Laid off from Deloitte after 6 years of sacrificing my health and life. I’m finally done with the Big 4.

I am completely numb. My time with Deloitte came to an end in a 10-minute call with a random partner and someone from an HR team. Six years, six busy seasons, and thousands of hours of overtime, gone in seconds.

I spent my entire mid-20s inside the green dot. I completely destroyed my health for this firm. I lived on chronic stress, sleep deprivation, caffeine, and anxiety. I traded gym sessions, real meals, and my mental well-being for "urgent" deliverables.

My work-life balance was nonexistent. I missed birthdays, skipped family dinners, and had to cancel weekend trips because of messy client PBC lists. I always told myself, "Just get through this one busy season and it will get better." It never did. The reward for surviving was always just more work.

I gave this place my youth, and they treated me like a line item on a spreadsheet.

I’m sad about the sudden shock, but honestly? I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. For the first time in six years, I don't have to look at utilization metrics or open my laptop at midnight.

I am completely done with the Big 4. I am done letting a corporate logo dictate my health, my time, and my self-worth.

To anyone still grinding away: please protect your peace. The firm will never love you back. It’s time for me to finally reclaim my life and heal.

Jobadvisor

This sounds like it's someone else's post you're sharing rather than your own story — but however it landed in front of you, it's a heavy read, so I want to respond to it honestly rather than just gloss past it.

Six years is a long time to give something that ended in a 10-minute call. The relief and the grief showing up together makes total sense — you don't lose something that consumed your entire mid-20s without both. Numbness after a shock like that is usually the mind's way of pacing itself; the feelings tend to arrive in waves once the initial jolt settles.

The part that stands out most is "the reward for surviving was always just more work." That's a pattern a lot of people don't see clearly until they're outside it — when the goalposts never stop moving, no amount of sacrifice was ever going to feel like enough, because the system wasn't designed to say "enough."

If this is actually you, not just something you're passing along: what does the next stretch look like for you? Not the job search yet, necessarily — just whether you have people around you right now, or whether it's felt pretty isolating.

Laid Off from NBC Peacock

I, along with all of the Orlando FL team, was recently laid off from Peacock after the company decided to cut costs and move its customer service operations to India. From what we were told, the customer service team is being eliminated and the work will now be handled by an overseas outsourcing company.
It is incredibly frustrating to watch a multibillion-dollar corporation reduce costs by replacing trained employees with much lower-paid overseas labor. We worked directly with Peacock customers, learned the systems, handled difficult situations, and helped represent the brand—only to be discarded so the company could save money.
This is not about blaming the workers in India. They deserve fair pay and working conditions too. The issue is corporations exploiting major wage differences, eliminating American jobs, and expecting customers to accept whatever decline in service may follow.
Peacock customers should know that the people assisting them may no longer be experienced, directly employed representatives familiar with the company. When corporations prioritize the cheapest possible labor over their employees and customers, service quality usually suffers.

Jobadvisor

Another one landed here — that's a lot of layoff stories to be reading through in a row, whether they're yours or you're scrolling that subreddit.

This post captures something real about the anger in offshoring situations: it's not really about resentment toward the workers who get the jobs, it's about the whiplash of being "discarded" (their word) after being the one who built the actual customer relationships and system knowledge that made the work function.

Same question as before, more directly this time: is this you, or are you working through a stack of Reddit posts about layoffs for some reason? If it's the latter — research, processing your own job fears by reading others', something else — I'm glad to help with whatever that actually is. If it's you, I'd rather talk to you about your situation than keep reacting to text.

Day 2 of layoff, my coworker still asks me to send her stuff should I ignore?

My official termination date on my letter says 31st August because the ceo is kind enough to let me have a month’s full of pay without having to go to work during the whole month of August.

My coworker is still asking me for stuff which she can easily get because both her and her husband has access to the thing they need. Should I reply? Or should I just say I can’t log in to the website to get it and that she can ask her husband.

Jobadvisor

Practically speaking: you're still technically employed until August 31st and getting paid for it, so there's no real cover for saying "I can't log in" if you actually still have access — that could come back on you if anyone checks, and it's a pretty easy lie to catch. A cleaner way to handle it:

• If it's a quick, no-effort ask and you don't mind, just do it and move on.
• If you're over being anyone's unpaid resource on your way out, "Hey, I'm heading out for the month, best to loop in [whoever's covering] for this" is honest and closes the door without drama.
• If she has access through her husband already, "You've got access through [husband] — probably faster for you to just grab it that way" is true and doesn't put you in the position of doing work you don't have to do.

You don't owe anyone extra labor once you've been let go, paid notice period or not. It's fair to protect your energy here.

Same thing I'll ask again, gently: this is the fourth layoff-related post in a row you've shared — is this actually happening to you right now? If so, I'd rather hear how you're doing with it than just answer the etiquette question.

Hi I got laid off on my birthday 🎂

IIt has been approximately 9 days since my employment was terminated. Initially, I experienced emotional distress, as I had dedicated four years to that role and excelled in my responsibilities, enjoying positive relationships with colleagues. However, I was not as favorably regarded by management. I subsequently learned that the company was implementing a reduction in force, impacting 300 employees, and managers were tasked with selecting individuals for layoff. Unfortunately, I was among those selected. The news was disheartening; upon receiving it, a colleague kindly offered to clear my desk to spare me the need to re-enter the office.

I viewed my severance package as an opportunity. I initially considered it a chance to relocate to a new state, utilizing the severance to facilitate the move, especially as my lease expires in less than a month. My intention was to secure new employment in a different state. However, recent developments have led me to believe that this may not be the most opportune time for such a transition, and I am currently contemplating my next steps. I was enrolled in a medical assistant program, funded by my previous employer. I am uncertain if my former employer is aware of my continued participation or if they will permit me to complete the program and obtain my certification. Despite this uncertainty, I have continued to study and complete my coursework, and I am currently ahead of schedule for program completion. My official last day of employment is August 7, 2026, and I anticipate completing my courses before that date. I tend to pursue a particular path until I encounter an explicit directive to cease, at which point I re-evaluate and identify an alternative course of action. Walking and journaling have proven beneficial during this period of transition.

Jobadvisor

I want to pause and check in directly rather than answering another one of these as a standalone post, because this is the fifth layoff story in a row you've sent me, each one different — Deloitte, NBC Peacock, a coworker asking for files, and now this one, on a birthday, with a lease expiring in a month.

I'm not going to guess at what's going on for you. But I'll say plainly: if you are the person in some or all of these, that's a lot to be carrying — job loss, and on top of it a lease deadline, uncertainty about finishing a certification program, decisions about relocating, all stacked close together. Walking and journaling being useful is a good sign you're already finding ways to steady yourself, for what it's worth.

Can I ask you straight — is this you, or something close to your own situation? I'd rather actually help with what's real for you than keep responding to text as if it's abstract.