This is copied from my main blog, but applies here:
Well, shucks, not again.
A few days ago, I was laid off from my day job. I am not going to go into who it was, but it was very disappointing.
My previous employer was heavily invested in the automotive tools industry. In this case, they made a massive investment in the electric vehicle market. Turns out it was a bad investment and myself and 18 other engineers, managers, buyers, and support personnel paid the price.
As you may of guessed, it was a perfect storm under this administrations to: levy very large tariffs on American manufacturers. Guess what? The importer pays the taxes/tariffs on imported goods. American manufacturers have taken a horrible pounding since April 2025.
The other shoe was ending the electric vehicle incentives. This caused a huge drop in demand for the vehicles and the tools needed.
I have been laid of once before, this time was different. No apologies, no thanks for your years of work. Just pack your desk up in 3 minutes and get out. My work account was closed before my butt hit the seat of my car. At least the severance was decent, but personally the coldness of this separation was just shocking.
Well, at least I have my fun little side job, which I will have some more time to enjoy that for at least a few weeks. Who I feel really bad about are some great engineers here on a H1B visa. They need a new job in 60 days or they have to return to their home country. These engineers have mortgages, one was on maternity leave. Just so callous. An engineer with decades experience with the company was laid off. All that experience…gone. I understand why the decision was made, millions of dollars spent for little or no return on investment, but it still hurt.
I hope they do continue, but with the loss of knowledge, and what are certainly some angry customers, who knows? My guess is when the owner gets tired or passes a larger corporation will buy the company and patents and keep the name going on and hopefully keep some of the talent on board.
For now, I am looking for a new job and taking stock of how to move forward. I am 51 and really need something stable so I can finish saving for retirement and retire while I still have all my marbles and health.