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6 months ago I joined a medium size company, owned by a large corporate company.

After 2 months that I joined, unfortunately, this corporate company went bankrupt and my company started to cut many positions, including mine (laid off). Since now they have to be profitable with their own money.

My last day with the company will be on September, 30th. In the mean time, I started to apply for other jobs and I will have some interviews soon.

How should I behave now with the potential new companies? Should I say that many colleagues are getting laid-off and that I want to leave ASAP, without mentioning I got laid off? And then mention in the next interview, if any, that in the meantime I got laid off...

The alternative is to say the truth immediately, that I was laid off for financial reasons and that I am looking for something new. But I do not know if they will believe me. My current company does not want to say that they are cutting employees outside, they even wanted me to sign an extra paper where I will keep confidential the internal financial crisis (I did not sign it).

MarcellDes
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MarcelDes
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2 Answers2

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Unless you actually got fired, which it sounds like you didn't (otherwise you'd probably already be out of a job), just tell them the same thing you've said here -- the owning company went bankrupt and you got laid off as a result.

It happens, it's no big deal. No one's going to dock you for it (and if they do, you probably dodged a bullet anyway).

For "proving" that you got laid off, I've never needed proof. They can easily contact your old employer, but unless you give them a reason to doubt you, most people will trust you're being honest.

Shauna
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    Yep, don't know of a single employer who would scoff at someone being laid off. Not OP's fault, it's just business. I've been laid off twice, once during the recession and again in 2013 because the one company who provided 2/3 of the customers for the primary product went to a competitor. Usual reaction I've had is, "Man, laid off twice in four years. That's rough." – MattD Aug 31 '17 at 21:13
  • It depends on the region though. At least in Finland, being laid off is no different from being fired. You will be shunned in both cases and if you do get an interview, the focus is heavily on "What is wrong with you" with the subtext of "You are not a good employee, since otherwise you would not have been laid off, as you would be critical to the success of the company". – Juha Untinen Sep 01 '17 at 14:27
  • @JuhaUntinen Do you mean to tell me that you will be blamed and shunned, because the company you worked for (and didn't run) went bankrupt and you happened to be one of the 90% of employees let go? – Shauna Sep 01 '17 at 15:04
  • @Shauna I know it's not your fault, but the companies around here unfortunately seem to think so. They are so afraid to hire people that they almost invariably prefer those that are currently employed. And until you reach the interview stage (following initial CV submission), you will not get a chance to say that 90% of the employees were laid off. – Juha Untinen Sep 01 '17 at 16:25
  • @JuhaUntinen I'd say that, while it is a possibility and something to be mindful of if one is in such a culture, that's a larger cultural issue that arguably needs addressed. However, even within such cultures, there are companies who don't follow the norm, and one tends to be better off with such companies, as long as one remains steadfast and doesn't let fear take over (and if enough people start doing that, the culture starts changing). – Shauna Sep 01 '17 at 16:42
  • So all those Nokia employees are never going to find another job again? – gnasher729 Sep 01 '17 at 23:07
  • @gnasher729 Funny that you mention them. Back in late 2015, more than 50 % of them were still unemployed. It's harder to find "statistics" now, but the one I found said that more than 10 % are still unemployed (4 years later). A lot of the 50 % went on and started their own companies after not getting hired by anyone. – Juha Untinen Sep 04 '17 at 10:24
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Being "laid off" and "fired" are two completely different things. Tell the truth that you are being laid off - hiring managers are understanding to lay-offs, since it was no fault of your own.

Michael
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