Once again, after the layoff news broke, many affected employees shared their horrible experiences after being terminated. Either the middle of the night termination mail or during the morning work calls, all the scenarios have been devastating to be heard. One such post, sharing the news of her being fired, came from a former Shopify employee, who is over four-month pregnant now.
Shopify has recently announced its intention to lay off approximately 20 per cent of its staff. This is the second wave of layoffs for Shopify, as they had previously terminated 1,000 employees last year.
As per the LinkedIn post shared by the employee, she took a short break to move houses after 20 weeks of her pregnancy were over. However, she got the shocking news of being laid off by the e-commerce platform as the company is struggling in this uncertain economic environment.
Despite being laid off, the woman expressed that although her self-worth is not solely defined by her job, the news was difficult to accept. She admitted feeling a mix of fear and excitement about the uncertain future that lies ahead. Furthermore, she explains how Shopify provided an excellent work environment in many aspects, and she felt she had made a positive contribution. The company not only granted her with the flexibility of remote work, but presented her with the incredible opportunities to network during her six-year tenure.
Her post expressed her deepest concerns on what lies ahead. She acknowledges the feeling of fear and excitement, anticipating the arrival of a new family member, while also being focused on her lengthy list of do-it-yourself home projects. “It’s not often that you have the opportunity to take a career break in your thirties, allowing time to re-evaluate priorities and focus on skill enhancement – and I intend to make the most of it. While I don’t plan on immediately searching for a new job, I do foresee re-entering the job market next year,” reads her LinkedIn post.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of a woman turning to LinkedIn to disclose her experience of being laid off while pregnant.
Just a month ago, a previous employee of Meta shared on LinkedIn that she had been let go from her position when she was 30 weeks pregnant. Remarkably, she continued to attend job interviews until just one week before giving birth to her baby.
Currently, the tech industry job market is highly competitive due to cost-cutting measures adopted by companies. Prominent tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Meta have recently let go of numerous employees.
