This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brittney Ball, a 36-year-old former Meta employee based in Washington DC. It's been edited for length and clarity. I didn't anticipate being unemployed for over a year after my layoff at Meta . I assumed that, coming from Meta with my skillset, there's no way I'd be searching for long. I underestimated the job market . I got hired in 2020 as a documentation engineer and served as the global head of the Black@Pride ERG. Since my layoff in