprofit, is involved with local government, and is pursuing a second master's degree.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aaron Neyer, executive director of the nonprofit Woven Web and a former developer relations engineer at Google based in Boulder, Colorado. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I studied computer science in college and interned at Google after my junior year. I received a full-time return offer, but I wanted to travel and felt like going the startup route would give me a lot more flexibility.

My dad passed away around the time I graduated. I moved to San Francisco for a job, but a couple of months later, I realized I didn't want to confine myself full-time and quit.

I spent the next four years being basically nomadic — doing the free-spirited hippie thing. During that time, I lived off savings from my time working in tech, life insurance that I received when my dad passed, and a few wise crypto investments that I made.

I attended a lot of different gatherings such as music festivals, dance retreats, and meditation retreats, connecting with all kinds of people. It was a period of self-discovery as well as a time of finding healing around the grief from losing both of my parents, as my mom had died when I was younger.

I wanted to participate in the world more effectively

After a while, I decided I wanted to go back to participating in the world in a way that I felt to be more effective. I got a master's degree from Naropa University in ecopsychology to ground my philosophy around how change can happen and how we can create more connection in the world.

I missed the intellectual rigor, creativity, and financial stability of the tech world, so I applied to rejoin Google and started working there in May 2021 as a developer relations engineer. My work was 60% about coding and 40% about community relationships.

At Google, we were all able to use our "20% time" to work on something outside our main roles, and I spent mine doing work having to do with connecting people and climate. I was part of a grassroots climate community within Google called Anthropocene working on how we could focus more on climate solutions inside Google. I also worked on a little project called Project Nature, trying to bring ecopsychology ideas into Google's processes and products, as well as Flourish, a project in Google's startup incubator Area 120 aimed at helping people stay connected to one another.

After Flourish was cut from Area 120, I tried to find a way to get a head count and work on it full-time as an internal project, but it became clear to me that the tightening budget and constructs of Google weren't going to support that.

Just two weeks later, in January 2023, I was laid off. I felt almost a relief and a sense of openness. I suddenly had this blessing of a healthy severance to use to build what I wanted outside of Google.

I've been working on building community and strengthening connection

From March through May, I intermittently job-searched and almost joined an early-stage startup, but nothing quite landed. I wanted to do something meaningful and satisfying. I also traveled a bit around the US, did a lot of reading and writing, and participated in a lot of community engagement. I have a thriving community here in Boulder and enjoy being in nature, learning, and growing.

I became the executive director of a nonprofit I joined in 2022 called Consciousness Hacking Colorado and led its relaunch as Woven Web. We're an organization about facilitating harmony between technology, society, consciousness, and nature, and we place a lot of emphasis on helping people communicate and collaborate more effectively.

I also started exploring political engagement and ran for Boulder City Council. While I didn't win my race, the city council appointed me to the Human Relations Commission. It's been going great. I've been starting some conversations about how we address tensions in our community, especially in relation to the Middle East conflict, and we're beginning to make proposals about how we can bring about better dialogue in our city.

I'm also pursuing a second master's degree, this time in creative technology and design at the University of Colorado Boulder's Atlas Institute. It's been really fun growing my tech skills again in a creative way, with coding and generative art.

In October, Woven Web coordinated a 10-day event to connect people across different communities and ultimately create more coherence in Boulder. This also served as a launching point for us to raise some serious philanthropy and grant funding so that I can pay myself to be full-time executive director.

The path I'm on is beautiful

I don't have too many regrets in life. There are so many pathways, but the one that I'm on feels really beautiful. I feel I've lived a pretty full life since being laid off. I've been really excited to have plenty of space away from a core working environment, and now I'm really happy to be back to having a lot of structure in terms of Woven Web and school.

I'll go back into some form of full-time work at some point, but I'm not rushing to any decisions. For now, I feel stable enough to keep prioritizing learning and creating community, putting a lot of the gifts I received at Google to good use.

I bike past the Google office a lot here in Boulder and often feel a tenderness in my heart. I've even had tears well up before. For all of the company's faults, there are many things that it does well, like the beautiful community of people who work there. I have so much love for many of the people.

If you took an unconventional career path before or after Big Tech and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at [email protected].