I lost 2/3 of my income… and I’m grateful for it.
The recent wave of layoffs is horrible. But also an opportunity.
My main writing client cut my hours by 2/3 due to the recession and overall situation. Yet seeing how many people lost their job completely in this wave of layoffs, I am really ****ing grateful that I still have some hours left.
That’s the risk of being a freelancer — you’re easy to remove from the bill. I had two days to prepare for a new reality of only having 1/3 of the income.
At the same time, I have all the freedom now to pursue the avenues I’ve had at the back of my head, reserved for a period when I wouldn’t be working 70 hours a week.
But let’s rewind.
End of May 2022: News break of massive layoffs. 50% of Gorillas HQ personnel are let go. My main copywriting client should be save, we all think, because we only recently got funding.
Then the news drop: We need to downsize, too.
I get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’m a freelance copywriter — if they need to downsize, I’m the most easily expendable.
The weekend passes. I relish the stability of having a single client pay all my fixed costs.
Then Monday happens.
My supervisor is obviously affected, assuring me it’s not the quality of my work that causes this drastic change.
I assure them I saw this coming. Still, being reduced from 30 hours a week to 10 hours is a blow. Financially and mentally.
May still has two days, though, and I continue as usual.
Colleagues express their grief over the decision, telling me I have been one of the main motivators in their day, and I feel a warmth that I can hardly describe.
But now, I’m at the end of the last day of my comfy, 30-hours-a-week life.
I have other clients, and I have a side-hustle that I can scale up with little trouble.
That is to say: I’ll be okay.
Actually, I might be more than okay. Three months ago, this main client of mine gave me a choice.
I’d been working there for almost 8 months, one of the first people to be hired for the startup. After ages of working as much as was necessary while our marketing team was incomplete, I was told I’m too expensive.
Should I go full-time, or remain a freelancer?
I followed my heart and remained freelance.
Even now, after the immense reduction, I don’t regret declining their offer to go full-time and accepting an income cut for the benefits of a regular 9–5.
The situation is eerily reminiscent of March 2020, when the lockdown in Germany forced my then-employer to decide against taking over any new employees who had just finished their probationary period.
Like myself.
The pandemic forced me to go freelance full-time in 2020, a decision I would have shied away from for months or maybe years to come.
In a similar vein, I consider this shift in my status quo to be a chance to pursue new opportunities.
The list of ideas and projects to further my entrepreneurial ambitions is long, the time so far has been liminted. I have The Launch Files from the Copy Posse waiting to be devoured and studied. There’s a Live Coaching certificate waiting to be completed.
All in all… this might be a net-positive.
Of course, that’s just me. And I realize I’m incredible fortunate and privileged to be able to remain mostly optimistic in the face of such changes.
Full-time colleagues of mine reacted with nail-biting emojis on Slack and overt worry. My friends and family sent empathy, but were mainly like, “You’ll be fine.” They know I’m a fighter. They know I have alternatives.
If you’ve been let go in recent weeks, I’m sending hugs. There will be other options. This is a chance to attain something better. Wallow in misery for a day or two, drink some wine with me… then dust yourself off.
And if you’re still around, be grateful — and make the most of it! 💜
