Founder says the increased season of layoffs impacted those around her.
Marissa Alonzo-Ackerman is just your typical mom whose life has revolved around working and taking care of her family. Most recently she was impacted by a layoff.
"I understand how hard it is for businesses to make these types of decisions and I was really sad to leave my last company because the people there were so resilient during this hard economic season," she said.
Marissa is just one of many individuals in the tech industry that have recently been effected by reductions in staff, a growing problem across the landscape. Just in 2022 alone the nation saw around 15.4 million layoffs across the U.S., many of which were concentrated in the technology sector.
"I think what people fail to see is that these layoffs are effecting not only large scale companies, but smaller startups as well. Overall, it's been a bleak season for most and it's sad and very hard to see. Although layoffs happen all the time, this time it feels different," she stated.
For an entire year Marissa has kept track of the layoff count through resources like Tech Crunch and have noticed that even though it has a running list of bigger companies, so many are missing. She also notated viral posts she saw on LinkedIn from individuals in dire circumstances that she felt compelled to do something about it.
"I think one thing I have learned from working with recruitment professionals is that the job market is completely saturated and it is very difficult to review applications in a timely manner because there are so many coming in. For those that are facing situations like homelessness, evictions, etc. it is not something they can wait on any longer. I thought what is a way to shake up what we know is not working? That is how I came up with the Layoff Podcast."
The Layoff Podcast is hoping to connect people directly with people with an audio-visual representation of a resume through a recorded interview series. During the series individuals would have a chance to talk about their background, their ending roles, their goals, how their layoff has effected them, what they have done about it, and where they would like to be.
"The podcast is about humanizing the jobseeking process. In the wake of AI driven technologies, oversaturation, and burn out people need a way to hear each other that takes away the noise. The podcast intends to be a positive experience and cut down the interview process for recruiters by providing them with a general overview."
The Layoff Podcast is still open to applications and plans to schedule and record shows as long as possible. For more information on how to apply, click here.
"I am an empath by nature. People matter to me. If I can change the world for the better then why not try."
We are excited to see what the Layoff Podcast has in store. Stay tuned.
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