The call came at 3 PM on a Tuesday. A VP I’d worked with for years—brilliant, strategic, respected by her team—had just walked out of a “restructuring meeting” after 18 years with the company. “I never saw this coming,” she said. “What do I tell my network? What do I tell myself?”
As an executive coach who’s also navigated corporate restructuring as a senior manager, I’ve been having these conversations weekly. The landscape has shifted dramatically, and the playbook we used even five years ago no longer applies.
What I’m Seeing from the Front Lines
In my coaching practice, 60% of my current clients are dealing with layoffs—either their own or leading teams through them. These aren’t early-career professionals struggling with their first setback. These are seasoned executives, department heads, and transformation leaders who built their identities around corporate success.
The numbers tell part of the story: over 150,000 tech jobs lost globally in 2024, with European companies like SAP, Ericsson, and Booking.com cutting 15-30% of their workforce. But beyond tech, I’m working with leaders from automotive (Volkswagen, Stellantis), banking (Commerzbank), and luxury goods (LVMH) who are navigating similar disruptions.
What strikes me isn’t just the scale—it’s the profile of who’s affected. Senior managers with decades of experience are discovering that expertise in legacy systems or traditional approaches no longer guarantees job security.
The Psychology Behind the Pivot
From my management days, I remember thinking layoffs happened to “other people”—those who weren’t strategic enough, networked enough, or valuable enough. That mindset is gone.
What I’m observing in my coaching sessions is a fundamental shift in how accomplished professionals process career disruption. The shame has largely disappeared, replaced by a more pragmatic question: “How do I rebuild strategically?”
Yet the psychological impact remains complex. I work with leaders experiencing survivor guilt, watching talented colleagues exit while they remain. Others describe what researchers call “cruel optimism”—the disillusionment that comes after building careers on growth promises that suddenly evaporate.
The most resilient clients I work with share a common trait: they’re using this disruption as a forcing function for reflection they’d been postponing for years.
Europe’s Leadership Advantage
Having managed through restructuring in both the US and Europe, I’ve observed key differences that European leaders can leverage.
In countries like Germany and Ireland, severance packages and social protections create space most professionals elsewhere don’t have. I encourage my European clients to view this not as a safety net, but as strategic runway for reinvention.
European labor laws also mean companies restructure more deliberately. While this can delay necessary transformation, it also means leaders have more time to prepare and position themselves for what’s coming.
Five Strategic Shifts I’m Recommending
Based on what’s working for my most successful clients, here’s what I’m advising senior professionals:
Reframe the Narrative Stop treating layoffs as career failures. In my experience, the leaders who recover fastest are those who position their departure as strategic alignment, not rejection. The market has shifted—your response should match that sophistication.
Leverage the Leadership Pause Use severance time strategically. I work with clients to create 90-day reinvention plans: 30 days for reflection and skills assessment, 30 days for strategic networking and market research, 30 days for targeted positioning and outreach.
Lead with Purpose, Not Just Performance The clients who land the most meaningful next roles aren’t necessarily the highest performers—they’re the ones who can articulate their ‘why’ most clearly. Values and mission alignment are becoming key differentiators in senior-level conversations.
Embrace Strategic Career Pivots Some of my most successful transformations involve leaders making intentional shifts: the operations VP who became a sustainability director, the finance leader who moved into transformation consulting. Resilience and adaptability are becoming the new executive currencies.
Build Your Thought Leadership I encourage all my clients to share their professional journey—the challenges, lessons, and insights. This isn’t about vulnerability; it’s about demonstrating the reflection and growth that make senior leaders valuable in uncertain times.
Leading Through Uncertainty
Whether you’re currently employed or in transition, this moment demands a different kind of leadership. I tell my clients: you’re not just navigating a market correction, you’re helping to define what professional success looks like in the next decade.
The executives I work with who are thriving—regardless of employment status—share a common approach: they’re treating this disruption as an opportunity to model the adaptability they expect from their teams.
They’re asking better questions: Not just “How do I recover from this?” but “What kind of leader do I want to become through this?”
As someone who’s been both the manager delivering difficult news and the coach helping leaders rebuild, I can tell you this: the professionals who emerge strongest from this period won’t be those who avoided disruption, but those who used it to become more intentional about their impact.
The future of work isn’t something happening to us—it’s something we’re creating through every decision we make in response to change
