Mhyrynde noa gives insight on long term layoff effects (recap of episode 3)

Happy Monday! It’s time to drop episode 3 and we are excited to be in the presence of Mhyrynde Noa (referenced below as "M") If you haven’t gotten to listen or frankly you are not really a podcast person, don’t worry we recap our conversation down below.

But first, before we do that, we thought we would share something M wrote because it explains a lot about one of her former roles and it enlightened us on something we had not heard of just yet—the term Head of People and Planet!

Here is an excerpt of what she told us:

"Chief of People and Planet requires a lot of emotional labor. It is being a listening ear, and active observer, and a progenitor for change. It’s advocacy and alignment for new endeavors, and sometimes wild adventures; the sharing of ideas, shaping them into a plan, and trying to make them work. It is thinking outside-the-box (what box?) and introducing new norms of how we think about work.

It’s complex…

It’s accepting outliers…

It’s inspiring others…

It’s leading a team…

It’s the willingness to change your mind…

It’s having a deep knowledge of the organization, industry, and connections…

Every day is day one and I might never know everything there is to know, but it’s giving grace to yourself, to others, especially when mistakes are made, because it happens. A LOT.

It’s work that is human centered, community centered, and Earth-centered…radically empathetic, necessary, and absolutely worth it."

Wow! We all learn something new everyday and this excerpt helped our team better understand an even deeper layer of M’s capabilities. Now on to our conversation. See below.

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The devastation came after getting laid off for "M" Noa because she had moved to a digital marketing company that was under her former company’s umbrella and that is where the conversation started—talking about the toll that it had. For M, who has been laid off formally since 2022 and during the holiday season, she said it couldn't have been worse timing. She was understanding of the situation at first and knew that it was not personal, but she was not a fan that they utilized the old philosophy “last one in, first fired.”

The shock of the news was so disheartening to M that she went numb to what was going on around her and she ended up not applying to unemployment for a few weeks because she was in a dissociated state focusing instead in getting through the holidays and was hopeful that the economy would bounce back at the start of the year.

She says that she never thought it would get this far, though, and soon found herself going through the tumultuous emotions again once the holidays were over. She said that she had continued her education and had never in the past had difficulty finding work. She said she began to feel like she needed to scramble at some point because there was hardly any open positions that she was seeing and more layoffs were announced as the year was progressing forward. Fortunate enough to find a consultant role she said that relief was short-lived.

“While I was doing that I was still trying to look for other jobs and continue to network, which was hard because nowadays it’s more like having two and half jobs [to look for jobs]," M said.

Like Giana from episode 2 alluded too, the entire process was long— from 60 hour weeks of just adjusting her résumé, networking, interviewing, etc. it was exhausting for her.

“There is no work/life balance when you don’t have a job,” said M.

She explained to Marissa that in addition to just going through the process of looking for jobs, applying, interviewing, and networking the sense of feeling like she was not really good at what she did started to sink in.

“Anxiety kicked in…in my case I didn’t get a severance package because I was not there long enough when layoffs happened…between that and waiting for unemployment…,” she continued.

She said that it felt like everything was happening and at times she was feeling so down and felt like it got to the point where it felt as if she was begging.

“I was saying, please if you know anyone or anything…,” she would ask her network regarding conversations around finding work.

M also found herself having to supplement her income by working retail temporarily and because she was dealing with so much questioning with her situation she ended up seeking help with her mental health to get to a better place.

“I had low energy…not a lot of pep in the morning. My get up and go just got up and went before I got up. They always say do self care, do what brings you joy, but there is no joy when the clock is ticking," she said.

As time went by she found herself even questioning past decisions about former employers and how she should have not left them, although she said she has heard that eventually she might have been in the same boat because they too had layoffs that happened throughout the year.

Marissa Alonzo-Ackerman, host, responded to M and her summary of how she felt affected by layoffs to let her know that she understood and that as a mom herself she thought that M sounded like a supermom. M, having eight incredible kids and who was a former stay-at-home mom as she entered into her career, first as a grant writer, and then eventually moving to human resources, was indeed an example of someone who had an exemplary background and massive drive. Marissa also then said she agreed with everything M said regarding the whole process of applying and trying to get a job and how it is a job in itself.

“Its almost like you are a seller (in a way) except you are selling yourself and you are against everyone else who is also in the same boat,” said Marissa.

Marissa spoke about how she found it interesting (and refreshing) to see that all the feelings she had during her initial start of the layoff were seeming to be validated by other jobseekers she had talked too recently.

“I used to be embarrassed by it [the layoff] but now..it’s so sad because it is the new norm unfortunately. There is just so many people that are going through these same things and it doesn’t feel like there is enough resources for us,” said Marissa.

The conversation then turned towards the fact that all positions are were impacted by the large season of layoffs. M had ended in a more senior level role and she had been impacted and she had seen others in higher positions impacted as well.

“No one is exempt from whatever condition we are experiencing right now in the employment world…it includes anyone and everybody,” M said.

Marissa then briefly spoke about how when reaching out to applicants and other jobseekers regarding the podcast she had found that it was lots of people with lots of different backgrounds that were in her feed and it supported what M had also been seeing.

They then spoke about what spearheaded the layoff incline talking about how COVID was the starting point for many companies.

Pivoting from the emotional and financial impact of the layoff and focusing more on what M is currently doing to occupy her time, M spoke with Marissa about how she has since gone back to school, which was something she had planned to do anyway. She also talked about how she is currently volunteering by helping people with their resumes and helping the local food pantry.

“You never know who you are going to meet and who you may network with...," she said.

She said she has also loved being part of groups that she had found that were related to layoffs and career which has helped her further network in the hopes she speaks with the right person one day.

When talking about what she is looking for going forward—she says she loves to work and is looking for something long term.

“I am open to working remote, hybrid, in office, out of office, and even relocation,” she said.

Residing currently in New York, she says that right now she is open to work because she believes she has lots of working life still and enjoys it.

When reminiscing about her most favorite title she ever had, she said she loved “Chief of People and Planet” (referenced above).

Finding the humor in the name Marissa and M spoke about how the role itself was a great one but how unfortunately it is hard to find when you are looking through list of titles on an application that you can say you had prior.

“I feel like it encompasses all that I do. I am always getting people together to volunteer…but also focused on compensation, benefits, building people and finding out what is important to you in New York and what is important to you in general. Tailoring benefits of where they work to be a place they are proud of,” she said.

She said she also loves to focus on meeting the needs of people and meet the wants and desires of them so they can have their own sense of value and worth when it comes to the workplace. That is something she was passionate about helping companies do and achieve.

After they discussed what M was looking for in relation to places to work (remote, hybrid, etc) Marissa asked about what M thought about with the state of employment.

“It’s desensitized and inhumane. There is no human aspect anymore. I love a good résumé, and I love a good ATS…but ATS’s are not human and they are scanning résumés for keywords and we are all revising and updating to hopefully highlight the things that this [recruiter] would look for, but it doesn’t work,” she said.

They both discussed how hard it is to have no communication at times. Trying to message a recruiter being one of those instances where ghosting has become an increasingly glaring issue.

M said when utilizing LinkedIn there has been sections that actually show her that she should reach out and message a specific recruiter, however she does not get responses most of the time, or if she does it is for the recruiter to then request that she resubmit the résumé elsewhere through their company website.

“As a consultant in February, March, and April I was getting tons of applications for hourly, entry level, and salary and it's a lot coming at you. But, its not that hard to just take the few seconds to scan a résumé and see if your 'must-haves' are in that résumé and if not then just send a response…even a canned response,” she said.

Marissa and M both discussed that canned responses still were appreciated but that one thing M would like to see differently is how jobs are farmed out to third party platforms and the elimination of this tactic.

“It’s the same job with different titles…it can look like there is 348 today but there really isn’t,” she said.

Marissa and M both acknowledged they understood that this time period is not only tough on the jobseekers but recruiters too.

“Recruiters, HR, and learning and development get hit really hard if there is not hiring going on,” said M.

However, because M has seen more in depth what it is like on the jobseeker side she believes that there is little value put on the candidate’s time anymore when it comes to thoughtfulness of the job placement process.

Referencing back to the saga of imposter syndrome M says “some days I feel like— why am I even going to apply? No one is going to answer me.”

She says when she starts feeling this way she turns to her support networks whether that be groups or chatter.

Marissa agreed that this is a relatable situation and said that the Layoff Podcast would also be working on getting together a support group (stay tuned!)

“We know there are a lot of people, but when you are not talking to them constantly or someone else in your shoes, it feels lonely,” said Marissa.

M says she understood that feeling but says at times it can seem online that everyone is happy. She says you can go on LinkedIn or Facebook and everyone seems in good spirits, but she sometimes will thin “I know you and I know you have the same bills we all do (and are feeling the same way about layoffs).” She says she doesn’t blame people, though, and that we all want to stay and look positive. Reality, sometimes, can distort that intention though and unemployment is not easy for everyone.

Marissa says her cringe term lately has been "fun-employment".

“I don’t know who you are but if you are truly having fun-employment then kudos to you because it is not like that for everybody,” Marissa said.

Both agreed that accepting reality can potentially get you to a more positive point but that fluctuating in how you feel about your layoff happens and is a natural cycle of feelings.

M ended the show by stating what she is looking for when it comes to her main goal: "I have a lot of experience with startup and with multiple phase companies." She said that she is open to consultant and contract roles in addition to full time. She says ultimately she is looking for a company that will have longevity in their mutual partnership.

If M sounds like she would be a great addition to your team, please visit her section in the open-to-work page, check out her LinkedIn, and reach out to us if you have any questions.