When Melanie Ehrenkranz, the founding father of the ‘Laid Off’ Substack publication, launched her publication for unemployed staff in August 2024, she didn’t count on to create a vibrant, lively group of over 11,000 readers in lower than a yr.
Along with the publication, Ehrenkranz additionally runs a Discord group, which provides its members extra methods to attach, help one another and navigate the uncharted waters of unemployment through the second Trump time period. This group is non-public for paid readers on the month-to-month price of $5.
Whereas the actual type of monetary pressure and psychological pressures that characterize unemployment have been round so long as there have been jobs, the size of layoffs, the transformative nature of AI that’s upending complete industries, cussed inflation, financial uncertainty and new methods social media is connecting individuals once more post-pandemic makes 2025 a novel time to be navigating the ever-shifting job market.
“This second feels heavier,” Ehrenkranz informed Salon. “Individuals aren’t simply getting laid off — they’re getting ghosted, strung alongside, possibly even experiencing their second or third or fifth layoff of their profession.”
Magenta Fox, one of many members of the group Ehrenkranz created, has been laid off since 2023. Fox says this era of unemployment is “vastly completely different” from the opposite occasions she was laid off, in 2009 and through 2016-2018.
“With this search, I’ve paid for resume rewrites and interview teaching— one thing I’ve by no means performed at any level in my profession,” Fox mentioned. “And it looks like there’s no finish in sight. No less than with the Nice Recession it appeared like there was an effort in Washington to attempt to make issues higher.”
This time round, Fox discovered her interactions with recruiters extra cutthroat.
“I’ve had recruiters no-show on calls and write impolite emails— one thing I’ve by no means gotten from anybody, recruiter or no, in my skilled life, ever,” she mentioned.
The uptick in ghosting conduct from recruiters provides to the psychological well being toll job looking can take.
“The psychological impact was actually huge,” mentioned New York-based Dio Martins, who has been just lately laid off and has simply landed a brand new distant alternative.
Martins discovered networking and connecting with pals useful in his job search.
“It’s unimaginable how useful somewhat textual content message may be to somebody, simply reminding you that you just’re not alone, and to maintain making an attempt issues,” he mentioned.
As of late Could 2025, U.S. employers minimize practically half one million jobs, which is a 93% soar in comparison with the identical interval final yr.
To this point, 2025 has been a brutal yr for US workers. Main U.S. employers like Chevron, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Blue Origin, Estée Lauder, Kohl’s, Southwest Airways, Walmart and Enterprise Insider have introduced main layoffs starting from lots of to 1000’s of jobs.
“It’s unimaginable how useful somewhat textual content message may be to somebody, simply reminding you that you just’re not alone, and to maintain making an attempt issues”
Impressed by communities like Rachel Karten’s Hyperlink in Bio Discord and Julia Harrison’s Saloon Substack, Ehrenkranz needed to take away the stigma from being unemployed and create a nurturing atmosphere for these trying to get again on their toes.
“I observed lots of readers had been utilizing the Substack Chat to share their tales and ask for recommendation, and so I needed to create an area that had extra layers to it for individuals experiencing job loss to attach,” Ehrenkranz mentioned. “The intention behind the Discord, just like the general mission, is for individuals to really feel much less alone and to destigmatize layoffs. And in addition to have some enjoyable and possibly make some pals.”
Over time, she observed that members began utilizing the Discord as a technique to take care of the day-to-day pressures of job looking out, each on-line and in individual.
“I’ve seen individuals within the Discord share recommendation on find out how to publish about their layoff on LinkedIn with out it feeling cringe, find out how to put on their hair in a Zoom job interview, how to answer a hiring supervisor that ghosted them after a number of rounds of interviews, and find out how to tweak their resume so it would not get trashed by ATS software program,” she mentioned. “I’ve additionally more and more seen people making an attempt to satisfy up exterior of the Discord, whether or not it is in a vent session on Google Meet or grabbing drinks through the week.”
In the end, the psychological well being break and human connection is what on-line communities like ‘Laid Off’ supply its members: with out the gloss or pretenses of conventional social media or the unproductive forms of an unemployment workplace.
“We alternate ideas and share rejection tales. I really feel like I can go there to vent with out being seen as a bummer”
“On this financial system, discovering full-time employment is like discovering a needle in a haystack,” mentioned 25-year-old Niya Doyle, one of many individuals Ehrenkranz profiled for her publication. Doyle made a TikTok about how she was laid off, one in every of many who turned to social media to hunt solace from others going by the identical expertise.
“I simply noticed lots of my FYP even earlier than I obtained laid off,” she mentioned. “I suppose it makes it really feel such as you’re not alone. It is comforting.”
Whether or not it’s Substack feedback, Reddit boards, Discord communities or TikTok posts detailing their layoff experiences, extra job seekers are discovering consolation in numbers on social media, making their isolating expertise of a layoff somewhat bit extra palatable.
“They’re the co-workers I want I had, in a method,” Fox mentioned concerning the Laid Off group. “We alternate ideas and share rejection tales. I really feel like I can go there to vent with out being seen as a bummer.”