In my previous post, Thriving where you are, the Stoic way, I wrote about extracting mastery and momentum from an imperfect work environment. That was challenging enough, but what happens when even that is abruptly pulled out from under you?
My entire team was laid off in December of 2025. It is a heavy, gut-wrenching thing to wake up without your title, your daily routine, the paycheck, and the health insurance your entire family depends on. I didn’t see it coming, but I gave myself time to process the loss, celebrate the holidays with my family, and read Never Search Alone to start the job search on the right foot.
The job market has only gotten worse. Since early 2025, over 250,000 tech professionals have lost their jobs, while the industry shifted under them. Investment in AI is reshaping organizational strategy, reporting structures, and workflows, and raising expectations for every role. It’s also changing how people look for work and get hired, which leaves us with endless, impersonal rejection letters that pile up as self-doubt and frustration.
The pain is real, but we’re not here to dwell in self-pity. My goal is to remind you that your value does not lie in your title, paycheck, or corporate validation. This market might have taken your job, but not your abilities, judgement, or work ethic. In On Providence, Seneca reminds us that “Trees that have grown up in a sunny valley are susceptible to breaking.” Adversity builds strength. Endless rumination, doomscrolling, and comparing yourself to others do the opposite.
So what can you do? Less than you’d like, and more than you think.
Examine your impressions. Given the prolonged, painful job search, we might find ourselves in bouts of despair, catastrophizing, questioning our abilities and our value. Instead of giving in, we can train ourselves to recognize cognitive distortions when they take hold. We must separate objective facts from our skewed interpretations. So next time a rejection email hits your inbox and you find yourself questioning your value, stop. Remind yourself that an external party made a selection based on constraints you do not know or have control over. It is not a verdict on your worth. Your core values, craftsmanship, mentorship, creative problem-solving, and integrity continue to exist independent of this decision.
Focus on what’s within your control. Instead of seeing prolonged unemployment as a void, reframe it as an open workshop for self-directed work. Use this time to get hands-on with AI. I’ve been building with Claude Code since January, from custom job search tools to mobile apps to more complex multi-agent systems. I’ve learned more from building than from any AI course or article I’ve read. Whatever tool you prefer, build something real enough to break.
Bring your full attention and craft to the job search. Measure success by the quality and consistency of your effort: the network outreach, the applications submitted, the hours spent learning and building something meaningful. How many callbacks or offers you receive is not up to you, but your day-to-day effort is. Judging yourself this way will lessen your need for outside validation and give back the sense of purpose unemployment takes away.
Lean on your family and professional network. Nearly every interview I’ve had has come through a referral. Ask former colleagues for honest feedback and for introductions. Say thank you, and give back where you can. Marcus Aurelius opens the Meditations by thanking the people who shaped him, and he was an emperor.
Keep perspective. The Stoics return to the idea that everything in life, including life itself, is temporary. Memento mori (“remember you will die”) reminds us that we won’t always be here, and amor fati (“love of fate”) asks us to accept what happens and work with it. Accepting doesn’t mean liking what happened. It means taking stock of what’s still good, and not letting one loss overshadow the rest of your life. I don’t keep a gratitude journal myself, but I hear it goes a long way.
I’ll leave you with a famous line from Marcus Aurelius (Meditations 5.20): “What stands in the way becomes the way.” I come back to it almost daily to remind myself that losing my job and landing in this market, painful as it’s been, also gave me room to grow through learning, experimentation, and building with AI. You and I didn’t ask for this market, but we can choose how we face it, and who we become as a result.
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