How to Handle a Layoff: The First-Week Playbook

A layoff is rarely about you — it's about a budget line. Knowing that intellectually doesn't stop it from hurting, but it should stop you from spiralling into 'what's wrong with me.' Nothing is wrong with you. You have a temporary income problem and a very solvable to-do list. Here's the order to do it in.

Day 1: don't sign anything yet

You'll often be handed a severance agreement and asked to sign quickly. You are almost never obligated to sign on the spot. Take it home. Read every line. If the numbers are significant, a single consultation with an employment lawyer can pay for itself many times over.

• Ask for the offer in writing and the deadline to respond.
• Check what you're being asked to give up by signing (often the right to make claims).
• Note any non-compete or non-disparagement terms — these affect your next job.

Day 1–2: secure what's time-sensitive

1. Final pay and unused leave: confirm the amount and date.
2. Health cover: find out exactly when it ends and what your options are. This is the one that catches people out.
3. Anything vesting — equity, bonuses, pension contributions — and the dates that matter.
4. Company accounts: before access is cut, save personal files, contacts you're entitled to, and copies of your own work for your portfolio.

Day 2–3: stop the bleeding on money

Switch your budget into survival mode immediately — not in a month when savings are already gone. Calm math now prevents panic decisions later.

• List your essential monthly costs versus the nice-to-haves, and cut the second list today.
• Work out your runway: savings plus severance, divided by essential monthly spend. That number is how many months you have.
• Check what support you're entitled to — unemployment benefits, and any provisions where you live.
• Contact lenders before you miss anything if things will be tight — see what to do when you can't pay on time.

Day 4–5: turn the story outward

Once the logistics are handled, the job search is mostly a numbers-and-network game, and networks respond to specifics.

• Tell your network you're looking — clearly, without shame. "I was affected by layoffs at [company] and I'm looking for [specific role]. If you hear of anything, I'd appreciate it."
• Clean up your online presence before recruiters look — see curating your digital footprint for job hunting.
• Line up references while goodwill is fresh.
• Set a daily rhythm: a fixed number of quality applications and outreach messages, then stop. Job-hunting all day, every day, burns you out and lowers quality.

The part nobody puts on a checklist

Your identity took a hit, not just your income. Keep a routine, move your body, and stay in contact with people — isolation makes the whole thing harder and interviews go better when you're not running on empty. If the stress is tipping into something heavier, read knowing when to get support.

First-week checklist

Checklist

• I read the severance terms before signing and got advice if the stakes were high
• I confirmed final pay, leave, and exactly when health cover ends
• I saved my own files, work samples and 'receipts' before losing access
• I calculated my runway in months
• I cut non-essential spending today, not later
• I told my network specifically what I'm looking for
• I set a sustainable daily job-search rhythm