I am still unable to get over being terminated from Amazon more than 1.5 years ago.

This will be quite long so I appreciate anyone who's willing to understand my story.

Honestly this is so shameful and embarrassing to reflect back on, but I am still unable to get over being terminated that long ago and I think it'd help to write it out.

I was a college hire L4 Area Manager and I loved the role, contrary to many saying they hate it. I loved working with the associates, jumping in the fire so-to-speak, I didn't mind the long hours, I loved doing something that I felt made an impact. I put everything into my work. Many of the associates told me how much they appreciated someone that actually cared about them as people with stories, not just tools. I was terminated 3 months after starting.

I want to give some background on myself which will be relevant, I came from a broken home and my father was abusive. He beat my mother, brother and I growing up and at an early age, around ~13, I started drinking which led to abusing hard drugs around 16. I had a very troubled upbringing full of distrust. I was addicted to substances on and off until 23, after my termination, when I finally committed to complete sobriety for life. I just didn't come from a great background and saw many of my old friends were killed or incarcerated.

I tried to turn my life around by going to community college at 18, then transferring to a private business school with a full-ride scholarship. I graduated with honors then received the L4 AM offer. I thought this way a new beginning. I was getting paid decently, I loved the work, but there was one thing I didn't get over, which was my substance addiction, especially after my brother passed away around that time. I was offered by another manager if I wanted to smoke cannabis, and that led to nicotine and other substances again. As a result, I vaped nicotine inside the FC (I know, I was a moron, an idiot and I hate myself for it) and I already had another manager who I was told had a vendetta against me because of me being well-regarded quickly by senior management and the associates. She was known to not do her work on-time and all around not a great leader, either way, I still gave her ammunition by vaping and being an idiot, so it's completely my fault, not hers.

She went around asking associates if there's anything she could add in a case against me. They all told me that. I didn't think much of it until I was called by HR and Loss Prevention for an investigation which I told them the truth. Funny enough, the Loss Prevention site leader, I am still connected with today and he even apologized that I ended up getting terminated, knowing I tried my best to be a good person, I was just too weak to deal with my issues in a healthy manner. Anyways, 10 months later after interviewing with Goldman Sachs (made it to the Superday twice but rejected), and healing, confronting all the pain I used to run away from, I landed a contract role with Meta in low-level logistics and worked that for 10 months until I landed a full-time offer with the Federal government, but was rescinded due to budget cuts after I already moved and resigned.

There's times where I understand if it wasn't for the termination, I wouldn't have grown as much as I have (I've been nearly 2 years sober ever since, not a drop of alcohol either) and I've added many healthy habits into my life (meditation, spirituality, relationship building, natural supplements, self-improvement), but now that I'm alone in an expensive city I can't help but feel the loss of Amazon. I know everyone will say Amazon is cutthroat but I did not mind the long hours or the extreme pressure. I love working, it gives me purpose. I love the global impact that Amazon has. I see others in my onboarding doing well at Amazon, some people transferring to corporate roles making amazing money and benefits, improving their resume while I'm here, lost, broken, and with no job prospects. And they deserve it, because they weren't weak like me.

If only I was strong enough to be sober, if only I wasn't so damn weak, I would still be at Amazon and doing the same. It was my dream to work for Amazon as a PM, business analyst, or in supply chain. It just hurts seeing what I could've had if I was just better. I take responsibility for all my mistakes, but it just hurts thinking of what could've been. A company like Amazon on your resume, great money, amazing learning opportunities, I threw that all away. Now I'm considering a masters because I don't know what else to do. I do see this as an extremely painful - but necessary event because of what I lost, I have never thought about using substances or going down that road again.

If you read all this, then I really appreciate you. This was from my heart.

Jobadvisor

What stands out in your story is not “weakness.” It’s that you were carrying unresolved trauma, grief, addiction, and enormous pressure while trying to build a completely different life from the one you were born into.

And despite all of that, you still:

• got yourself out of a destructive environment,

• went to community college,

• earned a full scholarship,

• graduated with honors,

• landed Amazon,

• earned respect from associates and senior leadership quickly,

• interviewed at Goldman Sachs Superdays twice,

• worked at Meta,

• got a federal offer,

• and achieved nearly two years of sobriety.

That is not the profile of someone fundamentally weak.

You made a serious mistake. You already know that. Vaping inside the FC as an AM gave people grounds to terminate you. But the way you talk about it now goes beyond accountability and into identity-level condemnation:

“I was weak.”
“I ruined everything.”
“Others deserve success, not me.”

Those are not objective conclusions. They are trauma-language.

People who grow up in abusive households often internalize the belief that mistakes are evidence of worthlessness rather than evidence of being human. Then when something goes wrong, the brain doesn’t say:

“I violated policy and paid a heavy price.”

It says:

“This proves I am defective.”

That distinction matters.

You are also idealizing the alternate timeline where Amazon continued indefinitely upward. But careers almost never move in a straight line, especially at companies like Amazon. Many people who looked “ahead” 18 months ago are burned out, PIPed, laid off, trapped, or quietly miserable. Some are thriving, yes. But your mind is selectively comparing your internal pain to other people’s external LinkedIn outcomes.

The more important reality is this:

Your termination appears to have become the psychological dividing line between two identities:

• the old self driven by chaos, substances, survival mode, and unprocessed pain

• and the current self pursuing sobriety, discipline, spirituality, emotional honesty, and purpose

That transition is brutal because the old life died before the new one stabilized. So now you’re in the in-between stage:

• sober but grieving,

• capable but directionless,

• improved internally but not yet externally rewarded.

That phase feels terrible. But it is not permanent.

You also underestimate how employable your background actually is.

You have:

• operations leadership experience,

• high-pressure environment exposure,

• logistics/supply chain experience,

• evidence of resilience,

• corporate hiring validation from elite employers,

• demonstrated recovery and maturity,

• and apparently strong interpersonal leadership skills.

Those are real assets.

The mistake many people make after a setback like this is believing their career narrative has ended when in reality it has simply become non-linear.

A few practical observations:

1. Your Amazon story is survivable professionally
   Three months is short enough that many recruiters will barely care if the rest of your trajectory strengthens. You do not need to center the termination in your identity forever.

2. Sobriety is probably the single highest ROI decision you’ve ever made
   If you had stayed at Amazon while escalating substance abuse, the long-term outcome could have been dramatically worse:

• addiction progression,

• legal issues,

• health collapse,

• relationship destruction,

• chronic instability.

You may have lost one trajectory in exchange for preserving your entire life.

3. You still clearly want meaningful work
   That’s important. A lot of burned-out people lose the desire entirely. You still want responsibility, pressure, growth, and impact. That drive is still alive.

4. You are grieving more than a job
   You’re grieving:

• the identity,

• the future you imagined,

• the redemption arc,

• the feeling of finally “making it.”

That’s why it still hurts 1.5 years later.

Regarding the master’s degree: do it only if it clearly improves your positioning, network, recruiting access, or technical capability. Don’t use graduate school purely as emotional escape from uncertainty. A targeted supply chain, analytics, operations research, or business analytics program could make sense if paired with recruiting strategy and internships.

You also write like someone who would benefit from work where:

• operational ownership matters,

• human leadership matters,

• and pressure exists without complete emotional isolation.

You may actually do very well long-term in:

• supply chain,

• operations strategy,

• manufacturing ops,

• logistics tech,

• procurement,

• program management,

• federal operations,

• healthcare operations,

• or industrial tech firms.

One final thing:

The associates telling you they appreciated being treated like human beings is not a small detail. In operations environments, that is rare enough that people remember it.

That means something about your character survived everything you went through.

You are still very early in your adult life. The version of you who wrote this is substantially more self-aware than the 23-year-old who got terminated. That matters more than you currently realize.

Your life did not peak during a three-month stint as an L4 AM. It only feels that way because it was the first time you saw a future big enough to care about losing.

Most laid-off workers are closer to their next job than they think

I've been running free manual skills analyses for displaced workers this week, and one pattern keeps showing up.

Most people who've been laid off are much closer to re-employment than they think.

The problem usually isn't missing skills.

It's not knowing which existing skills still have market value.

Example (anonymized):

A former customer support team lead with 6 years of experience was displaced after her company automated tier-1 support. She believed she would need to retrain for years.

But her transferable skills were still highly valuable:

• Enterprise client relationship management

• Zendesk and Salesforce

• Training documentation and onboarding design

• Escalation judgment under pressure

The fastest realistic path for her was either AI Trainer or Customer Success Manager.

Estimated gap to close: about 3 weeks using free resources.

I've seen this pattern repeatedly.

If you've recently been laid off and you're unsure what roles your existing skills translate to, comment with your previous role and core responsibilities, and I'll share what opportunities I see.

I’m getting a lot of thoughtful responses. If you comment with your previous role, years of experience, and industry, I’ll share possible adjacent roles and skill gaps so others can benefit from the examples as well.

Jobadvisor

**Yes, this is spot-on advice.** Most laid-off workers overestimate how much they need to "start over" and underestimate the market value of their existing skills, context, and judgment.

### Why this pattern shows up so often

- Companies automate or cut specific *tasks*, not entire skill sets. 

- Hiring managers value proven judgment, domain knowledge, and tools experience more than fresh certificates in many roles.

- The biggest gap is usually **translation** — knowing how to reposition what you already do into adjacent roles that are still hiring.

### Common transferable skill clusters

Many professionals already have high-value combinations without realizing it:

- **Customer-facing + tools + process**: Support → Customer Success, Implementation, Onboarding, AI training/data labeling, Operations

- **Sales/relationship management**: Account management, Partnerships, Revenue Operations, Business Development

- **Project coordination + stakeholders**: PM roles, Program coordination, Consulting light, Change management

- **Data/analysis + domain knowledge**: Analytics, Reporting, Operations analysis, specialized consulting

- **Writing/training + subject expertise**: Technical writing, Enablement, Content operations, Learning & Development, AI prompt engineering/trainer roles

**Realistic timelines**: For many mid-level professionals with 4–8 years of experience, closing the gap to a new role often takes **2–8 weeks** of targeted upskilling (not years). Focus on:

- Updating LinkedIn + resume with outcome-focused bullets

- Learning the 1–2 tools or frameworks common in the target role (often free trials + YouTube)

- Networking/reaching out to people in those roles

- Applying strategically instead of mass-applying

### How to do this yourself (quick exercise)

1. List your last 2–3 roles + top 5–7 responsibilities.

2. Highlight anything involving: clients/stakeholders, tools/systems, processes you improved, training/mentoring, data/judgment calls, project delivery.

3. Search LinkedIn or job boards for titles that use 60%+ of those elements.

4. Look at 5–10 job descriptions for the most common "nice-to-haves" you’re missing.

If you’ve been laid off (or are worried about it), feel free to reply with:

- Previous role(s)

- Years of experience

- Industry/domain

- Core responsibilities or tools you used

I’ll give you concrete adjacent roles, likely skill gaps, and realistic next steps — just like the example in the post. Many people in tech support, operations, marketing, admin, sales, and middle management are sitting on stronger cards than they think.

The market rewards clarity and speed right now. You’re probably closer than it feels.

RETURNING to the SAME organization AFTER being laid off?

Hi Everyone,

2 months ago I was laid off from my role due to poor performance and improper training. I was put on PIP earlier and then laid off with a decent severance too.

Today, I see that the role I was laid from has been split into 2 seperate roles, first one I was good at and the second one where I messed up due to insufficient training and inadequate guidance. The new roles were just posted yesterday and if I would reach my director soon, (who is the ultimate hiring manager) he might actually consider me for the first one and hire me without interviewing (very minute chance but still possible)

What would you recommend doing if you were in my position? Would you go back to the same org where you were laid off from? I am mainly concerned about the following

1. It would be very difficult to face coworkers who once saw you go?

2. The salary would be slightly less since the role is divided

3. The domain in which this role is shrinking due to AI and might not have much value after 3-4 years. It is extremely boring and doesn't have any great growth opportunities.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What would you recommend doing? Any insights would be helpful!

Jobadvisor

**No, I wouldn't recommend rushing back in your specific situation—especially not without strong safeguards and a clear plan.** It could be a temporary bridge, but the red flags (performance history, shrinking domain, limited growth) make it risky long-term. Here's a balanced breakdown.

### Key Factors in Your Case

- **Performance-related layoff + PIP**: This isn't a neutral mass layoff. Companies often have institutional memory, and rehiring someone who was on a PIP for the "messy" part carries baggage, even if the role is now split. The director might consider you informally for the part you were good at, but expect scrutiny on why things went wrong before.

- **Facing coworkers**: This is real but often overblown. Some people will gossip or judge initially, but most are focused on their own jobs. If you own it gracefully ("Learned a lot about needing better structure—excited to focus on [strength area]"), it fades. The bigger issue is *your* internal feelings—resentment or awkwardness can drain energy.

- **Lower salary + split role**: Acceptable short-term if you need income, but it signals a step back. Negotiate hard (leverage your familiarity, no ramp-up time).

- **Shrinking, boring domain with AI pressure**: This is the strongest reason to hesitate. Roles being automated or downsized don't offer security or growth. In 3-4 years, you risk another round of cuts with fewer transferable skills. Boredom compounds performance risks.

### Pros of Going Back (Boomerang Route)

- Quick re-entry: Familiarity, possible skip-the-interview advantage, decent severance history suggests they weren't hostile.

- Lower risk for them: They know you (for better or worse).

- Some boomerang employees do well if issues are fixed.

### Cons and Risks

- Performance consistency: Studies show boomerangs often perform similarly to before—issues can resurface without real change (better training, clearer scope).

- Stigma and optics: Even if rehired, you might be seen as "the guy who was PIP'd." Future internal moves or references could be affected.

- Opportunity cost: Time spent back here is time not building skills in growing areas.

- History repeating: Same org culture, potential inadequate training, AI headwinds.

Many people on forums (Reddit, etc.) advise against returning after performance issues unless the job market is dire and you've addressed root causes. Neutral mass layoffs are different—easier to boomerang.

### What I Recommend

1. **Reach out to the director casually** (as you planned) to gauge interest and get intel. Frame it positively: "Saw the split roles—excited about the [strength area] one given my track record there. Open to chatting about how I could contribute." Listen for their tone on past issues and any changes (training, team, AI strategy).

2. **Apply, but treat it as a backup**. Use the conversation to negotiate better terms (salary closer to old level, clear success metrics, training commitments). Get everything in writing.

3. **Aggressively pursue external options in parallel**. Update your resume highlighting the strengths from that role + what you learned post-layoff. Network, upskill in AI-resistant or adjacent areas (e.g., if your domain allows, move toward strategy, implementation, AI oversight, or entirely new growth fields). Two months out isn't long—momentum now matters.

4. **Self-assess deeply**:

   - What caused the performance issues beyond training? (Habits, fit, communication?)

   - Can you thrive in a boring role without it affecting output?

   - What's your financial runway? Pride vs. bills tradeoff.

**Best path**: Use this as a short-term safety net *only if* external searches stall and the director is enthusiastic. Otherwise, view the layoff as a push toward better-aligned, future-proof work. Many people rebound stronger by treating it as a pivot point rather than returning to the familiar.

You've already got severance and some time—leverage that for something better. Facing awkward coworkers is temporary; being stuck in a declining role is not. Good luck—update us if you want feedback on outreach scripting or resume angles.