From Let Go to Letting Go

What Getting Laid Off Taught Delaney Silver About Work

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What role and industry were you in before your layoff?
Recruiting - I was a Talent Acquisition Analyst at a boutique consulting firm called Slalom

What was your initial reaction to the layoff, and how did it challenge your sense of stability or identity?
My initial reaction to the layoff was definitely a hit to the ego. I remember feeling the impact when they delivered the news, but at the same time, I’ve always tried to be very accommodating in the workplace. So even though it hurt, I recall saying something like, “Oh, okay, yeah, I get it.” Being in Human Resources, I also understood the necessity of layoffs from a business standpoint. I was in a role that, at the time, wasn’t bottom-line critical. So, logically, it made sense to me - but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

Another reason it felt strange was because I had already lined up an internship through my graduate program and had planned to quit in two months. So at first, I thought, "Okay, whatever. I get a little break before my internship starts." But as those two months went on, I quickly realized that even if you have a plan, change still impacts you - especially when you don’t see it coming.

In hindsight, were there warning signs or shifts in the business that foreshadowed it?
In hindsight, there were warning signs. I had already started doing work outside my assigned role, supporting the sales team instead of focusing on recruiting. I was taking fewer networking calls and filling my time with minor projects. There had already been one round of layoffs. The only real surprise was the timing. It just happened one day, without warning.

How did your understanding of the HR function change when you suddenly found yourself on the other side of it?
I don’t know that my understanding of HR changed when I found myself on the other side of a layoff. If anything, it added an interesting layer. I actually felt bad for the HR business partner delivering the news, because I knew how hard that job must be. I’d done furloughs and layoffs during the COVID pandemic in a previous role, so I had real empathy. It’s never easy to do, and I think having that perspective allowed me to give her more grace than I might have if I didn’t understand what she was going through.

What surprised you about how you handled the uncertainty: emotionally, professionally, or even logistically?
What surprised me most about how I handled the uncertainty was actually how poorly I handled it, despite having some certainty. I had severance that covered my expenses until my internship started, so in theory, I was fine. But emotionally, I felt lost. I went from talking to dozens of people every day as a recruiter (internal colleagues and external candidates) to essentially just saying goodbye to my wife in the morning and then filling my days with errands.

Yes, I was productive in my own way - helping plan our wedding, making dinner, supporting my wife - but there was a deep lack of engagement. The core values I love about HR and recruiting (connection, communication, engagement) were gone, and I was surprised by how much I had relied on them to feel fulfilled.

How has this experience reshaped your expectations for leadership, communication, and transparency during organizational change?
There were two moments from that day I’ll never forget.

First, after I was told I was being let go, I asked, “Does my manager know?” They said no. I asked when I could reach out, since I had candidates to pass off. They told me that a market leader would be making the announcement at 10:30 a.m., and after that, I could reach out. Instead, I got a message from my manager around 9:30 a.m. with a screenshot of my out-of-office email (sent automatically by IT), which said, “Delaney is no longer with Slalom.” That’s how he found out. It was such a painful and impersonal way for someone I’d worked with for three years to learn I was gone.

Second, the process itself felt chaotic and unkind. I stayed on to finish up my work, not because I had to, but because I wanted to hand things off thoughtfully. I didn’t take any sensitive documents, only personal ones, but I was flagged by IT and scolded for trying to save files. I even shared my screen to prove I wasn’t doing anything wrong. It just felt unnecessary, especially in a moment when I’d just lost my job. 

Has this relaunch opened up new ambitions, roles, or industries you previously wouldn’t have considered?
What’s funny is, when people ask if this experience launched new ambitions or made me consider new roles or industries, the truth is it actually made me take a step back from ambition. It helped me realize that the consulting world, whether acting as a consultant or working internally in HR, isn’t where I thrive.

Some of my most fulfilling roles have been at organizations that aren’t client-serving or focused on billable hours. I also realized I prefer smaller companies. There’s something exciting about working for a company with thousands of employees. But when layoffs happen, you can be one of 100 let go in a day. At a smaller company, you feel your impact. Especially in HR, you have a clearer sense of where you fit operationally.

So if I have new ambitions now, they’re more personal. I want to focus on my values: leading with empathy, prioritizing culture, employee development, and engagement. You know, bringing the "human" back into Human Resources.

What aspects of your HR skill set do you see as most transferable or in demand in other industries?
One thing I found interesting when jumping back into the job market after my internship (post-layoff) was the skill sets that were prominently emphasized in many of the job descriptions I came across. From an HR perspective, you’ll always need someone knowledgeable: an HR manager or generalist who can run things operationally - e.g., onboarding, offboarding, benefits, payroll, recruiting.

However, a big callout I noticed in a lot of postings was a demand for people with strong employee relations knowledge. I think as we move into a world with more frequent layoffs and restructuring, and as dozens of recruiters and talent acquisition professionals re-enter the job market, the people who are in the highest demand are those who can jump in and handle the tough stuff.

These are the people who know how to have critical conversations, address internal issues, and partner with managers on performance challenges. They’re skilled in the unsexy side of HR: managing leaves of absence, overseeing FMLA, and handling accommodation requests. These are the things that keep employees supported, informed of their rights, and protected during major life events. That’s what surprised me when I re-entered the job market - the shift in value toward those foundational employee relations skills.

What advice would you give to someone operating inside a firm that may be next?
I hesitate to call this "advice" because it can sound fear-mongering, but honestly, if you’re working at a company and think you might be next, my biggest recommendation is to start your job search now.

I took about three months to find my next role. I started seriously applying in January 2025 and didn’t start my new job until April 7, 2025. That was after submitting over 250 applications for various HR roles, both in Los Angeles and remote positions across the country.

So, if you even think you might be impacted, don’t wait for confirmation. Start casually looking. There’s a lot of noise out there on what to do, but if you’re aligning your résumé to the roles you want and making authentic connections in those industries and organizations, you’re giving yourself a head start. And trust me, when that day comes, and they let you go, you’ll be glad you did.

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