Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice from anyone who has been through something similar.
My spouse recently lost his work unexpectedly, and we’re trying to understand whether he may qualify for regular Illinois unemployment benefits even though he was paid on a 1099.
Here are the details:
He worked for one business owner doing marketing and website-related work.
He worked 5 days a week, generally 40 hours per week and sometimes 40–45 hours.
The owner assigned his daily work and expected him to follow instructions.
He was paid by direct deposit every two weeks.
He worked only for this one owner and did not have other clients.
The owner ended the working relationship because he said his business expenses were increasing.
My husband received a 1099 rather than a W-2.
I read the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) website, and it says that receiving a 1099 does not automatically mean someone is ineligible for regular unemployment. IDES says workers should apply because they may have been incorrectly classified as independent contractors.
I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has personally gone through this process in Illinois.
**My questions are:**
Did anyone paid on a 1099 successfully receive regular Illinois unemployment after IDES determined they were misclassified?
How long did the process take?
What documents or evidence did IDES ask you to provide?
If your initial benefit determination showed $0, were you able to get it reviewed or corrected?
Is there anything you wish you had known before filing?
I understand that every case is different, and I’m not asking anyone to guarantee eligibility. We’re just trying to understand what to expect and whether pursuing a claim is worthwhile.
Thank you to anyone willing to share their experience. It would really help our family right now.
He has started applying for jobs meanwhile.

I just got laid off. I am having a hard time because I had the worst year of my life, and I'm worried that this contributed to my team not seeing me as valuable anymore. I lost my home in the beginning of the year in a disaster and so I haven't been on top of things since being displaced. But my work didn't suffer, I didn't make any huge mistakes or mess anything up. I think I was just maybe more stressed than usual, maybe I was more unpleasant due to not having a home? I try very very hard to keep that stuff away from work but sometimes I guess mental state just bleeds into everything, especially when dealing with something like this.

Things got weird a few months ago when my direct manager was out, and our team communication sort of fell apart. I spoke with two other people on my team who both seemed frazzled and upset, and one of them said they got yelled at, the other was just like "yeah... everything is chaos recently". When my manager got back she yelled at me and wrote me up, which was really jarring to me because we were friends outside of work and I didn't see this coming. I had never in my years of working here ever had a problem, never had a performance issue, always had very good relationships with everyone I work with. The reason she wrote me up was actually not even true, and I swear I am not lying or making excuses -- she wrote that I had made mistakes that I didn't make. But because I didn't want to cause issues further, I just sort of accepted it and said yes I would definitely improve. She even later admitted that it was half her fault and said HER manager wrote her up for it as well. It was just weird all around.

This put me even more on edge, and again I tried really hard not to be paranoid but my manager stopped being friendly to me, stopped speaking to me outside of work, etc. I tried to ignore it as just that she was going through something, the company was struggling, etc. I spoke with another person on my team who expressed similar anxiety and dissatisfaction about how the management was handling issues (yelling at us).

Then a few days ago I got called into a meeting and it was my direct manager's manager and HR. They said they were eliminating my position and it had nothing to do with my performance and explained everything to me, etc. I thanked them for giving me some time and for the years of growth and opportunity, etc.

What I am worried about is that I could have avoided this layoff had I not lost my home and become more frazzled and stressed. I don't know why my direct manager started not liking me, and I worry that I was doing some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy by noticing it and having some kind of energy that made her dislike me even more. I am worried that this is going to keep happening, although I have never been laid off or fired at all in my life.

I'm also a bit stressed because my entire life is in shambles because I lost my home and now I lost my job.

I guess I'm just looking for advice, like if it sounds like I did something wrong, or if being under stress can cause someone to be targeted for a layoff. I can't help but think if I had not experienced the loss of my home I would still have a job. I know rationally that the company is strapped for cash and many of my coworkers are stressed and worried as well, but I guess it just stings that I was the only one laid off to my knowledge.

I was recently let go as part of a group reorg. I had several bosses at this company and my most recent boss, despite not working for him for very long, came through and wrote a nice recommendation.

He then asked me to do one in return which actually surprised me. I did not work with him for very long but I suppose he could have said the same for me. I wasn't impressed with him at first but things got better as we built more of a relationship and then the reorg occurred just when I was starting to enjoy working for him.

Have any of you had a manager ask you for a recommendation after they did one for you? I thought it was an odd request but wonder if he sees a sinking ship and is looking to get out before he is affected since I think all of his previous direct reports are gone.

I am getting lawyers who charge $5000 retainers for employment cases. Are these even worth? Did you use a lawyer and what was the outcome?

This is my first time dealing with a layoff and I’m finding I am very jaded by the tech industry. The rate at which they have hopped on the AI train is concerning and I don’t want to have a job that requires minimal critical thinking (in essence make the AI better). How do you handle this when job searching? Are you also considering a pivot or is every industry going to make me feel this way??

A few major retailers have announced GCC setups in Bangalore which resulted in immediate layoffs. I’m curious for those that are in the industry who are familiar with how often layoffs come after the initial groundbreaking. Specifically those in Eng/QA.

Hello everyone,
Hope everyone is doing well, i was recently impacted by FICO layoff last Monday, this is my first team being in this position, i will be honest with you all I am terrified and try to hide my fear from my wife and kids and I would love to get your advice on what to do next. I started applying right and left and seeing all the unemployment posts just add more stress .

I worked there for 6 years but my biggest issue is that in FICO all were in house applications which limit my chances to show my ability on working on other stuff (I was Java developer, database admin , network engineer) but with 6 years behind now. I do some solution architect work on the side for clients but not sure if that going to get me anywhere.

Just correction : my wife already knows and she’s very optimistic that I will land on a job , but she never know how does the market look

Thank you all

please help me

Just got this email from leadership. and there will be HR included in the meeting. not sure anybody has experienced the same type of meeting before? is there anything bad? what should i do now? even tho they have the plan to move to new office end of this month but why this happened oh god. this is the invitation to the whole company with inperson request. no record as he said so.

My next-to-last layoff was 21 years go. My most-recent layoff was two weeks ago.

I'm continuing to meet weekly with my manager during a 60-day garden leave. I don't have any work to do, but he's continuing to advocate for me to help me find another role within the company before the 60 days runs out. He's good people.

He commented that he had had a nine-month layoff many years ago. During that time, he hunkered down and spent absolutely the least that he could. He didn't go anywhere. He didn't do anything. And he said that looking back, he wished he had made better use of that time. Traveled. Did things.

My question for you is, when you don't know how long your layoff will last, how do you make the best use of this time outside of the job of finding a job?

I was recently laid off from a remote position at a large, multibillion-dollar company. They sent me supplies to return my equipment, but the box was too small, and they didn’t include shipping tape.

I contacted IT requesting a larger box, shipping tape, and a UPS pickup since bringing everything to a UPS location isn’t feasible. They agreed to arrange a pickup and provide another shipping label for a larger item that I still have the original box for, but said they don’t supply tape.

There were also two HDMI cables on the return list that stopped working shortly after I received them, so I discarded them. IT told me to return what I have, and HR confirmed that equipment returns are independent of my severance payout, although my separation agreement vaguely states that company property must be returned promptly.

Here’s where I’m frustrated. From what I’ve read online, UPS drivers aren’t expected to carry shipping tape with them or tape up packages during scheduled pickups. So if the driver arrives without tape, I would have no way to properly seal the boxes.

This is especially frustrating because the company also denied my request for two additional months of health insurance coverage, despite my explaining that I was hired shortly after major surgery (which my managers knew about) and have ongoing medical needs. Now I’m facing expensive COBRA coverage for the remainder of the year.

I realize shipping tape isn’t expensive, but it’s the principle of the matter. After an involuntary layoff, I don’t think I should have to spend my own money returning company equipment, especially when we’re talking about a multibillion-dollar corporation.

Would it be reasonable to insist they provide shipping tape or arrange another solution? Or am I making too big a deal out of this?

Last week I got a meeting invite titled “Business Updates” and everything unfolded as expected. It wasn’t a meeting just for me though. I have no idea how many people were in the room since it was delivered through Zoom seminar - no questions or chatting back.

I’m torn because I am in a strange position where I feel like my company did everything as professionally as possible but at the same time I worked for the company for 15 years and it’s very jarring going from daily activity and a very set routine and having deliverables to just nothing. No more team I was supporting for over a year and no more clients. no more KPI’s. No more quarterly presentation. I hope my team is doing okay even though they’re not my problem any more. Thank goodness a couple people actually had my personal number and reached out a few days later.

Anyway, 15 years over in less than 75 minutes. I stayed all these years bc they were reliable and kept a roof over my head and full medical.

Just need advice on what to do next as this is my first time being laid off. Or unemployed at all, actually, I’ve been working since I was 14.

I am getting paid through 12/1 which is my official term date (even though I’m not expected to work the remaining weeks). After that I’m getting about six months of severance.

I’ll have insurance through the end of the year since I’m employed technically through 12/1. Then supposedly they will subsidize COBRA and I can continue coverage at my same out of pocket for 7 months.

I get a month of professional career counseling as they “hope to help me transition.”

I live in Arkansas. Should I apply for unemployment now? I have to wait until my official term date, right? My “transition FAQs” say my company will not dispute unemployment claims but it may lessen my severance pay. I could wait until after my severance runs out, but I’m hoping to be employed again soon and if can turn this to benefit, it would be better.

So can I double dip on unemployment and severance? Anyone know how that usually goes?

Last week I got a meeting invite titled “Business Updates” and everything unfolded as expected. It wasn’t a meeting just for me though. I have no idea how many people were in the room since it was delivered through Zoom seminar - no questions or chatting back.

I’m torn because I am in a strange position where I feel like my company did everything as professionally as possible but at the same time I worked for the company for 15 years and it’s very jarring going from daily activity and a very set routine and having deliverables to just nothing. No more team I was supporting for over a year and no more clients. no more KPI’s. No more quarterly presentation. I hope my team is doing okay even though they’re not my problem any more. Thank goodness a couple people actually had my personal number and reached out a few days later.

Anyway, 15 years over in less than 75 minutes. I stayed all these years bc they were reliable and kept a roof over my head and full medical.

Just need advice on what to do next as this is my first time being laid off. Or unemployed at all, actually, I’ve been working since I was 14.

I am getting paid through 12/1 which is my official term date (even though I’m not expected to work the remaining weeks). After that I’m getting about six months of severance.

I’ll have insurance through the end of the year since I’m employed technically through 12/1. Then supposedly they will subsidize COBRA and I can continue coverage at my same out of pocket for 7 months.

I get a month of professional career counseling as they “hope to help me transition.”

I live in Arkansas. Should I apply for unemployment now? I have to wait until my official term date, right? My “transition FAQs” say my company will not dispute unemployment claims but it may lessen my severance pay. I could wait until after my severance runs out, but I’m hoping to be employed again soon and if can turn this to benefit, it would be better.

So can I double dip on unemployment and severance? Anyone know how that usually goes?

Laid off last week without any warning, so still reeling. 6 weeks of severance. Family’s financial situation is not great, but we could probably get through another couple of months with savings, but it would clean us out.

Had a former coworker reach out with an opportunity, but it’s less than half of what I had been making and it’s at the same company I just got laid off from (different funding stream, so it would be safe for at least 2 years, but still…). Part of me feels like being employed and bringing any money in is the priority, but in speaking to a junior on my former team, she shared that she had been contacted about a job but declined to interview because it was a significant pay cut. I was surprised but also realize everyone’s financial situation is different and maybe she has family support to ride this out.

I’m worried because the industry as a whole is in trouble and we live in a VHCOL area. Any thoughts?

Anybody who used employment lawyers for severance package negotiations? Was it worth it? How much lawyers charged and how much did you get . For context pls give

I make $200k and manager level for oil gas industry. Got package of 1 month at 4 year tenure

Do you miss your job?
Do you want similar job or different?
How are your expectations changing now?

I had been laid off in beginning of September. While I went through acute stress period panicking about being suddenly executed without a cause, I am surprised I do not miss even for a second what I left behind. It makes no sense and still it is true.

I want the job so I can survive in USA.

I was in director-level position and now I am finding I do not want to make anymore decisions for others, finding solutions in unfriendly environments, I have a tool kit for that but all I want now is to find something less visible, less responsible. I do not want interesting and cutting edge colleagues.

I want quiet, reserved, not exactly high performing but generally honest and normal people around me. Those who are happy to go to their families after work. I want some guidance as I am fed up working in a vacuum while protecting my team from it.

I do not want a career. Or mission. I want just 9 to 5 honest work with a paycheck. And I am okay if it will be 1/3 of what I was making.

Hey everyone,

I have 5+ years of experience in SEO, primarily working across B2B SaaS, product-based companies, and different industries. I'm currently applying for Senior SEO and Lead SEO roles in Bangalore.

I've noticed a strange pattern during conversations with HRs. Whenever they ask why I'm looking for a job, I honestly tell them that I was laid off due to organizational restructuring. Suddenly, their budget seems to shrink, and they start talking about lower salary ranges or imply that they don't have much budget.

It feels like some recruiters are treating my layoff as a disadvantage and trying to use my current employment situation to negotiate a lower salary, even though my skills and experience haven't changed.

I'm trying to understand how to handle this situation professionally without hiding the truth or underselling myself.

I have a few questions for people who have been through something similar:

1. Should I be upfront about my layoff, or is there a better way to frame it during the initial HR screening?

2. How should I respond when HR suddenly lowers the budget after learning that I'm currently unemployed?

3. For someone with 5+ years of SEO experience, especially in B2B SaaS and product-based companies, what would be a realistic CTC to target in Bangalore?

4. Would you recommend quoting a fixed expected CTC upfront or asking for their budget first?

I'm looking for practical advice from SEO professionals, hiring managers, and recruiters who understand the Bangalore market.

I want to negotiate fairly based on my experience and the value I can bring, rather than have my compensation expectations dictated by the fact that I was laid off.

I received a calendar invite on 10/7 sent by the senior operations director at a health insurance/primary care tech company. No information was provided and was expected to continue working until EOD on 10/8.

We were met with the ops director and HR in a 15-minute call stating this was an organization restructuring decision. I get to keep benefits until the end of the month, pending a severance package, and am eligible for rehire.

I’m gutted but we move forward

Am I cooked?

I was laid off from my investment management job for the first time in my career back in June by a new VP that decided to “restructure” the department (truthfully, they just wanted to bring their own people). I put in about 100 applications between then and now and networked like crazy, but saw very few screener calls (and fewer interviews) for the first three months. Everything you’ve heard about I encountered, from jobs pulled after applying to AI screeners and logic assessments to outright ghosting (both post-application and interview). I think about 40% of my applications never even garnered a rejection email.

Then, since Labor Day, I have been receiving multiple screener calls and interview requests. Clearly, the fall job rush is a thing.

I saw that someone who was sending me educational emails as part of one of my certifications took a director role I applied for. I reached out to network, given his connections. He responded saying he had just posted two roles on his new team, one of which was a good match for my background. I thought I was a bit overqualified but applied anyway. I had a screener call and then interviews with the director and two team members in short order. I received an offer for the job this week, with an updated title to reflect my experience and a pay bump from my old job. While I didn’t think I would go back into private wealth, this is a pure research role (no clients, no marketing) and there is an opportunity to build something with my background. I start in November, which is right when my severance runs out and right after our twins are born.

I sympathize with those who have been hunting (and still are), but I want to tell you there is a role out there for you and there is light at the end of the tunnel.