How to leave a job
Even when it’s not your choice, here’s how you can leave on your terms
More than 385 thousand workers in tech have been laid off in 2022 and 2023. The excesses of the COVID stimulus, remote work, zero percent interest rates, and an over-eager funding environment have been laid bare. Companies who raised at valuations exceeding 100x their revenue had to quickly show profitability or suffer. Management teams chose to cut costs, and most of those costs were staff.
Layoffs are unfortunately going to continue. More staff often increases the amount of work. There are too many stakeholders to align, too many meetings, too many leaders. New AI tools will increase individual productivity, and subsequently decrease the need for large teams, resulting in more layoffs.
I hope you are reading this from a position of strength. I hope you are valued by your employer and they continue to support you financially. But if you are worried about layoffs or you’re considering leaving, I’d like to share with you my approach. Below is the farewell letter I published to my colleagues when I left my last role.
Dear Fountaineers,
As the writer of 100 notion docs too many, it’s only appropriate that I end my time with another notion.
I will be leaving Fountain and transitioning out over the next several weeks. As I pack up my box in my remote office and say farewell to my 13” computer monitor, I want to thank you all for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I’ve enjoyed my time here, starting with all of the relationships I’ve built with you. It can be easy to get sucked into the day to day pressures of work and life, but we're all just passing through. Our time at Fountain is not forever, and the relationships are what we keep after it's over.
Thank you to the leadership team for your mentorship and guidance. Thank you to all of my team members in product for taking a chance on a young person that doesn’t have the former experience or pattern recognition to be great yet. Thank you Fountaineers for your kindness. I can see in events like R&D all hands, in demo days, and in the shout-outs that it truly does take all of us. Thank you to the international team for being so welcoming and it was such a pleasure to get to know you.
I was blessed and fortunate to be your leader for the time I was here, and wish it could have been better. From a shortage of new products built for customers to a lack of focus on what’s truly important for Fountain, as VP of product I am accountable. Fountain still has an amazing opportunity ahead of it to build the leading hourly worker experience, starting with Hire. To simplify our core offering. To generate incremental revenue through existing customers. To expand into retention and make a truly meaningful difference for how hourly workers are treated at work. I encourage you all to set ridiculously ambitious goals in both your personal and professional lives and take risk, because taking no risk is the biggest risk you can take.
I’ve learned a ton of lessons over the last two years, and I want to share some of them with you.
First, always bring snacks to meetings. If it’s in-person, you get to share. If it’s not, you can make other Fountaineers jealous. Either-way, win win.
Second, when in doubt, blame it on the intern (thanks Kyle). They’re eager to please and the perfect scapegoat for any mess-ups.
Third, never underestimate the power of a well-timed “cc” or “@” on slack. It’s the corporate equivalent of sending a message in a bottle and you never know who might be washing up on your shore.
Fourth, be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Lastly, always remember to have fun. Life's too short to take everything too seriously, and a good laugh goes a long way. And half this letter was penned by ChatGPT.
If you are concerned about me, please don’t be — I love Fountain and I’m ok with having failed at this part of the journey. If there’s one thing I could leave the company with that I didn’t do, it’s to focus the company on what really counts to (1) make the lives of hourly workers better (2) generate revenue for the business (3) hold the line on quality and speed. My biggest regret is that I let my desire to avoid conflict and lack of trust override my ability to do this at Fountain. Your best job will be one that you were unqualified for because it stretches you. And this job has certainly stretched me to become a better leader (hopefully) and a better person (doubtful).
Don’t waste this opportunity with this leadership change to deliver happiness for customers and hourly workers with urgency!
I will miss you terribly.
Love, Eric
A big inspiration for this letter was Andrew Mason’s letter to Groupon employees when he was fired as CEO. I tried to emulate a few things from his letter in mine that are unusual:
It’s honest — I wanted to take accountability for what we failed to do. Are there things I feel were outside of my control? Certainly, but that’s not important to talk about because…
It’s written for the audience — many people (especially leaders) want to control the narrative when they exit. “I” decided to leave because it wasn’t a good fit. “They” didn’t put me in a position to succeed. But why is that important? Why do I need people I won’t be working anymore to take my side, to believe that it wasn’t my fault, or that I did the best I could? To practice what I preach — this was a moment to prove to myself that my character is more important than my reputation.
It’s light-hearted — layoffs, exits, and leadership changes are some of the most stressful periods for employees. How can I show optimism and energy in this moment of weakness? I wrote this letter to express gratitude to those who supported me, to give confidence in leadership — not to protect my ego.
So to leave on my terms, I had to let go. I had to write the message other people needed to hear, be authentic, and show resilience. For me.
Here’s the reality of layoffs. Some companies will tell you in advance, but most companies are not going to give you warning. The sensitivity and complexity of layoffs make them difficult to time and execute. Imagine a layoff of 1000 people. A thousand conversations need to be coordinated within an eight hour timeframe. This is why some leaders choose to send an email instead and just deal with the consequences. Sometimes you don’t get a chance to say goodbye.
And it’s okay to be worried. It’s okay. Americans, especially in white collar work, define ourselves by our job titles. By what we do. And when we are let go, feelings like hurt, rejection, and doubt can creep into our minds. “Am I a failure? What could I have done differently? Am I a loser?”
This is where we must stand on our character. Who are you when you don’t get what you want — when you don’t have the job title or the salary? How do you act and behave when things go wrong? The world decides what it thinks about you. But you get to decide whether it discourages you or motivates you.
And there is no failure in life because the story continues. There will be times where you succeed and times where you fail. This was a time where I had to look myself in the mirror and say ok, it’s time to bet on myself. Control what I can control, stay positive, and get better one day at a time.
And often times, layoffs can be a gift. For me it was an incredible gift. It pushed me to dive deep into AI and LLMs, to go to therapy, to read, to travel to Japan, to write music, to write this newsletter. One moment isn’t going to destroy everything. The past is over, and the future hasn't happened yet.
Your life is still a place of great and unfolding possibility, and your future is an empty canvas, waiting for its story to be written.
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