This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Adekunle Ayodele, 45, who lives in Georgia. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Working at Meta, I knew getting laid off was a possibility. In recent years, layoffs have been happening rapidly in tech, and traditional ideas around job security and the 9-to-5 have been shifting.
I was nearly four years into my role as a program manager at Meta when we were notified that layoffs would be happening in a few weeks, on May 20. At 7 a.m. that morning, I checked my email. No news yet. At 7.02, nothing happened. I kept on refreshing my inbox, and at around 7.14 a.m., I found out…
