I was laid off by Amazon and am still jobless. What once felt like a paid vacation now feels like a ticking time bomb.

"Last October, I was getting ready to head to the office when I noticed two text messages from Amazon that looked like spam, asking me to click a link or check my email. I soon learned that after nearly four years with the company, I'd been laid off - my third layoff since 2019 and the fourth in my career."

"Since I'd dealt with job losses so many times, I don't think this layoff affected me emotionally as much as it did some of my coworkers. The idea of having so much free time ahead of me was exciting. Now, my job search feels like a ticking time bomb, but I'm not in a rush to jump into another large corporation."

"After dealing with nine months of unemployment during my previous layoff, I'd started planning my life around the possibility of losing my job. By the time I started at Amazon in 2021, my unemployment beforehand had left my savings a little lean. I was making a six-figure salary at Amazon, and my goal was to grow my emergency fund to cover several months' worth of expenses."

Joanelle Cobos was laid off from Amazon in October after nearly four years and began active job hunting in January. She experienced three previous layoffs since 2019 and planned financially for another job loss by rebuilding savings after nine months of prior unemployment. By 2021 she earned a six-figure salary and grew an emergency fund to about $25,000. The financial cushion allowed her to initially view the layoff as a paid vacation and to avoid immediate emotional distress. She now feels mounting pressure to secure work but is reluctant to quickly rejoin another large corporation.

Read at Business Insider