Meta layoff made me rich: Ex-employee says he made more money after losing the job

A former Meta employee has claimed that their layoff from the technology company ended up improving their finances after they found another job before their termination period ended. The individual said the overlap allowed them to receive Meta paychecks while also earning a salary from the new employer for around three months.

The employee shared the experience on Blind, an anonymous platform where professionals discuss careers and workplace issues, writing, “Getting laid off from Meta made me rich.”

According to the post, the employee secured the new position a couple of months before their termination period with Meta ended. This meant they continued receiving Meta paychecks while simultaneously collecting income from the new job.


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Employee says extra income was invested

Detailing the financial outcome, the former employee wrote that they collected approximately three months of Meta paychecks while being paid by the new employer.

“I started a new job a couple months before the end of my termination period and collected about 3 months of meta paychecks while collecting paycheck from new job. I also got August vest and ended up investing about an extra 30k,” the employee said.

The individual said the combination of overlapping salaries, the stock vest and investing the additional money significantly changed their financial position following the layoff.

“Now I have way more in my accounts than I would have had I not gotten laid off,” the employee wrote.

The experience led the poster to question whether severance arrangements at large technology companies can sometimes leave workers financially better off, depending on how they manage the period between jobs.

“Isn’t this kind of ironic or does this mean that getting laid off from big tech can be a good thing if you play your cards right,” the employee asked.

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Blind users debate the financial upside of layoffs

The post prompted mixed reactions from other users on Blind. Some commenters pointed to the employee’s severance and August stock vest as factors that helped produce the financial gain described in the post.

Others were more sceptical, arguing that the experience may not be representative of what most laid-off technology workers face. Some users referred to survivorship bias and noted that finding another job can be difficult in the current employment market.

The discussion also raised questions about the broader impact of layoffs, with one commenter questioning the ethics of benefiting financially from a job loss that can negatively affect other workers and their families.

Some users focused instead on differences in severance arrangements and stock-vesting rules across locations. The discussion included questions about how such policies may differ between places such as New York and San Francisco.

While some commenters celebrated the former employee’s financial outcome, others cautioned that one person’s experience should not be taken as evidence that layoffs are generally beneficial for workers.