Layoff recovery by company
Recovering from a layoff, by company
A layoff is never generic. The severance formula, how your equity is treated, how long your health coverage is subsidized, and how fast your sector is hiring all depend on who you worked for. These 14 guides walk through the first 30, 60, and 90 days for specific employers — the numbers that actually apply to you, not the averages.
Two things decide how hard the financial side of a layoff lands, and both are employer-specific. The first is equity: a Google or Microsoft separation often continues RSU vesting through the severance window, while Amazon's back-loaded 5/15/40/40 schedule forfeits unvested shares at your separation date. For a mid-tenure employee that single difference can be worth more than the entire cash severance. The second is the health-coverage bridge — a subsidized COBRA period that runs six months at some employers and one at others changes how much runway you actually have.
On top of that sits the cash severance formula itself (weeks of base pay, often tiered by title or tenure), the release-of-claims and non-disparagement language you're asked to sign, and the reentry market for your specific role. Tech and AI hiring in 2026 looks very different from a healthcare or retail recovery, and the federal system — VSIP and VERA buyouts, TSP, FEHB continuation, MSPB appeal rights — barely resembles any of them.
Each guide below is built around that employer's actual mechanics, with a 30-60-90 day recovery plan you can act on this week. The one decision that cuts across all of them is whether the offer in front of you is fair — that's worth checking before you sign anything.
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RSU treatment is the whole game here — continued vesting vs. cliff forfeiture can swing the package by six figures.
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Recovering from a Google Layoff: RSU Acceleration + VEP Context Guide
Laid off from Google? Unlike Amazon's RSU cliff forfeiture, Google's plan typically continues RSU vesting through the severance window — a structurally favorable equity treatment. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the Voluntary Exit Program (VEP) context Pichai has used to drive 2024-2026 separations.
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Recovering from an Amazon Layoff: RSU Cliff + L-Level Package Guide
Laid off from Amazon? The unvested RSU forfeiture is usually the biggest financial item — Amazon's 5/15/40/40 back-loaded vesting schedule means leaving before year 3 loses the largest equity tranches. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the L-level package variance details.
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Recovering from a Meta Layoff: Year of Efficiency + RSU Acceleration Guide
Laid off from Meta? Zuckerberg's 2023 'Year of Efficiency' framing made Meta's mass cuts the most publicly defined tech-employer restructuring of the cycle. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the 3-month RSU acceleration details that put Meta's equity treatment between Amazon's cliff and Google's continued vesting.
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Recovering from a Microsoft Layoff or VEP: Buyout Decision Math + Continued Vesting Guide
Affected by Microsoft's April 2026 VEP (8,750 employees) or a subsequent layoff? Microsoft's plan is structurally favorable — continued stock vesting through severance + 6-month health + 60-day paid notice. Here's the VEP-vs-stay-vs-wait decision framework and the recovery playbook.
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Recovering from an Oracle Layoff: OWBPA 45-Day Window + RSU Forfeiture Guide
Laid off in Oracle's March 2026 30K cut? The OWBPA 45-day window for 40+ employees is closing this week. RSU forfeiture is uniquely punitive — no acceleration. Here's the recovery framework with the legal-review step that's CRITICAL for the May 30 last-working-day cohort.
Banking & finance
Title-tiered severance formulas, deferred-comp and bonus-exclusion clauses, and tightly scripted exits.
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Recovering from a JPMorgan Layoff: The Hiring-While-Cutting Paradox + 52-Wk Cap Guide
Laid off from JPMorgan? JPM is the only major US bank simultaneously hiring and cutting in 2024-2026 — no named restructuring program to lean on for interview context. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the 52-week / $400K dual-cap formula details that determine your specific package.
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Recovering from a Goldman Layoff: Project Voyage + Dallas Move + Bonus Exclusion Guide
Laid off from Goldman Sachs? Project Voyage is the named context — Solomon's three-year $1.3B cost-out plus the March 2025 Dallas/SLC relocation ultimatum. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the bonus-exclusion proration ask and the Chen-Oster disparate-impact lens for protected-class employees.
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Recovering from a Citi Layoff: Project Bora Bora Context + Deferred Comp Recovery Guide
Laid off from Citi? Project Bora Bora is the named recovery context — Fraser's 20,000-cut $2.5B program is more than 80% complete. Here's the 30-60-90 day framework plus the CAP / Deferred Cash continued-vesting clauses revenue producers routinely miss.
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Recovering from a BofA Layoff: Silent Shrink Context + AI Redeployment Recovery Guide
Laid off from Bank of America? BofA's 'silent shrink' strategy means smaller distributed cuts without WARN filings — affected employees lack the collective leverage other US bank layoffs have. Here's the 30-60-90 day recovery framework plus the specific Elma NY WARN investigation angle for that cohort.
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Recovering from a Wells Fargo Layoff: Charlotte Job Market + Compliance Whistleblower Guide
Laid off from Wells Fargo in 2025-2026? The Fed lifted the asset cap in June 2025 yet the bank kept cutting — that paradox is current negotiation leverage. Here's the 30-60-90 day recovery framework plus the specific compliance / SOX §806 whistleblower review for affected risk and audit staff.
Healthcare & retail
Grade-tier severance caps and the longer recovery runway in slower-hiring sectors.
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Recovering from an HCA Healthcare Layoff: Hospital Job Market + Nursing License Guide
Laid off from HCA Healthcare? Tennessee right-to-work + no statutory PTO mandate gives HCA the weakest worker-protection floor of major healthcare employers. Here's the 30-60-90 day recovery framework — including the union grievance pathway for the 22,000+ HCA workers under NNU and SEIU contracts.
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Recovering from a CVS Layoff: Healthcare Job Market + Pharmacy License Reciprocity Guide
Just been laid off from CVS Health? Here's the 30-60-90 day recovery framework: pharmacy license reciprocity for relocating pharmacists, COBRA-vs-ACA decision math, healthcare-job-market reality, and scripts for explaining the layoff in interviews.
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Recovering from a Walgreens Layoff: Sycamore PE Context + License Reciprocity Guide
Laid off from Walgreens? Whether part of the February 2026 Deerfield round, Houston DC closure, or a smaller cut, here's the 30-60-90 day recovery framework: WARN investigation leverage, pharmacy license reciprocity, COBRA-vs-ACA decision, and interview scripts for the Sycamore-era separation.
Federal & public sector
A different system entirely — VSIP/VERA buyouts, TSP, FEHB continuation, and MSPB appeal rights.