What to Text Someone Who Was Just Laid Off

There's a specific awkwardness to texting someone who was just laid off. You want to say something. You know you should say something. And then you open a new message and realize you have no idea what that something is. Most people either overwrite — a long, careful message that ends up feeling like a speech — or they say nothing at all because they're afraid of getting it wrong. Both are understandable. Neither is what your person needs right now.

The good news is that a text doesn't have to be eloquent. It just has to arrive.

What to actually send

Short is better than long here. A layoff is disorienting, and reading a long message takes energy the person doesn't have right now. What lands is something that acknowledges what happened, says you care, and makes no demands on them. "I just heard. I'm so sorry. That's a rough one. Here if you need anything." That's it. You don't need to dress it up.

If you know them well enough to be more specific, be more specific. "I know how much that job meant to you. I'm really sorry. Can we grab lunch this week?" is better than something generic because it shows you were paying attention. People who just got laid off are quietly terrified that the loss reflects something about them. Specificity — naming what was real about the job, what you know they put into it — quietly counters that fear.

What not to send

Avoid anything that reframes the situation as secretly positive. "This could be the best thing that ever happened to you" and "honestly you were too good for that place anyway" are both well-intentioned and both miss the mark. The person isn't ready to hear that yet. They're in the acute phase, not the reflection phase. Let them be in that without rushing them out of it.

Also avoid anything that turns into advice. "You should update your LinkedIn right away" or "I know someone hiring at X" — even if helpful eventually — lands as pressure when someone is still absorbing the shock. There's time for that. The text you send today isn't the right container for it.

If they don't respond

Send one follow-up a few days later. Something low-pressure: "Just checking in. No need to respond — just wanted you to know I'm thinking about you." Then leave it. Some people go quiet when they're embarrassed or overwhelmed. That's not a signal that you said the wrong thing. It's a signal that they're processing something hard and don't have the bandwidth for conversation yet.

When they do resurface, don't make them explain the silence. Just pick up where you left off. The people who are easiest to come back to are the ones who don't make you feel bad for having been gone.

A layoff is one of those things where the people who show up in the first 48 hours get remembered. You don't have to say anything profound. You just have to say something, and mean it, and let them know you're still in their corner regardless of what their employment status says.