Are you scared of losing your job?
Reporting my latest story on Silicon Valley’s job struggles, two things stayed with me: the willingness to keep learning, and the importance of building a life beyond your job.
Xingtao Zhao spent more than a decade at
@Google . After leaving for a startup and later being laid off, he faced rejection even with a PhD in machine learning. He’s now applying his skills to quantitative trading while continuing to look for work.
What struck me was his curiosity and optimism. He sees AI changing the opportunities around him—and keeps learning how to adapt.
“It closes a window but opens a door,” he told me.
Basem Istanbouli offered another kind of wisdom: build your community and your sense of self outside work, too. His (un)PTO group brings people between jobs together for hikes, coffee and companionship.
We can be professionals, friends, parents, hikers, creators, volunteers, lifelong learners. Having several sources of meaning gives us somewhere to turn when one part of life becomes difficult.
Losing a job can hurt financially and emotionally. Learning something new, finding people who understand, and remembering the other parts of ourselves can help us find a way forward.
Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences with me. Your honesty—and your determination to keep going—deserve to be heard.
My latest for
@californiapost and
@nypost 👇