1. Layoff are rarely performance related. There is too much paperwork involved with performance related firings and layoffs happen so fast and so wide it's usually done by lottery. You could be laid off for performance but no one is going to give you an honest answer either way. They still suck and you'll feel like you personally did something wrong. In the overall scheme of labor relations, it's not you it's federal law.

2. Yeah, so it made it a lot easier to network. I didn't have to schedule interviews clandestinely late at night, on lunch breaks, take time off. I could be out front about my objectives and be fully in charge of my career without worrying about blowback. 2 weeks of interview, 2 weeks of reference and background checks. I was collecting my next paycheck before unemployment even finished processing, LOL.

3. Layoffs aren't personal. They definitely can drive morale down for those that remain. And as soon as you have a steady, new job guess who start reaching out to you for referrals?

I wasn't laid off during the 2000s dot bomb, but I quit to finish school. I was not laid off during the 2009 GFC. I was definitely laid off during COVID19, because of COVID. At no point did I think it was even about me. It just sucks and those feelings of inadequacy are real. While my colleagues were feeling sorry for me I sent an email to every business card I've collected through the network events. I had 3 job offers by the 2nd week. You grow, get older, learn from your experience.