UX Layoff Crisis: A Guide for Resilience and Recovery

Your company’s rumor mill has been churning for weeks about layoffs, but you’ve tried not to give it much thought. You have a good relationship with your manager. You’ve delivered quality UX work and results. You tell yourself that you’re indispensable.

However, the next day, you turn on your work laptop and discover you cannot log in. Or a strangely titled, brief meeting is scheduled on your work calendar in the office’s windowless meeting room, or online. The outcome you’ve avoided contemplating is happening — you’re being laid off! What should you do?

A Note on Atypical Layoff Situations

This article’s guidance assumes that you had a routine, professional relationship with your employer and are undergoing a layoff for myriad business reasons.

If you suspect illegal or unethical behavior related to your layoff circumstances, consult an employment lawyer on how to proceed regarding any decisions or paperwork.

Reframing What This UX Layoff Means to You

Before we begin, we need to clarify what a layoff represents. A layoff primarily means that your employer’s executive leadership failed to strategically plan, allocate resources, ensure financial stability, or effectively adapt to competition or disruption in the marketplace.

Some leaders will frame layoffs as a way to eliminate underperforming employees and improve efficiency, which can exacerbate feelings of worthlessness. Yet, layoff decisions are rarely based solely on performance. A literature review by Gandolfi and Hansson suggests that layoffs are often used as a quick way to achieve immediate financial or strategic goals, but they frequently fail to deliver sustained improvements. Strategic failures, economic conditions, corporate restructuring, or shareholder pressure often drive these decisions rather than a focused effort to remove low performers.

In fact, factors like departmental priorities, project assignments, compensation levels, or even internal politics (such as personal connections with senior leadership) can influence who is let go. Layoff decisions are complex and often reflect organizational shortcomings rather than your own. Acknowledging this complexity can help ease any feelings of self-blame.

Additionally, UX departments are often vulnerable to layoffs due to their relative newness and weaker political positioning within organizations.

When leadership reacts to financial setbacks or strategic failures, UX teams frequently bear the brunt. UX contributions are long-term investments rather than immediate revenue drivers. Short-term tradeoffs may make UX seem expendable, but companies that undermine their UX teams for temporary financial relief often pay the price later when customer dissatisfaction and engagement drop.

Remember that talented UX professionals — that’s you! — are often laid off for reasons beyond their performance. Now, here’s what you should do about it.

1. Notify Loved Ones and Treat Yourself

Regardless of how management delivered the layoff news or how you reacted, you have only 2 things to do on the day you are laid off:

1. First, notify your loved ones to activate your support network, which you may need in the coming weeks.
2. Second, treat yourself to something comforting: eat a bowl of ice cream, take a walk in the park, go see a movie, or play with your pet. Do anything that you find beneficial and could help you mentally reset.

Research by Castillo, Fernandez, and Sallan on organizational change suggests that sudden layoffs trigger uncertainty, anxiety, and feelings of betrayal.

These feelings mirror the grief-coping emotional stages (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and eventual acceptance) identified by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Coping with grief isn’t linear, but being ready to acknowledge these feelings can help you start rebuilding after unexpected change.

Therefore, take one day to mentally prepare for the tasks ahead.

2. Prepare to Act Professionally

The layoff process will test your patience as you interact with people you may believe upended your life. But never “burn a bridge.” Don’t act or say things you’ll regret in retrospect. You need to show professional calm, and you probably have practiced this mental discipline already.

Consider how careful and thoughtful facilitators should be when speaking with participants during usability testing. Use those same skills as you wind down this chapter of your UX journey. You never know if future job opportunities may involve these colleagues.

3. Confirm Communication with HR

There will be paperwork to complete before this is over, and you must ensure you can receive it if you were laid off remotely. Confirm who you can contact in HR regarding questions about your benefits, severance agreements, taxes, or anything else that may arise.

4. Gather UX-Portfolio Materials

If you still have access to company systems, now is the time to document your projects and contributions. Your UX portfolio is about to become very important, but don’t try revising it yet. Instead, gather as much raw material as possible — including screenshots, presentations, or prototypes.

If you signed a nondisclosure agreement when you started this job, reread it. You may have to redact portions of these raw materials when you use it for a portfolio case study, but that work should come later.

Unfortunately, in many layoff scenarios you will already have lost access to important company systems. Remember to gather and curate UX portfolio materials over time to protect yourself from sudden layoff events.

5. Thank Your Colleagues

Take an hour and write a few thank you notes. Consider the folks who helped you along the way in this job or those with whom you enjoyed collaborating on projects. Let them know, like this:

Hi Dan,

I wanted to express my gratitude for your support over the years. When we started working together, I wasn’t very skilled in moderating usability-testing sessions, but your advice really changed the way I think about them. I’m a better UX designer because of your guidance — thank you!

I hope we get a chance to work together again someday. Also, if you know of any UX job opportunities in your network, I’d appreciate hearing about them.

Thanks again and best wishes,

[Your Name]

[Social media link, such as LinkedIn]

You may not have access to your work email, but you can find the means to contact them from your personal email account or on LinkedIn. Alternatively, if your employment is winding down over a few days or weeks, do these thank yous in brief one-on-one sessions instead.

Conduct yourself like the mature UX professional you are, even if your employer is handling this layoff poorly. That’s their problem and not yours. Thinking of yourself as a rejected pariah will only make you feel worse about the situation and isolate you from your professional-networking efforts.

6. Accept Offers of Assistance from Your Former UX Manager

Your former UX manager, whom you may have antipathy towards, was likely forced into this layoff decision. Our research on UX-team hiring and retention found that UX managers strive to protect their UX team. Consider for just a moment the possibility that laying off team members is a profoundly unpleasant act that few UX managers would relish. It’s not unheard of for a manager to lay off team members only to be the one laid off next.

Graciously accept any offer of assistance from your former boss. This assistance could take these forms:

• Public endorsements of your talents or announcements of your openness to job opportunities over social media
• Permission to serve as a reference or to provide a letter of recommendation
• Introductions to recruiters or hiring managers from their professional network (particularly on LinkedIn)
• Advice on your refreshed UX portfolio or resume
• Feedback in a job-interview practice session
• Mentorship

Try politely asking your former UX manager for these forms of assistance as well. They might feel relieved that you still value the relationship, even during this period of immense strain. However, be prepared that they may decline or become unresponsive. In that case, don’t waste your time speculating why. Just move on.

7. Be Prepared to File for Unemployment Benefits

Applying for unemployment-insurance benefits will vary by state and country. Americans can check the U.S. Department of Labor website for specifics.

Confer with your HR contact or provided documents, as severance payouts or a prolonged winddown period during which you’re still receiving paychecks may delay your filing timeline.

8. Accepting the Severance Package Is Usually a Good Idea

Severance packages normally provide additional compensation for signing away some legal rights. In most typical cases, it is usually a good idea to accept it. You have very little leverage in a layoff. Employers don’t have to offer these packages, so it isn’t much of a negotiation. The tradeoff of giving up additional compensation for the option to pursue (expensive) litigation or public disclosures likely isn’t worth it, but consider your circumstances and read everything carefully.

Watch out for noncompete clauses bundled in the documentation of the severance package. Signing them could complicate your job search and you should push back against them. Laws prohibiting or enforcing noncompetes vary by state, so seek help from an employment lawyer if you’re unsure.

9. Take Advantage of Recruiters or Placement Services

Sometimes, severance packages include recruiting and job-placement services. Always check out what they could offer, especially if you haven’t searched for a job in years.

However, be aware that recruiter quality can vary significantly. Some recruiters may not be savvy about placing UX roles, and you would probably benefit more from being represented by a UX-specialist firm.

10. Audit All Recurring and Future Expenses

You do not know how long this period of unemployment will last, and you likely have bills to pay or dependents to support. You’ll need to stretch your funds if you haven’t saved a significant emergency fund. Review your credit-card statements and identify recurring charges for nonessential services you can cancel. There are free apps like Trim or Rocket Money that can help you do this quickly and efficiently.

11. Adopt a New Daily Regimen

Once the layoff has officially resolved, it’s time to replace your former work routine with structured daily planning and goal setting.

A meta-analysis by McKee-Ryan and colleagues suggests that unemployed individuals who maintain a daily structure and balance job searching with well-being efforts experience better mental health and faster reemployment. Therefore, devote about 4 hours every weekday to a combination of the following activities.

Seek a New UX Job

Review job postings, update or tailor your portfolio and resume, submit job applications, and participate in assessments or job interviews. Job seeking is essential to resolving your situation, but it’s also mentally taxing.

A study by Connie Wanberg found that prolonged job search efforts are associated with declining mental health due to repeated rejections and uncertainty, especially for those who feel little control over their employment situation. To prevent burnout, structure your job search in focused bursts and balance it with other activities.

Here are some example activities that a UX professional might do to seek a new UX job:

• After reflecting, you realize you’re no longer passionate about design systems, so you reframe your portfolio case studies and resume to emphasize UX-research skills and apply only to jobs that cite those skills.
• You have trouble recalling details for a project you want to include in a portfolio case study, so you reach out to a former work colleague and ask for their assistance regarding facts or screenshots.

Network and Socialize Professionally

Attend UX professional events, reconnect with former colleagues, and send personalized messages to even distant connections. Do not underestimate the power of people you barely know to aid your job search!

Research by Mark Granovetter found that acquaintances are more helpful than close friends in finding job opportunities because they introduce you to new networks and job leads beyond your immediate social circle.

Here are some example activities that a UX professional might do to network and socialize professionally:

• You attend an in-person talk for a UX meetup group. You prioritize arriving early, chat with several attendees, and share your contact information.
• You notice a UX hiring manager announcing a UX-job opportunity over social media, so you send a private message to a mutual acquaintance over LinkedIn and politely ask for an introduction.
• You want to pivot your career into UX design for nonprofits, so you challenge yourself every week to send 2–3 brief introductions to UX professionals in your network who work at nonprofits, no matter how distantly connected they are to you.

Ensure Financial Stability

Create a realistic budget, cut expenses, file and manage your unemployment benefits, and consider freelance or contract work to sustain yourself. Vinokur and colleagues found that the perception of financial strain, rather than actual financial state, is a significant source of stress. Taking control of your finances can reduce that stress and allow for thoughtful career decisions.

Here are some example activities that a UX professional might do to ensure financial stability:

• You cancel premium entertainment subscriptions, but you maintain a subscription to an AI tool to keep practicing with a tool of emerging importance.
• Your budgeting suggests you’ll need additional income within 6 months, so you create a profile on websites like Behance or Upwork to start advertising your UX skills.

Invest in Professional Development

Use low-cost or free resources (like our free articles, videos, study guides, and reports) to develop a UX-relevant skill or participate in mentorship to receive helpful advice and perspective. Learn a new UX tool or stretch yourself into learning an unfamiliar UX discipline to become a more well-rounded candidate.

Here are some example activities that a UX professional might do to invest in professional development:

• Your job search for focused UX research roles is slow, so you volunteer to redesign the website of your uncle’s small business to learn and practice design skills.
• You’re curious about pursuing UX jobs in healthcare but have never worked in that domain before, so you connect with a mentor on ADPList with a healthcare background so you can learn about recruiting and designing for medical practitioners.
• You notice that interviewers are increasing asking questions about using AI in UX, so you take an AI course to enhance the robustness of your answers.

Find Purpose and Support

Prioritize activities that promote mental resilience, such as: exercise, meditation, therapy, hobbies, volunteerism, or quality time with loved ones. A quantitative study by Goodman and colleagues found that leisure activities that structure one’s time and provide a sense of purpose can boost mental health.

The UX-Job-Seeker Series

Check out the other articles in this series on UX-job-seeker advice:

Conclusion

Chances are good that a layoff will affect you at some point in your UX career (this author has been laid off, too!). Focus on these tasks instead of asking yourself, “Why me?” or wallowing in self-pity. It’s a challenging situation, but the more you concentrate on opening your next UX-career chapter, the sooner you’ll move forward from this abrupt ending.

References

Franco Gandolfi and Mats Hansson. 2011. Causes and consequences of downsizing: A review of the literature. Journal of Management & Organization. 17, 4 (2011), 498–521. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S183336720000120X.

Cristian Castillo, Vicenc Fernandez, and Jose Maria Sallan. 2018. The six emotional stages of organizational change. J. Organ. Change Manage. 31, 3 (2018), 468–493. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2016-0084.

Francis M. McKee-Ryan, Zhaoli Song, Connie R. Wanberg, and Angelo J. Kinicki. 2005. Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Applied Psychology 90, 1 (2005), 53–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.53.

Mark S. Granovetter. 1973. The Strength of Weak Ties. Am. J. Sociol. 78, 6 (May 1973), 1360–1380. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/225469

Connie R. Wanberg. 1997. Antecedents and outcomes of coping behaviors among unemployed and reemployed individuals. Journal of Applied Psychology. 82, 5 (1997), 731–744. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.82.5.731.

Anatol D. Vinokur, Richard H. Price, and Robert D. Caplan. 1996. Hard times and hurtful partners: How financial strain affects depression and relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 71, 1 (1996), 166–179. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.166.

William K. Goodman, Amy M. Geiger, and Joanna M. Wolf. 2017. Leisure activities are linked to mental health benefits by providing time structure: Comparing employed, unemployed, and homemakers. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 71, 1 (Jan. 2017), 4–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-207260.