💸 Layoff Anxiety? We got you. 💸

✨ This Month’s Themes ✨

Our money themes help ground us each month and remind us where to focus on our intentions throughout the year.

🔍 Clarity

Get clear on what you want to accomplish this year and how you want the year to feel for you.

🧘🏾‍♀️Refresh and Reset

Rest! Everything doesn’t have to be accomplished all at once. Give yourself a moment to rest, reset, and refresh.

✅ Vision and Goaling

Allow yourself to daydream, then start drafting out what would be needed to make those dreams a reality. Remember, an elephant is eaten one bite at a time.

🔍 In this Issue

• This Week's Money News

• Our Bi-Weekly Move

• 6 Steps to Soothing Layoff Anxiety

• Up Next: Recession Prep

• My Final Two Cents

• Celebrating You

Need to catch up? Read our latest issues here.

This Week’s Money News

👛 Wallet Watch

• 🟤 Shameless plug: I was just on the Laurnie Wilson podcast giving an unnecessarily long-winded response to a certain question. Give it a listen here.

• 🟤 Please make sure you’re checking in on your student loans. Missing payments will negatively impact your credit score, and student loans are one of the few that will not be automatically discharged from your credit report if you file for bankruptcy. Read more here.

• 🟤 Here’s how that Economic Blackout went.

• 🟤 The Center for American Progress is fed up with Trump’s economic policies. Here’s their explanation of what’s happening to the economy.

Announcements

📆 Our Bi-Weekly Move

As of March 3, we’ve moved the Ed. Opal newsletter to a bi-weekly cadence. Expect us in your inbox every other Monday morning. We’ll keep the content the same, so you can still expect deep dives, money prompts, and the tools and resources you need to help you reach your personal finance goals.

Layoff Anxiety

💸 Here’s How to Address Your Layoff Anxiety

For the past few years, layoffs seem to have been at the height of the national conversation. In 2023, tech giants once thought to be the sure-fire path to career stability and strong income trajectories, began laying off chunks of their workforce one after the other. Before tech could reestablish itself as a ‘secure’ industry, our government began purging long-time, loyal employees. For many, this has been another jarring hit to what was once considered a ‘secure’ and ‘stable’ career path. It’s understandable, then, that many folks are shaken, and layoff anxiety is pretty high. There’s usually no way to predict whether or not you may experience a layoff, but if you’re worried about your job security, here’s a 6-step guide to preparing for the worst. As they say, the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one, so be sure to utilize this time to your advantage.

1️⃣ Make sure you have an emergency fund of at least six months, and if you’re really conservative, one full year.
One thing that makes a potential layoff less scary is knowing you have a financial cushion. If you’re concerned about job security, the first thing to ensure is that you have an emergency fund. I’ve noted that the emergency fund should be at least six months. However, depending on the balance in your emergency fund now, that could take years to build. That’s ok. Start. Somewhere. Make this a priority as soon as possible to protect yourself against financial hardship.

2️⃣ Start thinking about what you want in your next role.
Do you want to lead others? Do you want something more challenging? Would you like to relocate? Do you want to work at a smaller company? A larger one? Picture your ideal role and job environment and start jotting those items down, row by row, in a Google doc or sheet. Create a criteria list and start applying to roles that match that criteria. 

3️⃣ Once you know what you want in your next role, it’s time to start an environmental scan and complete a few audits of the following.

A) Are the pay bands for these roles in alignment with what you need, want, and expect to be paid? If not, are there similar roles that may pay better?

B) Do your current skills and experience match your desired roles? If not, where can you get experience in your current role that will close that gap? Think of special projects and volunteer work like employee resource group roles. Once you’ve started gaining the experience, update your resume to reflect your new skills.

C) Do you have anyone in your network currently working in your target roles? If so, they may be able to help you with your resume and interview prep or give you insight into the role that could help color your perspective of whether it aligns with your goals. Be sure to reach out to those folks or connect with individuals on LinkedIn and ask them if they’d be willing to share their experience in the role and provide advice for someone looking to transition into the role. These folks are also great people to ask about any certifications you may consider if you have a skills gap. I don’t advocate for a lot of certifications because you never know how heavily the hiring managers may be weighing them. They may find them valuable, or they may not care about them at all. Talking to someone already in the role will help you determine whether or not getting a certification is helpful; it’ll help you pinpoint exactly which certifications matter to hiring managers. For example, suppose you’ve talked to three people in a UX role who all mention a specific Figma certification. In that case, that particular certification will likely be valuable to have on your resume. 

4️⃣ Consider your current pay and how much you want to increase it.
We’ve all seen the price of eggs. There’s no harm in wanting to increase your salary. Regardless of how well you think you may be getting paid right now, trends have shown that sometimes, the fastest way to improve your salary is to leave your company for a higher bidder. Before you decide you can't make money elsewhere, do some quick searches to see how it's looking for you on the outside. This isn't a 'grass is greener' exercise. It’s an awareness exercise, and it never hurts to be aware of the opportunities in the job market. When comparing pay, don't forget to consider equity grants, student loan reimbursement payouts, etc., to ensure you're truly comparing apples to apples. When I apply to roles externally, my target baseline is 25%, meaning any role I apply to needs a base salary that's an increase of at least 25% of my current base. I then calculate the total compensation increase once I know more about benefits and the new company's retirement offerings. My goal used to be to double my base any time I made a move. I'm not sure how realistic that is in today's environment, but trying never hurts. 

5️⃣ Stop ignoring those LinkedIn recruiters. In fact, slide in their DMs.
We’ve all had recruiters slide into our DMs on LinkedIn. Now is the time to use them! They get paid to place you in new roles, so don’t be shy in asking them to do just that. Once your resume is updated, send them a quick note and let them know you're looking for new opportunities. Give them the role criteria you created above, and let them go to work for you. If you need to, check in periodically to get insight from them on how the job market looks and if there's anything you may want to do to maximize your appeal to future employers. If anyone knows the market right now, it's recruiters. Don't sleep on their expertise. Has it been a while since they messaged you? Who cares! Reach out to them anyway.

6️⃣ Work your negotiation skills.
Just because you get a new offer doesn't mean you have to take it. If you want, you can try to use that offer as leverage for a promotion or a raise at your current company.

Leaving your job, especially if you love it, is a big decision. This is not a blanket encouragement for anyone to move on from their current role. What I do hope is that this note serves as encouragement to all of us to take our future into our own hands. Once you start getting callbacks on those applications, you'll feel more secure and confident that you’re not stuck in your current role, and you have options if you need them. Once you begin applying for roles, if you're not getting callbacks, you'll know you might want to start rebranding and/or upping your skills so you can continue to appeal in the market. This will be an invaluable data point you’ll be happy you found sooner rather than later.

In terms of when to expect callbacks on job applications, give it 6 months at least. Again, this is a REALLY weird job environment. You may get ghosted, or any number of things could be happening to extend the hiring process for an applicant. Current hiring timelines for most companies are LONG, so it's better to start applying now rather than 6 months from now. 

Up Next

⏩ In the Next Issue

In our next newsletter, we’ll cover how to prepare for a potential recession. Stay tuned!

Vocab, Mindfulness, and Quick Facts

💰 My Final Two Cents

💬 Money Vocabulary:
Unemployment Compensation: Unemployment compensation, generally provided by an unemployment check or a direct deposit, provides partial income replacement for a defined length of time or until the worker finds employment, whichever comes first. It is also known as “unemployment benefits” or “unemployment insurance.” Read more here.

🧘🏾‍♀️ Mindful Money Prompt:
In scary times, it’s important to remember the people, places, and things that help us feel safe, secure, and supported. Name those people, places, and things over the next two weeks, and if necessary, reconnect with them if you haven’t in a while.

📠 Money Quick Fact:
Almost 20 years ago, we entered the Great Recession. Here’s how it impacted Black American’s then, and the continued impact it has had to this day.

Celebration Syndicate

🎉 Introducing a New Way to Celebrate You

Did you get a higher-paying job, pay off a credit card, or meet a savings goal? No matter what your money accomplishment is, we want to celebrate you! Share your money wins here for a chance to have them featured in future newsletters and on Ed. Opal socials!