Your Exit Checklist: Layoffs, Reorgs, and Unplanned Departures
A while back, a restructure removed my seat from the table.
On a Zoom screen in my home office, I showed up for my usual check-in with my manager. But instead, a rehearsed line, a handoff to HR, a follow-up email of "options." Ten minutes, end to end. Position eliminated. Hot tears sprang to the back of my eyes, though I refused to let them fall…until I clicked "Leave" and my shoulders shook with sobs.
I wanted to hear that it was a gross error, that I’d been valuable, that the decision was terribly hard. Only legalese and an arbitrary last day came.
My in-the-rearview experience has become a disruptive new normal. Nationally, employers announced more than 800,000 job cuts from January through August 2025–the highest since the onset of COVID. Federal employment fell by 97,000 this year, with over 148,000 layoffs and deferred resignations piled on. In the private sector, tech firms alone have cut nearly 82,000 roles across 189 companies. And Black women have borne a disproportionate share, with employment falling by roughly 318,000 amid pressures of childcare costs, corporate return-to-office mandates, DEI retrenchment, and sector cuts. Moments of private shock and grief have turned into a collective labor-market rupture.
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While the data may be widespread, the panic remains personal. My own fight-or-flight surge made it nearly impossible to plan strategically; WhatsApp whispers, piecemeal legal counsel, and too-late-now reflections eventually revealed the just-right negotiations for those crucial first moments. And though severance details were understandably top of mind, narrative control would travel long after signed paperwork. I should have asked for:
Mutual messaging, internally and externally, so any announcement named my contributions;
A humane transition note to partners, pre-aligned; and
A timeline that honored both business needs and personal dignity.
The story is the non-negotiable, as how we leave shapes how we’re remembered.
And your internal narrative – the lines we tell ourselves to reintroduce competence and confidence – comes next. If you're in that hallway holding a cardboard box or just the invisible weight of it, borrow my sentence starters until you find your footing again:
This was a business decision.
I'm proud of the systems I've built, the relationships I've fostered, the leaders I've supported, and the mission I've advanced.
I'm available for executive leadership and consulting in strategy, leadership development, and narrative work across education, social innovation, and philanthropy.
From that foundation, we can reclaim what’s true: A layoff is a business decision; your worth isn't up for review. Ask for what steadies you and leave with your head up.
Additional Sources
The 19th News (July 3, 2025). Black women’s unemployment is rising. Economists say it’s a warning sign.
The Washington Post (Aug 11, 2025). Mothers are leaving the workforce, erasing pandemic gains.
Axios (Sept 5, 2025). Black women’s unemployment spikes amid federal workforce cuts.
When the ground shifts, supportive transitions and culture repair matter.
