Brittney Ball, a former Meta documentation engineer and global head of the Black@Pride ERG hired in 2020, has been unemployed for over a year since her layoff in February 2025. Despite her credentials, she underestimated how brutal the job market would be. Now creating alternative income streams while still job hunting, Ball warns others recently laid off by Meta to budget for a full year of unemployment, downsize expenses, and build an action plan immediately. “I could’ve saved myself a lot of grief if I knew just how unforgiving the job market can be,” she said.
In-Depth:
Brittney Ball didn’t anticipate being unemployed for over a year after her layoff at Meta. She assumed that, coming from Meta with her skillset, there’s no way she’d be searching for long. She underestimated the job market.
She obtained hired in 2020 as a documentation engineer and served as the global head of the Black@Pride ERG. Since her layoff in February 2025, she’s created alternative forms of income, but she’s still applying for full-time work.
Her advice for people in the most recent round of Meta layoffs is to budreceive like you’re going to be unemployed for the next year, downsize, and create an action plan now.
“I could’ve saved myself a lot of grief if I knew just how unforgiving the job market can be,” she declared.
Read more about what she wishes she knew before she was laid off on Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/e2NUtV2t
(Credit: Courtesy of Brittney Ball)
