Matt Harrison Clough for BI
One afternoon this summer, a tech employee I'll call Dylan received a meeting invitation out of the blue. Labeled "private and confidential," the mandatory call was set for 10 the next morning. A follow-up email instructed him to come into the office to take the meeting, and to bring his ID badge and company-issued laptop with him.
The news he received the next morning was no surprise: The company had been quietly axing employees for months. He surrendered his badge and laptop, signed a form, and was shown the door. As he walked the long way home, he began to brainstorm a plan for the job search that lay ahead. Action item No. 1: Should he turn on the Open to Work banner on LinkedIn?