The layoff advice no one gives 👀

I published two related articles last week: one for the leader running the layoff and another for the person at their desk wondering whether they're next.

Most layoff advice speaks to people who have already lost their jobs. This article is for those who stay.

U.S. employers announced nearly half a million job cuts in the first seven months of 2026, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Plenty of advice showed up for the people who lost their jobs. Almost none showed up for everyone who stayed. That's why I wrote these articles.

If you're the one leading through a layoff, you're often the only person in the building with nowhere to talk about your own feelings. You're expected to look steady while sorting through a decision you may have had zero say in.

In Fast Company, I unpack three things to do next, including how to be honest about your role without undermining your company, and why you need to name which work stops when your team shrinks. If your team gets 20% smaller and you never decide which 20% of the work ends, your remaining team quietly absorbs all of it. That's how you lose the people you kept.

👉🏼 Discover the 3 moves that hold a team together after layoffs.​

If you still have your job and can see what's coming, you have something the people who have already been cut don't: time. You can search while you're still collecting a paycheck.

In Built In, I walk through the early warning signs most people miss, how to network when your whole network is also out of work, how to search without tipping off your manager, and how to time your exit around a vesting date instead of walking away from your equity.

​👉🏼 Learn how to find your next role before the next round hits.​

Have a fabulous week!

~ Kyle | CaffeinatedKyle.com​

P.S. TL;DR: Leading through layoffs? Read my latest Fast Company article. Looking for a job amid layoffs? Read my latest Built In article.​