A few years ago, landing a job at a major tech company felt like a guarantee of stability. Good salary, benefits, professional growth, and the sense that you'd arrived somewhere you could build a long career. But the market has shifted fast. Very fast.
Collective redundancies and restructurings are now a regular feature of the tech sector, including in Spain. Startups, scale-ups, multinationals — virtually every company is reviewing costs, cutting headcount or reorganising departments while trying to adapt to the impact of artificial intelligence.
And when a layoff hits, almost everyone goes through the same mix of emotions. First comes the shock. Then the uncertainty. And usually, one fairly simple question: what do I do now?
The strange thing is that, in the middle of all that, many people still don't know how much money they're actually entitled to. They sign documents without fully understanding their severance, accept the first figure put in front of them, or simply assume that's just how it is. Sometimes that's true. Often, it isn't.
That's why it's worth separating two things: the emotional side and the financial side.
The emotional part is unavoidable. A layoff affects your ego, your routine and your sense of security. But the financial part requires a clear head. Because severance isn't just a number — it's the time you'll have to regroup, find another job, or even consider a change of direction without making hasty decisions.
In Spain, many tech companies are offering severance of 20 days per year worked, particularly in objective dismissals or EREs. Others go up to 33 days, and in some collective processes, terms above the legal minimum are negotiated to avoid disputes or reach agreements more smoothly.
The reality is that no two situations are identical. And that's exactly why it matters to understand the numbers before signing anything.
Having a clear picture of what you're owed changes the entire conversation. Not because everything has to end in an aggressive negotiation, but because understanding your position lets you make decisions with far more clarity. Knowing how long you can hold out, how much room you have, or how to plan your next professional chapter can make an enormous difference in how you experience the whole process.
There's another reality that's becoming hard to ignore: artificial intelligence will keep transforming the tech labour market. Some roles will disappear, others will change, and new opportunities will emerge that don't even exist yet. Denying it doesn't help much.
But there's no point assuming everything is lost either.
The same AI forcing many companies to cut headcount is also enabling enormous numbers of people to learn new skills far faster than before. Automation, coding, product development, data analysis, marketing, design — tools exist today that allow for professional reinvention in ways that would have seemed impossible just five years ago.
Many people discover after a layoff that they'd been running on autopilot for years. Sometimes change arrives abruptly, yes — but it can also become an opportunity to reassess priorities, learn new things, or find a professional life more aligned with what you actually want.
That said: the better prepared you are financially, the more freedom you'll have to do it well.
So before making quick decisions, it's worth doing something very simple: calculating exactly what you're owed. Understanding your severance, comparing scenarios, and having a clear view of your actual situation can give you something far more valuable than money — time and space to think clearly.
When the market is changing this fast, understanding your numbers stops being optional.