RAINY DAY FUNNEL

That day your mom told you to save for is here.

Happy Tuesday War & Peaceniks!

15K tech workers were laid off - just in May. Elon Musk is shit-canning 10% of his Tesla serfs. Since their epically bad earnings call, Netflix has laid off 450 staffers. Disco Bros aka Warner Brothers Discovery is buying out 30% of their ad sales team, and that is just the first loafer to drop in their targeted $4 billion in “efficiencies” to be cut.

In the Creator Economy and Crypto, at big tech and big media, in Unicorns and Death Stars, the overreaching corporate blissful ignorance of the last two years (forever epitomized by the one-two punch of Bezos’ Penis Rocket and Amazon’s gob-smackingly unfounded overspend on infrastructure) is coming home to roost. 

Let’s be clear: “the supply chain,” “inflation” and “gas prices” are definitely having an enormous impact on the global economy. BUT… 

Many (most) of the major layoffs right now are at companies who irresponsibly overbuilt/hired, made misguided investments at inappropriate times, or held on to last year’s business model for far too long (Coinbase, Substack, Amazon, Netflix, Buzzfeed). Others would not now be laying off thousands, if they hadn’t been twisted so badly in the wind by corporate parents. Both DirecTV and Warner Media have AT&T and Randall Stephenson (who set $170 billion on fire with those two deals) to thank for their current angst. 

Stephenson got a $69 million parachute for his mogul cosplay. But thousands of others in Media, Tech and Telecom will be shown the door in the next year with a bit less to show; having literally nothing to do with their own performance, or any other choices they made, other than believing that their employer had their best interests at heart. 

The number of people who reach out for guidance about changing jobs or careers, has shifted recently: From a majority looking to leave bad or boring jobs, to the majority facing layoffs, or afraid they’re about to. Granted, this is an extremely anecdotal sample size, but the change has been significant. I’ve written about this a good deal (here and here) and even did a podcast or two about it. So, I feel I’ve earned the right to remind everyone that the time to think about your career future is NOT when you are out of work, or facing a layoff. It’s way, waaaaaaay before that. It’s an always thing. It’s a constant hustle. And constant, is always italicized. 

I say that to people a lot. Many get it. Others think my version of “constant” verges on obsessive. Everyone has their own lifestyle and their own work style. But if you look at the people you truly admire in your industry (regardless of sector), chances are they are relentless about their careers. Re. Lent. Less.

From the self-made to those born on third base; I have found that people who do truly great things, have something unifying in common: They can not be stopped. They’re in early, out late, emailing on weekends, calling in from vacation, always in the right place, prepped for downturns, and ready to take advantage of any opportunity. Watching them work puts others out of breath. Unfortunately, these traits are often ALSO true of people who fail up spectacularly. (SEE Stephenson again.)

Note: I am NOT saying anyone who is now or will be out of job “didn’t hustle enough.” Not at all. When an industry or economy is in chaos (you may have noticed, that’s us at the moment), those with talent and hustle often find themselves on the outside looking in. 

Question: If the higher-ups fuck up and then lay people off to make it better; and one of those people is you… What do you do? Answer: Hustle more. In new ways.

Hustling in a job you have is different than hustling FOR a job you want or NEED. Hustling for a job is just plain different from hustling in a job. Changing disciplines or industries takes an entirely different variant of hustle than grabbing a gig in the one you’re in. Doing any of this standing at the edge of a recession, requires next-level hustle.

For students I advise and clients I coach, the one thing I do more than anything: kick their asses. Let’s be honest, we all need it every so often. For someone beginning their career, or faced with restarting it, the ass-kick is often the most important first step. Ergo…

My Top 10 Suggested Hustles For The Recently Or Soon To Be At Liberty:

1. You’re Late Already. You need to start the game even before you’re ready. So your network is fresh from the jump. So your brand already has awareness. So you already have irons to fire. So your metadata already brings all the gigs to the yard. This is not job searching, it’s career-proofing. So EVEN if this list doesn’t seem for you. It is.