I experienced a mass layoff once at a small startup where I was working. It was a typical Monday morning when we were called into an unexpected staff meeting. The old Executive Team had all resigned, and the new President introduced a completely new Executive Team. To our shock, they announced that they wanted to bring in their own team, and as a result, we were all terminated immediately. The silver lining was that all of our long-term incentives, like stock options, would vest right away, and we would receive severance pay based on our years of service—about one month of pay for each year worked. Additionally, they offered some of us the chance to work as contractors during the transition period. It was a surreal experience, but I felt fortunate to have a decent severance package while others were left in a much tougher spot.