I've Been Laid Off.
The most difficult thing about writing for me is trying to find a purpose to do so on demand. I've been wanting to give y'all an update but almost daily, a new situation finds its way to the top of my life, and it stops me. I'm finally taking a break from what feels like a non-stop 96-hour whirlwind. So, I'll do my best to recap in the following:
- Code for America laid off 35 employees, and I've been impacted by it.
- I have to figure out life very fast because of the obligations I had lined up for the next half year were contingent on being employed, and now a lot is at risk.
- I feel more focused than everything. And also very floaty.
The linked post goes into more detail. I came into our bargaining meeting, hoping to work on the contract. Instead, the CEO decided to pick this time to announce layoffs. I had a small fear it was coming - you can feel it when you've been through it twice; it's almost like a script executives have to put themselves into when it happens. I was always concerned about my employment stability since becoming more vocal, but I did not think that Code for America would stoop that low to fire me despite being on a positive path. They've also begun re-hiring roles like mine as people have noticed online. It's not clear yet if it was done because of one's union activity, I should suffix.
It's obvious to say that I am looking for work. I have a resume at https://jacky.wtf/work and you can obviously reply to this or forward this email to someone who'd be interested in hiring a senior software engineer, on a contract- or full-time basis.
What I was also amazed by was the immediacy at which people, both laid off and still employed, organized to support one another. From funds to venting sessions, outreach support to career development; it reminds me that people will look out for one another. It sadly showed how little upper management seemed to care about the impact of creating new clients for the same services Code for America provides - maybe as a sick means of juicing engagement?
Next Steps
I am very raw about this, and it's been a week. I'll be most likely looking to raise a small amount of funds to make some ends meet this month. Ironically, I have preoccupied myself with more work despite being laid off because of the urgency of placement but also out of a need to avoidance the reality of this situation. I was excited to celebrate a year working with people I did enjoy seeing, to get ready to push a project that'd help people who are constantly overlooked. That work was being paid for. But I will not allow the lack of that job prohibit me from continuing to engage community.
As a bit of a warm-up to that, if you're in the Tampa area, check out this event for Black folks, by Black folks being held by the AAPRP. For a broader community, I'll be attending other workers in tech who are either interested in organizing their workplace or discuss tactics at LaborNote's tech worker conference. If you're in New York City and can spare $45, this'll be the event for you. I'm hoping to write about what I learned from the event on my site as well.
Reading
I'm enjoying The Mountain in the Sea as my current fiction read. It's playing with a close-to-cyperpunk world that has cracked some parts of AI that would be terrifying to consider today while also speaking about what one could consider a mind, if not life, to be - in relation to our local alien, the octopus! I'm not in a rush to finish it because it's been comforting to read. I also have Ace of Spades in my queue; jumped right into this one, and it's not telling me too much about what to expect, but I'm only a few pages in. It's long, so it'll eat up sometime soon.
I hope you're doing well; enjoying yourself and your time. Until next time.