This happened while I was in high school. My dad worked in IT at a company that actually still exists. He even survived the layoffs, though with a series of dramatic pay cuts.

It was such a shock going from a pretty sweet gig to the terror of sudden destitution. He was so lucky to survive but was suddenly sleeping in his cube and living in constant fear of being the next let go. I think he was the only one of his coworker/friends to survive the layoffs at his company.

Dad would describe sitting in his cube when a team of security people would get off the elevator. Everyone was terrified, not knowing who they were coming for. If it was you, they would physically remove you from your cube and haul you down to HR and that was it. One of your coworkers would pack your things into a box that you'd be handed on the way out. That happened to dozens (hundreds?) early in the process, and continued regularly for a couple of years.

I think he felt trapped at the time - there obviously weren't many tech jobs hiring, so losing a job could mean long-term unemployment or even changing careers after 20 years in the field.

Our family situation sucked, but we were extremely fortunate compared to many of those around us. Every time another mass-layoff event happens, like we've seen so many of lately, I think of those times and grieve for the people going through that now.

Not really any wisdom or insight to share on this. I just really hate the series of events and decisions which lead to hardworking people seeing their lives upended like this.