I was ”Resource Action” two years ago, 14 days notice, 1 month severance. I had been with IBM for close to 5 years, before that, worked on a company that IBM acquired in 2013 for more than 10 years (they told me those years didn’t count). Many of my colleagues that came from the same old company were laid off the same time and get the same treatment.
Looked for job at that time was very stressful, the technology I used in IBM was outdated, so I had difficulty answering some technical questions in job interviews.
After two months of job searching and dozen of interviews. A big bank offered a contract position to me. I showed them how fast I could learn, solved a few problems that had bothered them for a long time. After three months, they converted me to permanent position. Now I get better pay, salary raise and big bonus at the end of the year. And I am learning new technologies that I got asked all the time when I was looking for job.
When I was at IBM, we were in constant fear of lay-off. I saw a lot of work we did before were moved to team in India, and our team in US was getting smaller and smaller.
In the new company, we do have layoffs (they closed some retail banking branches because more and more people use online banking). I am not worry because I see they appreciate experience and do not discriminate against older workers, plus, the new skills that I continue learning give me confidence that I can find a new job easily.
So Good luck to you all, and remember, if you get laid off, maybe it is a blessing in disguise.
My advice, connect with your friends and colleagues in LinkedIn, write some good words of recommendations for each other. I think those recommendations from my fellow IBMers did help me in getting my job.