Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

Lost my job in early 2023. Couldn't find anything (25 years of exp, director of engineering managerial/technical type, great at what i do by past coworkers/bosses admission). By EOY I had to sell my house, figured I could use the (significant) profits to buy time or I could travel and make the time a little more enjoyable, so I set out to explore most of Europe thinking, well I'll for sure find a job before I run out of money! Another year went by, hundreds of applications, no job. Back home now, living in rather inadequate accommodations thinking "any day now!" Applied to ~400 jobs in the last 1.5 months (because at this point I'm applying to everything that moves), 3 interviews, 3 ghostings. Everyone's rejecting for real shitty reasons, I could go on for a bit about that.

I've been unemployed for almost three years. It's somewhat intentional - at least leaving my last job was and I've been dragging my feet. Hopefully will have a job in upper management at the start of next year if things work out.

Coping by trying my best to become the type of person that I aspire to be. Quit weed, alcohol, caffeine. Lost 20lbs of fat and put on some muscle. Run 6 days a week, lift 3-4 days a week. Meal prep all my foods and getting into a good routine about those things.

Taught myself Rust and ECS and tried my hand at building a game. Built an Arduino prototype of some hardware a friend wanted to see exist, but ended up not trying to take it further. Built a website to help people play a video game better, it became popular while the game was trending, and made ~3-6k/mo running ads on the site. Went to Burning Man for the first time.

Now I'm kind of out of things that sound fun/purposeful and having a purpose dropped into my lap by working on an ongoing project with an existing team sounds more appealing than it did when I left the work world. So, slowly going back that way and hoping to hold onto all my good vibes and positive habits as I do so.

It's not exactly what I expected to spend three years of unemployment doing. I wish I felt more "accomplished" in how I used my time. But idk. Just kept myself busy with things that sounded meaningful in the moment. Now making money sounds more appealing than having more free time so hopefully jumping back in isn't too much of a shock.

I was arrested for reasons I still do not understand for 1.5 years as the charges and reason(s) for my arrest make no sense, so in that sense, yes. Developed intensified bipolar disorder while locked up in jail. Biding my time until the charges get dropped or I get declared innocent by a judge so I can file a lawsuit against the police department. All that's left to do is wait, either for lawsuit time or for job applications to come through and hope there isn't a thorough background check (there hasn't been for most of my positions so far).

Took me 15 months to find a job after a layoff and then I accepted the first offer that came, which is basically worse in every aspect compared to my previous job. I've read all your stories and feel unexpectedly so connected with each of you. It can be hard. I just want to wish you all the best.

I've been unemployed for about 1 year now. I was in SF working in tech for about 7 years, and decided I don't want to do that anymore, so I quit.

It's been tough. The hardest part about being unemployed is it is very hard to structure your days because work is no longer the thing that is forcing you to get up, get out, go to bed on time, etc. It's also a strange feeling having to spend from your savings/emergency fund without money coming in, you feel bad and guilty for doing so, it's weird.

I'm changing careers. I've always liked teaching, so I'm doing volunteer english teaching while preparing to apply to go back to school in order to get a Masters in Education.

In the mean time, I'm also doing other small things. Learning about AI, going to board game meetups, doing some traveling, overall it's not the most fun part of my life, but I'm treating it as I will look back on this and realize this was necessary.

Yes. 3 years. Marriage ended. Sold everything.

But emotionally, much better off than last year.

Making ends meet with a return to non-tech after a 3 decade break. Won’t ever stop doing that at least part-time, going forward, for security. For tech, focused on a body of work to create opportunities.

Optimistic.

I had a bout of poor health. And now I'm isolated and I don't know how to get reconnected to other people.

I'm not coping terribly well. I think what is most distressing is that I am observing a decline in my capacity. I feel mentally sluggish. I frustrate more easily. I tire more easily. Probably most worryingly to me I get spikes of aggression that lead to combative outbursts. I feel less empathetic, even mildly sadistic at times. Very hard to control the envy and the average person I interact with evokes envy.

Everyone in my life tells me I need to get working again (yes thank you it's obvious). Not even for the money, but just to have a purpose and structure and a social life. A common sentiment. But I've come to understand that it is backwards. Employment is secondary, and it follows from having a social network and being embedded in a social context.

Poverty alters your brain in strange ways. For an example I've been thinking about lately, the world is getting very small. I was late for an important appointment. It simply did not occur to me to take a taxi. I just don't do that anymore. It's sort of categorically ruled out as "expensive luxury". Such a difference from a few years ago! Would have ordered the taxi without even thinking.

On the plus side I quit smoking and lost a bunch of weight and I'm physically in the best shape I've ever been.

I was unemployed for 14 months in 2023/2024.

It definitely hit my self-esteem, as well as 401(k).

I ended up taking a job with Microsoft, but it was a poor fit because I hate the company as well as the product area I was in.

As soon as I could I found another employer that, while not perfect, I'm much happier with.

3 years. Left work because I felt comfortable with finances and family life, but wanted to try something different. It’s been fun working on personal projects and sharpening old tools. Still figuring out what I want to do long term. Some ideas include becoming a CFP because I like helping people with their finances, working for a tech company in that domain, or expanding the personal project (jch.app) and building more community.

In a good headspace now, right after the first year was feeling lost on where to go next.

Retired - sort of - when the remains of my last two start-ups died (in the same month!) after the pandemic and were sold for OK money. Now doing a part-time PhD working fixing the climate.

Coping - generally fine - helped by building up a new network of friends and doing things like going clubbing and going to music festivals and giving talks and running voluntary orgs. Just been out for beers with my mentee; he will be giving a talk at a session that I am running tomorrow with the local council.

I learned an instrument (guitar), then I learned another instrument (bass guitar). I caught up with my family, I got to spend a lot more time with my nephews and nieces. I got to spend a lot of time with my dad. I picked back up circuit design and made an overdrive guitar pedal from scratch and learned KiCad in the process. I caught up with old friends but lost touch with other ones. I probably acted like an ass to a lot of people. I finally came to understand why people like watching sports. I learned how to write in cursive. I walked a lot. I listened to a lot of music. I listened to some podcasts.

I dunno, it sucks and its painful. You're constantly worried and people who at first try to support you then get pissed off at you for something you can't really control. I hope you can find your way through it.

On and off for 11 years now.

I've only managed to get sesonal summer jobs, in 2023 I finished my higer vocational studies as a frontend developer.

The jobmarket is a shitshow here in Sweden now tho, few people are getting hired, companies "can't find" anyone to hire bc they want unicorns and you read about bigger layoffs a few times a month.

All the while our politicians are ruining our welfare..

I'm honestly barely coping. I'm so glad I have my partner (who also struggle to get a job) and two cats.

I'm going to the gym twice a week, bake sometimes, cook daily sleep quite a bit as I'm tired all the time. I'm kind of just trying to stay active and stick to routines.

I've recently started seeing a psychiatrist as well

I've been out of work coming up to six years. I had to look after my dad during the pandemic. I've been looking for work in London, UK, since January. During that time I've had a total of 2 interviews. Recruiters, who seem to do a keyword search only, message me from time-to-time on LinkedIn. I reply and they almost invariably never respond, presumably because they look more closely and see the large gap in employment.

What complicates things for me is being legally blind. I have enough vision to use a computer, but not much else and so I don't have the breadth of career options available to me that most people do. I need a way back in.

I keep reading, and I keep playing with code like I always have. I'm comfortable with C#, JavaScript and their respective ecosystems. It's like riding a bike. But convincing other people of that, recruiters especially, is proving to be a problem.

As for how I'm coping, I'm very up and down. It's hard not to feel that my career might be over. So when interviews have come up, I'm extremely nervous despite never having that problem in the past where I'd usually interview well.

Somehow, at least for now, I've kept going. Thanks for starting the thread.

I'm 2 months in, and this thread scares and comforts me...

For those who've been unemployed for over a year, how do you manage financially?

Last year, I decided to leave the small agency where I had worked for almost 6 years because, being a family-owned business, it was terrible for everybody (except for the bootlickers). The first few months were decent, having time to do almost anything, but then I started to feel miserable seeing how my bank account was getting close to empty and not receiving any calls from my job applications. Job searching has to be one of the worst experiences I have ever had, but my blog (alprado.com) was an incredibly therapeutic tool.

How much do you have saved? It all depends on that

I have been unemployed for more than 5 years. Don't feel like working anymore!

Yes, but intentionally.

I am not stopping until I am a successful entrepreneur. I refuse to go back to a full-time software job. I have had to do some long stints freelancing or agency work to make ends meet. Gotta do what you gotta do.

But I'm not going back or stopping until I make it.

Left my job in 2022, thought I was going to just take a short break. Been applying to jobs but I really struggle to find something that motivates me enough to pass the interviews. Probably have gone through 20 processes. Got one offer, but also managed to get a grant to work on my side project for the last year, so I did that instead. We see what next year will look like, but I am not too optimistic honestly.

I've been unemployed for over two years.

I'm coping by executing a plan that leads to retirement.

In the past, yeah.

Didn't really job-hunt actively and seriously but spent time on self-hosting (which included OSS contributing and keeping skills sharp) and volunteering. Eventually the next one came unexpectedly through an old acquaintance at a party.

Yes, laid off in 2023 and haven't found a tech job since. Due to significant life and family health circumstances, anything that isn't a career job is hard to justify while caring for myself and others.

I've spent the last two years volunteering a local bike co-op and getting way to into bike building and cycling generally. Additionally, I spend a lot of time doing what I can to help my local trans community (that I am a part of). This work has gifted me with perspectives I would never have seen otherwise, and has really helped my organizational and soft skills.

Tech wise, I only do hobby projects now, and it's really wonderful in some ways. Having the professional experience I do, but the free time to work on projects that I want has helped me learn so much and really push my understanding of all sorts of technology.

When the job market eventually gets better, I will be able to approach it with a confidence that I didn't feel was earned before. That's really my cope lol

---

Fwiw

https://elanora.lol/resume resume@elanora.lol

I take from this you would like to be employed? If so, what are you doing to change the situation (instead of coping with it as it stands)?

I know it's hard out there (at least where I am) but I have helped a few people get jobs in the last 90 days, so please share the barrier you're facing and maybe someone can help.

I have, but it's retirement. I have no desire to rejoin the rodential rally.

Been about eight years, and, after I got over the butthurt of not being hired, I leaned into retirement (I am grateful to have the means).

Best thing that ever happened to me.

Yes. I gave up and consider myself a homemaker.

It was 16 months for me in engineering management but then I wasn’t really looking for the first 6 months so probably closer to 10 months. Been employed for over a year now with a drastic pay increase.

Best time of my life honestly, after 15 years of working. I realized I get 0 pleasure from working and have plenty of things to occupy me if I wasn’t. I learned I don’t need a purpose in life. What I really love is running, woodworking, reading, eating, lifting weights, traveling and spending time with my family.

I did once - but it was on purpose.

After 4 years at AWS, and ~20 in the industry, I was utterly burnt out, and needed a break. So I took two years off.

Yes, longer. It seems no one wants to hire graduating PhD students without a postdoc or internship.

yes 2.5+ now. pivoting to become a mental health therapist now lol

I'm hitting 2 years of unemployment in a month. Its somewhat intentional, the day after I became unemployed (I quit) I started to learn Elixir and began work on building a MMO-type game (this was unplanned). Why? Because I like distributed systems programming. I didn't expect to still be working on it 2 years later. Honestly there was no plan or expectation. I got sucked into this project and it was better than having to look for a job. Its fulfilling and intellectually stimulating. The game has public playtests and I have some interested players.

But now I'm hitting 2 years and the money is starting to dry up so I need to find work again. I always thought working on this type of project would be a win-win for finding work again, but it hasn't helped much. It may even be a hinderance. Employers/Recruiters don't take it seriously or see it as some exotic work experience. I try to tell them - Distributed Systems...the concepts are the same wherever you go. No dice. I'm on the younger side and have 3 years of professional experience at a payments startup doing backend + devops + AWS. Sometimes I wonder if I screwed myself out of the job market. I'm seen as a Junior Dev with a 2 year work experience gap.

I cope by staying in shape. I have a good routine and I even got into swimming over the past year! I think if it wasn't for these activities I would've fell into despair some time ago.

Yes, I'm unemployed, and for much longer. Was unemployed when I developed cancer, and I had dead-beat doctors, so it went undiagnosed for too long and became chronic. During that time I developed a second unrelated cancer (which I have genetic disposition for) when my immune system was occupied with the first, and also COVID. Waiting, surgeries and treatments took two years.

After recovering, the Swedish employment office pushed me into a program for "job training" saying that it would help me ease into working again after my illness. I was already recovering and feeling well, working out and doing occasional charity work. I wanted to change career and get job market training to become a machinist (where I wouldn't have to be exposed to AI), but was barred from that because of the program.

The company I was assigned to intern at (as an A/V programmer) claimed they wanted to hire me afterwards. It wasn't really what I wanted but I accepted it as a "consolation price" because it was at least (supposed to be) a job. They conspired behind my back to extend the internship period into a full year. First on my last day did they offer to hire me ... except now only if they could get a government handout for doing so — and that handout would be granted only if I had a disability. I told the employment office No when they asked, but they still required me to continue working until the decision was cleared, which took another month and a half. I am not disabled ... so I didn't get hired.

No training, no job, eight month of work with no pay, and been overstressed with new physical outcomes: developed a cold, the shingles and lichen ruber planus (stress-related rash) during the summer.

Thankfully I'm employed, but from what I've heard there pro diversity bias against hiring straight white males.

Does that have any basis in anybody's personal experience?

Quit big tech after a decade in the industry about 30 months ago. At the time it was supposed to be a "break" because I was badly disillusioned with the meaningfulness of what I was doing, and in some ways where the industry had shifted over that time period. But then, we looked over our finances as a no-kids household with a combined 35-years of work in the tech industry (which of course is a very fortunate situation to be in) and decided we can retire.

So that's where I'm at right now. I've spent this time picking up new hobbies (currently 3D modelling, branching out to add some electronics elements right now), programming board game probability aids for fun, learning some university level courses from my partner and teaching her some myself, getting more active (my last month has been the best physical shape I've been in since university).

My personal project list keeps growing, so I have plenty to tackle and "keep me busy". Though I do want to move on from toy personal stuff to more meaty stuff in the near future. Yet, figuring out the exact nature of that is a work in progress currently.

My husband. Financially we’re fine, because he wasn’t in tech anyway and made 1/4 of what I do. Emotionally I’m really starting to resent it (he is not on the “I sent out 1000 resumes” track, he’s made a lot of progress in EVE).

I lost my job in 2017 and was out for almost 3 years until 2020. Some of that was by choice (we just had a baby and we agreed my wife should get a job first), but after a year and a half and going through a bunch of interviews (where I almost got the job), I ultimately landed at a FAANG.

What I did learn, and what should have been obvious, is that the longer you are out of the market, the more they think you are damaged goods.

Yeah, kind of. I moved states, thinking there was more opportunity here. It was a failure on my part for not doing the research. I moved to a super wealthy area, but there's a severe lack of jobs. I spent the first ~2 years obsessively applying to every job I saw, while completely blowing through my savings.

I was so pissed off by how hard it was to get a job, I decided I would just have to create my own job, which I did. The project I made started earning money (not a lot, but being broke, it felt like a blessing), and I learned sooo many skills (can nearly build a house, and the digital skills are super strong: SEO, marketing, affiliate marketing, dev, community outreach, etc). The project opened a ton of doors for me, though, and I landed some really high-paying contracts and eventually my full-time job, which I've been with for 2.5 years now.

Luckily, during this time, I met some of the friendliest people I've ever known, and they let me stay at one of their properties for $400/month (which was a really horrible property, probably should be demolished (mold, roaches, spiders, rats, floor caving in)). Had it not been for them, I probably would have been homeless. But I now live a mile from the beach, in a pretty nice house, and got married this year.

Still building things, hoping to escape this life of worry, as I'm not wealthy at all and my job doesn't pay a lot. But for me, the best coping mechanism is to just BUILD and go all in on something. Have no shame. Even if you get banned from posting links to your project on HN, haha.

I spent fifteen months unemployed during the Great Recession, in a state that was hostile to LGBTQ people, with no local support network beyond a family that I wasn’t out to. I ended up draining all my savings just to survive before finally taking up a friend on their offer of assistance.

How I coped?

* I helped run a gaming community. I threw myself into the work full time, building up a great gaming server with strong player count. This gave me social connection in an area I couldn’t openly be myself in.

* I minimized expenses, including buying delivery meals (lack of an inspected car) and making one delivery stretch two to three days (~$1.50 a meal back then)

The one regret is I didn’t take my friend up on their help sooner. It meant relocating to a new city, but within two weeks of putting their address on my resume I had found new work. Not stellar work, but good enough to close out my old place, pack up stuff to storage, and move out to the new city.

Definitely take up friends on their offers of help. For resumes especially, borrowing a friend’s address can give you a “local” presence and make you a better candidate. Don’t feel bad taking a career step downward if it saves your ass in the immediate - there will always be opportunities to move up again later.

You’re not alone in this. It sucks, supremely sucks ass, but you’re not a failure just because the market is in a downswing. Don’t beat yourself up over things out of your control.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel. You’ll make it.

Throwaway, to do away with the polite fiction that I usually present.

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown / Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

At 11 I started writing software, with entrepreneurial aspirations helped by my parents. Over my teen years I must have designed a dozen sites I never published. I did alright in school, but I was never on time. At 18, out of high school, I got my first job. I moved to the city, went to college, and flunked out. I couldn't get up for class on time, I couldn't understand the "basic high school review" math course.

So, at 19 I moved back home, worked a year, and moved back to the city to work as a developer. I applied here and there, there was never much interest. I got comfortable, and although ashamed to sickness, I managed to spend the pandemic years not working at all. I suppose my ego and immaturity "prevented" me from working a regular job.

At 23 I moved back to my home town, to work my 3rd job ever, as a cleaner alongside a bunch of teens. After a year of that, I moved to a new big city, swallowed my pride and immediately got another cleaning job. I hoped to move on from that, maybe to software, maybe some new calling.

A new life circumstance hit me like a truck, and I had a very dark year. Stayed at that minimum wage job. 24, 25, moved back home.

The last year I've been trying to improve, taking online courses, going to the gym, building a piece of software that has real value, as in, can actually make money. But, well, I have a hard time believing anything has much of value. I'm 26 now. Spent most of my year "improving", a small portion working.

I maintain the polite fiction because I don't like people asking me why I do the things I do, I don't really know. I guess I do what's easy. A younger me would've chalked it up to "trauma", "anxiety", "depression", or some DSM-able disorder. An older me doesn't believe that at all. But I barely work, don't drive, and I really isolate myself. This was all quite bad before, but after the "circumstance", the last point is especially true.

I know how to get out of the "not working" cycle, I have to get a job first-and-foremost. But I don't know how to get out of the isolation cycle, it's been getting worse and worse. I try and read up on it, but all the advice is about "making friends". That's not really my issue. I feel like an alien, and most everyone drives me insane. Well, at least I can appreciate Kafka.

(After all that, I've never made a dime on software)

The longest was 20 months last year. In this market with GenAI and an uncertain U.S. administration, it’s not likely to improve for years.

I would recommend everyone hunker down and do what you need to survive, including selling things and moving to lower cost locations and combining assets with family where possible.

This is my 12th month. I quit due to the birth of my son, and honestly he has kept me plenty busy for now. The hardest part for me is the lack of friends who are in the same situation.

Left my job on the East Coast in 2023 when my F1-OPT expired. Returned to my home country to recuperate, focus on my mental and physical health, shrug off the perpetual anxiety, etc. Married my now wife who was still building her career in the US, moved back here, and I'm waiting on my work authorisation. Can't say I'm too chuffed about being here right now, but c'est la vie.

Wonder if this is a coincidence that the other major discussion item on the front page is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45305845 (Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says) with the large majority seemingly disagreeing with the policy and sort encouraging ramping up H-1Bs and such since it's generally great for the country. But then I see a lot of young grads and unemployed laid off folks and am trying to figure out if and how the two issues are related.

Are people who look for jobs asking for too much money? They are not qualified enough and US just has no other way but to go for H-1B workers? It's hard to believe that.

Are companies playing various shenanigans with legal loopholes? I heard recently there was a database someone created of "hidden" jobs these companies post, where nobody would be likely to see them so they can turn around to Uncle Sam and say "oh well, looks like nobody wants to work here, we'll just have to go for H-1Bs".

I made a bunch of friends in the local rave & queer community, helped start organizations including founding a hackerspace, met the love of my life, and now am part of a very healthy community that has been helping me cope and get through this shitty tech sector hiring slump.

Taking breaks has been very good for my soul, and I've quieted the fear of instability with surrounding myself with people who I know will be there for me when things get rough.

It's surprising how cheaply you can survive when push comes to shove and you have to make concessions, live with roommates, live in small housing, going to the foodbank or getting on food stamps.

Although, runway is slowly dwindling and am unsure what's next for my future. I'm not too worried, though.

Technically 2.5 years here (I had a shitty job in the meantime for 4 months, but it wasn't a tech job). I have a decent GitHub portfolio though and I've made sure to never waste my time. So, I'm unemployed on paper, yet always "employed" building open-source software in reality. I have tried to finish building my cartography startup and my mini-browser engine. Once I have that, I can hopefully support myself with non-software money because the job market in Germany is a complete disaster, I still get interviews (about two per month), but they usually lead nowhere. Sometimes I get into the next round, just to be rejected for someone with more experience.

Sadly (?), I don't have any higher education and I'm too "self-employed" for corporate jobs (corporate jobs really, really don't like having someone build their own startup on the side). And on top I'm 26, not 36, so there's no way I'll have the experience required for someone truly "Senior". I get by on German social security, I get exactly 560€ / month and that's it (plus health insurance, 220€). If you wonder how someone can live on that low amount of money, it's because I accidentally inherited a paid-off house and don't need to pay rent (state covers any taxes, would be even more ludicrous if they didn't). So I have very, very few expenses, no liabilities and a few close friends.

I never wanted to be a drain on society (heavily socially punished in Germany), so I try to stay active and use my time for open-source projects. But since my net loss on society is relatively low anyway, I see it as morally justified to develop my "cartographic AI solution" while being a bum on paper. Let's just call it "government-subsidized startup seed funding". At least the thought of "finish your startup or you'll one day die of starvation" does do wonders for my motivation.

If people want to judge me for being on social security, I don't care anymore. I have my goals and I'm not running out of work, technically, despite being "unemployed". I care about building my skills and my startup and having "something for myself" so that I don't get financially torpedoed every few years (2008 crisis, 2015 crisis, Corona 2020, AI bubble 2025, ...). Once the job market gets better or I finish building my startup, I'll be better off. Until then I just have to deal with judging looks. How on earth someone is however supposed to build a stable family life from software engineering if the job market shits itself every few years is beyond me. I guess I lack the firm handshake and smile.

I did buy "Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata", once I'm done with my programming projects, I'll focus on that. Some of my friends can speak fluent Latin, I gotta catch up. And learning math properly, working out, etc. But yeah, I'm lucky that I don't have many expenses. Stay active, don't waste time.

I got laid off in august 2023. I had seen it coming for a few months, as I had in the previous year been promoted to lead an engineering team for another company at the PE group I worked for and it quickly became clear they were going to consolidate the product lines at the two companies and my group's CTO lost the political battle.

I was a bit concerned at the time as the previous couple quarters had seen a LOT of tech layoffs and I had also already seen a lot of anxiety in the industry about the changing supply/demand landscape. I ended up getting a new job I was excited about in less than a month, which I was very much not expecting when I began job searching. Unfortunately I may have been too quick to jump into the first thing that came along - after 2 months of onboarding I was out of a job again, as the team lead role I was hired for suddenly didn't have a team to lead and not much use for me without one. Oh well.

I took the holidays off and figured I'd spend some time playing with all the emerging AI capabilities. I figured I'd hack on some fun stuff for a few months, see if I could build a product business around it, and go from there. I ended up building something along the lines of Windows Recall, but when Microsoft announced it in May 24 and I saw the reception, that was the end of that.

I started job searching again, but then my wife got diagnosed with cancer and I decided to extend my time off to focus on her treatment. Fortunately treatment went about as well as we could hope and this summer she went back to work again.

So I've been applying again over the last few months. Initially I focused on local jobs as I've been mostly remote since 2018 and frankly miss the office environment. I got 3 final round interviews in the first month of applying and got ghosted by all 3. That was unexpected and frustrating. And for one job, in my last interview round with a VP, he said he wanted me to come back in a few weeks to interview for a more senior role instead. Which I did, and then they ghosted me. I don't necessarily mind not getting the job (I'm awesome but hey I get there might be better fits out there for particular role requirements) but I don't get the unprofessionalism that has seemingly become so common these days.

Now I'm starting to focus on remote jobs again as well, but it's tough constantly seeing day old job posts on linkedin with 100+ applications already.

So as for coping, I'm doing alright all things considered. Definitely didn't expect to go this long without a 9-5, and I know I'm fortunate to have been able to absorb it financially. Most importantly, I'm grateful that I spent the last year+ making sure my wife was taken care of. And of course that experience really puts into perspective the importance of how we spend our days, while we still have them. I will say that I'm disappointed (with myself) I haven't been able to launch a viable business during this time, but that's how it goes sometimes. I'm looking forward to 2026.

I would pivot to teacher or something after 1 year but market is really fucking bad.

Almost 2 years for me but I've hardly applied anywhere in that time. I'm disgusted at what the field has become and can't see myself working in it again.

I saw this coming for a long time and kept my lifestyle simple and expenses low so that I'd be able to retire early. I'm happy to work again if I can find something reasonable but I'm not going to kill myself anymore faking my way through some "agile" AI/ad-tech company job.

After the latest executive order, your fortunes are going to change very soon. Hang in there!

I've been happily unemployed since 2022. Not planning to be employed ever again. Have enough money for the rest of my life already. Not because I'm rich, but because I live cheaply.

Working on self-improvement: excercise, eat/sleep well, defeat phone addiction, become social. I enjoy drugs once a week. I travel all year in some beautiful places. Spend ~2 hours every day trying to find a wife.

Senior dev, 22 years of experience. Almost exactly two years unemployed right now. I've done some technical leadership before but I'm not looking into it anymore, not really my thing.

In general, I get very few replies, even fewer interviews and 100% eventually "freeze the position" or simply ghost me. I've heard that too many companies are currently spending their HR budgets in market research and have no intention of fulfilling most of the positions they advertise. Not sure if that's true, and maybe there are other reasons for that, market-related and/or related to my resume, but applying to jobs is feeling just a huge waste of my time currently and I'm tending to apply only when I see a great fit.

How I cope: I could save a fair amount of money during the startup frenzy in the course of the pandemics and am living off it right now. But it doesn't generate enough passive income, not even close, so I'll have to find a job eventually. I'm seriously considering another profession. Maybe trying to ingress in the education field with my masters. Despite tech job market being at the rock-bottom, the unemployment rates in Brazil are at a historic low.

Now, despite this gloomy report, if you ask me, I'm feeling optimistic, happy even. I'm really seizing the opportunity to study a lot and spending time with my family, so I feel all this is doing me well overall.

I’ve been unemployed for 4 years

Doing my own projects

It’s much harder than just going to a company and clock in 9-5

I still have my good job but in case I lose it I am going to lie and lie and lie to get any job just going to flip burgers or whatever and send them CV cut out without degree and without accomplishments.

But still will continue on sending out proper CV.

Thirteen years. Maybe not what you were expecting to hear.

It's hard to remember beyond vignettes, but around when I left my last regular job it felt like my world was collapsing. I'd drifted out of a relationship, I was struggling with mental health just as my physical health was improving, my social and political environment started feeling uncomfortable, the small startup I worked for was struggling to pay me (at all, let alone on time), and Mom's illness was becoming terminal (eventually I lost Dad too) and I moved back home to help look after her.

Even before that my employment record had been kinda spotty but I was blessed to have a supportive family and very frugal habits that let me start building up some savings. But I also definitely counted some unhatched chickens. At first, putting the world of employment completely out of my mind was part of how I coped with the stress. Then I started deluding myself that I was "semi-retired". By the time reality fully hit me, the self-doubt from the existing gap in my resume was self-reinforcing. And my "professional network" feels like a joke now.

I'm trying to shake myself out of it, force myself to build a portfolio and go looking again. It's brutal, though. Hard to even find the words for this post, and read them back and wonder what I'm doing with/to myself. And the world is different, too. Even without thinking about AI. I have deep expertise in some tech stuff but no obvious way to show it off (of course I want to write good code rather than clever code). I don't want to do all this new "web 2.0" (is it 3.0 now?) stuff. It looks and feels awful to me, on every level. I just want to make simple, practical, really well designed tools (it was strangely hard to phrase that).

I've been unemployed since 2013 and honestly... the whole thing has been beneficial. I went through a long period of trying to find work initially, and ended up self-sabotaging offers due to intense stress. Then after that I kind of felt worthless and depressed. Took some introspection to realize I was being ridiculous and that I was more than a job.

I would say even before this all went down things were going badly for me. I had lost my passion for tech for a long time and wondered if that would ever come back... Well, after spending an entire year not coding anything I woke up one day... and felt excited again?

I think that maybe I just had burn out and had never taken a proper break in my life. Makes me realize that a lot of the way I operated was unsustainable... And if its going to end up in me being severely mentally broken to protect myself from stress that I'm self-inducing... its not worth it. Proper rest is the essential piece I never took seriously.

I don't know if I'll end up being hired again and I don't really care. I'm currently working on my open source projects and having a lot of fun. Feels good man.

Yep. Quit my job a little over two years ago being massively burnt out. It started as an intentional sabbatical but ive been casually applying to jobs for the past two years, maybe like a handful a month on average, and now two+ years out i've gone through 3/4ths of my savings (including retirement savings) and applying to jobs daily and really struggling to find anything I feel capable of doing. Both bc my resume is a bit of a red flag, but also the industry isn't great, and i'm not a super competitive candidate to begin with. Trying to find something that's literally just, like, $80k a year. Which is $40k less than my last job. i was a (mediocre) web developer for 15+ years and it seems like my skillset is basically zero at this point, bc anyone can find mediocre devs at a fraction of the price globally.

Moved to bay area a few weeks despite the cost, both bc i want to be here, but also hoping that maybe some in-person networking pays off and i can find something. i'd honestly be happy being an office manager, i don't need a high paying dev job. but even stuff like office manager requires 5+ years experience doing that.

Yeah but I’ve never been more busy and productive.

My last engagement was exactly 2 years ago, after nearly 3 years struggling with successive difficult working environments (bad employer, bad project, bad client). My savings ran out 12 months ago and I still couldn't find a job. Since then I've lived frugally, off of my line of credit and credit cards. Moving to a cheaper country helped to slow the bleeding.

After my last client 2 years ago, I got into reading/listening to philosophy, which eventually led to a steady contemplative practice. 3 months into it, it became difficult to motivate myself to do anything except listen to guided meditations, satsangs by various teachers, contemplate into the sense of self, or go on daily long walks across town doing the same.

A year ago, some motivation came back, which allowed me to do a few coding problems every day. Then about 5 months ago, I started to let go of some personal attachments (identity patterns, beliefs about me, about life, about the world, about my place in it) and motivation started to steadily come back in, but with a lot of detachment. 3 months ago I started prepping to find a job again. I bought a few books and joined a few online courses to fill the gaps in my resume. I've accepted that I may need to get back on the horse at half my previous salary. I think I would be fine with even a third and probably less, if it didn't look so suspicious to my would-be employer, lol. I have an unwavering trust that things will work themselves out just fine, so even when I experience bouts of stress, they're quite brief.

I have some short term goals, but little ambitions. I can still see the achiever in me, but he's slowly dying. I'm fine with that. I'm trying to be fine with how the world is generally. If I feel that I can help make things easier for someone right now, I can try. But I've accepted that I'm no messiah. There are no messiah. Nobody knows shit about how this or that ought to be. Now or in the future. I'm coming to peace with success really meaning experiencing breath or taking a step.

Lately, I've started adding some of the new skills that I acquired in my resume and it correlated with some reactions on my latest applications. Causation? Maybe, I don't know, but there's hope. One thing that will probably change even after I find work, is that I'll execute on my other interests, which I kept putting off, because of some far away grandiose objectives. My recent struggles with money and employment in tech have also revealed a vulnerability and a dependency. I see that I need to be more resilient and adaptable. Next time the industry comes up with new interesting shenanigans to test me, I'll probably be moving on to something else. Beekeeping, fungiculture, soap making, or whatever. I'll probably even start a few projects on the side while employed. I love coding and will probably keep doing it until my mind wavers, but it has to stop being my identity.

The woman I thought was the love of my life left me for another man, made me feel guilty about it with a immense net of lies just to not be held accountable so I went into chronic depression. Quit my job at uni in october 2015 just so to not be able to see her ever again. Was unemployed until march 2018. Was broke, heartbroken and humillated not only by my ex but even by my own sister, lost my best friend in the world in part because I was broke and couldn't do much about it, even lost almost all my hair all of a sudden... It was definitely the worst thing I've ever had to endure.

Once I was lucky enough to get a miserable job I could began from the ground up all over again. It hasn't been easy but as the time passed felt like I was regaining my inner peace and as I see it now that is the source of happiness. Not everything is perfect but in 2016-2017 I couldn't even imagine I would escape that situation.

Am a bit scared because the project I'm working on is reaching its final stages so I can be completely unemployed anytime soon once again, but at least this time I'm prepared for it and am doing much better than 10 years ago.

I wish nobody ever has to go through a situation like this. Hoping you all are doing great.

In 2019 I left my cushy job because I wanted $$$ but couldn't push myself to leetcode.

I spent much of that year on personal projects and family before I could seriously commit myself. Then covid happened.

It took 2.5yr before I worked again, in FAANG. There were many moments of feeling down and alone.

I'm unemployed again, 3 months now, this time after being laid off. I wish I could just concentrate my efforts on developing products and monetizing them. But since I have a family to support, I decided to spend time on these projects only to reward myself for grinding leetcode & system design.

I was unemployedish (some freelancing) for around 18 months and I'm starting what I think might be my dream job on Monday.

I was very burnt out after being fired / laid off from multiple unethical tech startups and a divorce.

During the ego death I realized that I no longer had any desire to do work that wasn't making the world a better place. I considered changing careers because it's very hard to find software jobs in that space but I kept searching. I remained sane by reminding myself that suffering is temporary and the world is still beautiful in many ways.

I got hired by a local community college to work on some very hard software problems and I couldn't be happier. I get to continue working with the stuff I love while helping people achieve upward mobility.

Lost my job on new year's day, 2020. Have not worked since. I am not considered skilled enough for the kind of work I imagine most readers here do, meaning no degree or certifications and I've never worked in tech, mostly worked food service and manufacturing, plus odd jobs. So my context might seem irrelevant to some who frequent this site.

When I say I have not worked since, I am only referring to taxable income. Helping my mom put down mulch for her flower garden didn't require a W-2 or I-9 but I still was paid. That's mostly how I have been getting by, odd jobs for family members and friends, with a bit of reselling junk I find on the street as art.

I also live in a very low cost of living area and am very fortunate that my landlord has never increased my rent. My rent is considered shockingly low, even for this poverty dense area. I am by nature very frugal, to extremes at times, like with clothing (all from a thrift store, frequently repaired myself with needle and thread) and furniture from the side of the road.

I always wanted to work in tech. College did not work out for me (I've tried 5 times at 3 different schools) thanks in part to ADHD/bipolar/autism/whatever they call it now, with the closest I've come being a job at a call center. At this point I'm too old for food service and was never good at it anyways, too old and not strong enough for local manufacturing jobs and there are not many opportunities around me for anything else.

I keep a spreadsheet of applications I've turned in and the results of followups. There are just shy of 400 entries currently, most never get a callback or any progress from followups. I've landed 6 interviews in that time, none worked out. It's been close to a year since I added a new entry, I've pretty much given up. I'll call it retirement for a laugh but I'm only 43.

I left my job in 2021 to start a business. I just launched it, but I still don’t have a steady income. I’m living with my wife, and still have enough to get by for a couple more years, but I’m really hoping my business can start making money.

Yep. I'm an Electrical Engineer, 10+ years of experience in systems (automation, robotics, etc.). I left my job back in 2023, which I regret now, but I didn't leave because it wasn't paying well (it was low wage), or anything, but because of the management and daily harassment. However, I should have let them terminate me instead to collect unemployment.

The first few months I spent trying to make my own work, since my tech background is great, but really, that led to nowhere, especially in this economy (Canada), so I started looking for a job. Now 1.5 years of active searching and only 4 interviews, yes, only 4 where the job description was as if it was written to match my resume, yet I got rejected, just to see how bad it is, compared to before until 2021. I used to get contacted for jobs, some were in big companies like Amazon for 180k. All other applications just go to the void, or cliché "we went with another candidate" but the posting remains open 3 months later. Sometimes I would receive the rejection two hours after applying after midnight, so it's just automated.

It's been tough, mentally demoralizing and I borderline went suicidal at some point. Even now, if some burglar came to shoot me in the face I wouldn't even flinch, completely hopeless, not because of not finding a job, but because of 15+ years of education and experience and you are just invisible, no matter how you perfect the resume or whatever. Meanwhile I see fresh co-op students are hired in good companies and good positions, mostly girls too, making me believe that HR (mostly women) and managers (mostly men) prefer hiring fresh especially women for all sorts of reasons, and also company-wise too because they can pay them peanuts without an issue. I deeply regret becoming an engineer, waste of time and money. If I had invested that in other education or even becoming a plumber I would be in a better position now.

The plan right now is to find anything, work and save a little then completely change my career, no more engineering or tech stuff despite my passion in this field, but if it doesn't pay bills, it's becoming like an art degree now, especially when the industry doesn't have any measure to protect the profession. Anyone can be an engineer, meanwhile I see a nurse (which seen as the janitor of healthcare jobs) is paid ~90k on par with a senior engineer, if you found the job anyway. You know something is not right, hell, even a landscaper makes better than that. Leaving Canada isn't an option right now due to some reasons.

Got laid off 2 weeks ago (8YOE). How are there so many engineers out of work for >2 years? Should I conclude that my time is better spent searching for a non-eng job?

Yes, I'm exactly that situation. Mid-40s. My background is in finance - investment banking. I spent 16 years at the same firm, before being actively recruited over to an industry-leading bank but in an adjacent sector (UHNW lending). Less than a year into that, I was laid off as part of a large reduction in force. "Sorry, last in first out, here's two weeks". Thankfully the RIF was large enough that it triggered a WARN Notice, so I got an additional 3 months out of it.

I've gone through my network multiple times, asked for referrals, have applied to 2,000+ job openings that I've seen on LinkedIn, have tried networking meetings, you name it. I'm in NYC and not geographically mobile (raising 2 kids, divorced), but I've applied to jobs in FL, Chicago, etc where I would try to make it work being in an office part time around my schedule. I've applied to totally different sectors.

The recruiting merry-go-around is brutal. ATS to enter resume data, automatic rejection emails (sometimes within under 24h!). The "what have you done the last two years" question kills me -- I've looked for a job, that's what I've done.

Yes. Last full time software development job was in 2017, under the most abusive manager I've ever had in my 20+ years in tech. Took a full year out just for psychotherapy. Unfortunately, the subsequent years had me branded with that "employment gap" stigma that recruiters and hiring managers can't see past.

I'm now doing temp office work for my local government. I actually prefer the job setting, aside from the low pay. I would encourage everyone to try getting work in their own local governments, especially around big events like elections, when there's need for a lot of people at once.

Worst I have gone is 18 months, and that was my incredibly expensive "I am going to try indie development with people from Uni" phase.

Isolation and poverty of unemployment was only exacerbated by dealing with dumb team dynamics.

1.5 years about

Doing okay. Building my friendships.

This experience, really a decade of insecurity, has left me always being vigilant. If I'm relentless, I don't feel so insecure. The effort has gotten me results. I never wanted to be "so good they can't ignore you", just safe.

Two years is well past the point of having to throw the kitchen sink at the problem. Months in, it's worth having projects in some key technologies. A year in, I'd re-train. I'd also scout out some grants for school/training available to those who've been laid off.

It had me thinking of what I want to impart to my children. I don't want to strike the fear of God in them that you're always on the precipice of doom, but I don't want them complacent either. Robotics x machine-learning/LLMs presents a lot of uncertainty.

I haven't worked since 2019. However, it was something I did willingly. I haven't wanted to work for anyone since and haven't tried to.

Yes but I took the time off somewhat intentionally. I spent 3+ years not working. I tried finding work in NYC for a couple of those years but it never manifested. It got to me in the end and I got tired of some issues I was having in NYC.

I ended up having to come back to the bay area prematurely. I want to live here long term but it wasn't the right fit for where I'm at in life. (Single mid-30s male - dying alone) I'm working at a FAANG. I've studied well over 1000+ LC problems, paid for professional tutoring/mocks in LC and System Design, dozens of free mock interviews, and several hundred actual interviews over the years.

The way I coped was working even harder at studying and having an otherwise busy life in other aspects. When I looked for jobs in the past - it was a full-time job just from the studying aspect.

For anyone here struggling with being unemployed and not finding a job, I’d suggest looking into “never search alone”. It’s a book and program to develop a system for finding your next job along with a community and support system.

It’s free beyond the cost of the book (which you can probably find in your public library) and has helped thousands.

Good luck!

Couple years back I walked away from a company that IPO’ed, cashed out enough to not worry about rent or food for the next 20–30 years. I swore off jobs, told myself I’d build something of my own. But I haven’t built anything. Haven’t even tried applying anywhere, too stubborn for that. Most days I just circle around ideas, start, stop, drop. Repeat. Money isn’t the problem—it’s this gnawing restlessness, this sense that I’m wasting what could have been momentum. I don’t know what I’m building, and that not-knowing is eating me more than anything else.

I think I'd rather die. Go get a shitty job, temp job, remind yourself what life is actually like for everyone else.

I quit my last job. I found myself thinking that the easy way out was really attractive, and I was seeing fewer and fewer downsides. Then I thought, I might as well quit, enjoy as much as I could, then take the easy way out when my account ran down to zero. Then, as it was approaching zero, I found out I could start withdrawing pension from my old job, with a heavy penalty for doing so early. Fuck it. I did that. Now I'm limping by on about $1500 a month. It's working for now, but I can imagine the end not too far away. But that eternal darkness is more attractive than dealing with the day to day bullshit of working while my country falls quickly into fascism, in addition to the normal fucked up capitalist morality and thinking.

Start a blog and have chatGPT write something ambitious before each rejection.

I just do some preparation walk into the building and announce i want to work there. You dont even have to pay me. Ik im still heren by the end of the month we talk. Stop thinking about it, we have work to do!

This is not a great formula but it is a great filter for the kind of company I want to work for. If it cant detect a good deal im out.

been jobless since nov 2022, been taking gig jobs after obtaining SO/PI licences. dont believe there are jobs for people of my age in the market, no matter the education qualifications or experience

It's a bit vindicating seeing the volume of responses to this. It's possible this is a biased sample and not representative of the majority, but it's nice to know I'm not alone and at least 1 other has experienced exactly what I have.

I was always made to feel fundamentally broken, and I wondered if I was really that terrible. I had no clue why I was treated with such malice and made to feel so unwanted.

Adding my story to the hat - graduated in 2022, naively thinking the world was eager for new contributors, and having finished my degree, I could start working on interesting real-world problems right away. Instead, I got nowhere and spiraled into the most severe self-doubt, worthlessness, and depression in my 20-something years of life.

I had the opportunity to learn and contribute through volunteering, joining my first organization in 2023. Used to be a full-time thing, even what one may consider overtime. Now, I'm kinda spread thin with projects, and also done everything important to where the projects are in maintenance mode.

But finally having that proof - that I could learn, contribute, and do well. I think it was life-changing. Yet judgement and imposter syndrome still hits like - "well, you didn't get paid, so it doesn't mean anything. That's not real work experience." Heard that's basically what someone said about my CV.

Did a smaller project across 3 months, then joined a third org in 2024. Obviously, not pulling 40+ volunteer hours a week anymore, but I still do what I can. Big progress through small changes, doing more in less time, and all that.

I got to work on these projects, learn a few lessons, and I can now bring my ideas to life using what I know. It's relieving to have some control over my endeavors finally. I don't really need a tech job anymore, because I've gained the insight I once thought I could only get from having one.

Technically, I'm employed, but it's on the retail floor. Though I was unemployed for 27 months beforehand, over 3 years without starting what I once thought would be my career. And I'm about to be on the search again.

I think more physical jobs are catching my interest. I'm just focused on seeking novel experiences and further knowledge to broaden my horizons.

Was unemployed for a year. Since I quit due moderate burnout and s desire to move back to my home country, it wasn't too bad at first.

Key factors was that I had many learning/projects I wanted to do and now I had time to do it, so I did. And lowering spending. Since I moved home to my parent and I didn't buy anything above barely necessity, my spending dropped drastically. 2 months normal expenditure would last 8 months. I could've been unemployed for probably 3 years without financial stress.

I worked in a niche field so finding relevant job was hard. I had to look globally, and would get to final stage of interview several times but always fail at that. That kinda hurt and activated impostor syndromes. Passing Meta interview did help with that (although they ghosted me after passing the final interview)

In the end I got a job that I don't even remember that I applied to, but turned out to be doing completely different things than what they were looking for. It have mostly been due to luck: my niche have some clout now given err... Current political climate

Longer than two years, for pre-COVID reasons mostly. Not coping too well..

It sure would be nice if one of those bitcoin millionaires came out of nowhere willing to sponsor me. I'd love to focus on open source, without worrying about making rent or eating this month.

Shameless self-promotion, sorry..

https://brynet.ca/wallofpizza.html

I was unemployed for 6 months after my first job after college stopped abruptly due to bankruptcy & corruption of upper management. Ended up going back to university to get a grad degree on top, then spent 5 months unemployed after that. Ended up joining a small startup some friends were building, wasn't much fun. Left after a year, spend another 8 months unemployed then landed my dream job through dumb luck. In all of those periods, I tried to cope via lots of applications or lost myself in spirals of reduced social contacts and lots of video games. Worked on some personal tech projects, dabbled in robotics, tried to help write a book... I am very happy with and grateful for where I am right now. At the same time, reading the posts here brought back strong emotions & memories. My heart goes out to all of you searching, don't let it get to you! You are all valuable human beings, and life always involves some element of luck. Plus all of recruiting is very dehumanising and degrading, no-one should be ghosted, ignored or lied to on this scale. Things get better eventually and it's ok to feel down and powerless, just remember you are not alone in this!

Given the news in the last 24 hrs plenty of opportunity for excellent coders to rise to the top.

I'm only about 4 weeks into unemployment, but I'm helping a friend who's a year in. Were both very junior and that Canada job market's a bit brutal right now.

On the plus side, were trying to be very scientific about our approach, and have been hosting sessions every morning where we apply for 2-3 jobs documenting the entire process and sharing encouragement and hoping to avoid burnout.

I've been thinking of opening this job hunting session to more people so we can start collecting some really good data on exactly how hard it is to get a job, and maybe help get a better understanding of what strategies are most effective when looking for a job. If you're interested I'm collecting some feedback here: https://forms.office.com/r/kKk7e6Wvre

Good luck out there.

Supply and Demand:

(1) Big issue, barriers to entry: In the US, for plumbers, electricians, lawn maintainers, ..., they get little competition, i.e., no supply from more than, say, 100 miles away and, thus, none from Asia or Europe.

E.g., a guy down the street was injured so needed someone to mow his grass. My older brother had the job, was too busy with college, so I got the job. They kept asking me to accept a higher fee, but I was afraid I didn't deserve it and didn't want to disappoint my customer. The guy had a next door neighbor who called me to weed their garden. Another guy had an overgrown hedge and called me to cut it back. Another customer had a hedge about 3' high and for neighborhood status wanted it cut to a perfect box and asked me .... Didn't realize that customers were calling ME -- in business, a dream situation, but at 16 didn't appreciate that.

Instead, could have gotten some books on Horticulture 101. With a little marketing, e.g., business cards, a sign could display when working on a yard, a professional look, have the neighbors compete for the best looking yards and proud to be paying my high fees for status, .... Work by "Appointment Only", and maybe by the season only. In a few weeks could have made money enough for a year of college tuition, but college, already had a better career than college offered.

(2) In the US, during the Cold War and the beginning of computing, at least around DC, employers were desperate for anyone with talent, interest, and any experience at all in computing, demand was much greater than supply, and for a job just look in The Washington Post, ..., and have a job in a week.

(3) Still in the US, by the 1990s, some big companies would fire half their computing experts, then could send 1000 resumes and go for years without a job -- could wish could swap AI expertise, background in teaching computer science in college, relevant Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. degrees for a slot as an apprentice plumber -- literally, no exaggeration.

Evidence: For a career, a Ph.D., publications in AI, etc. can be worse than a felony conviction. Literally.

If 1000 resumes and more than a year looking for a job, then conclude no fish in that lake and need to look elsewhere.

But college is MUCH better than grass mowing? In the US, not necessarily!

Lesson: Start a business, maybe even one exploiting some aspects of computing and even with some barriers to entry or plumbing, grass mowing, ....

No joke, folks.