The Strange Phenomenon Of People Giving Thanks For Losing Their Jobs

In the age of social media, we’ve all become accustomed to individuals portraying their lives in the best possible light. Families always seem to get along, vacations are always picturesque, and even getting laid off has been turned into a cause for celebration.

Perhaps you’ve seen one of your connections on LinkedIn or some other platform express gratitude after being fired instead of adopting an understandable tone of indignation or confusion. So what’s behind this seemingly incongruent reaction?

A sign of the times

It probably won’t come as a surprise that the economy is in a state of uncertainty and job losses across most industries (most notably in the tech world) are starting to increase.

There were just under 386,000 reported layoffs nationwide between the start of 2024 and June … and those who lost their jobs found themselves competing with a larger pool of applicants for open positions elsewhere.

And that brings us to the reason many newly fired workers put on a happy face — at least in public.

Tech recruiter Alex Fenstermacher said job-seekers feel the need to seize every advantage they can, and that means they can’t afford to burn any bridges.

“Unfortunately, employees understand how they would be ‘blacklisted,’ or lose their referrals from a past company, if they were to ever speak negatively about a company they previously worked for,” he said.

Strike the right balance

Some laid off workers are limited in what they can say due to corporate non-disparagement clauses. But even those who aren’t restrained often feel that bad-mouthing a former employer on a public forum isn’t a wise decision.

Even if their followers likely suspect that an overtly positive post doesn’t tell the whole story, it allows those folks to take the high road and avoid appearing bitter.

Chris Agee July 30th, 2024

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