Former employer asking for help after laying me off
After a layoff, replacement hires or former coworkers often reach out to ask for free guidance on the work you used to handle. Instead of working for free, you can respond by setting a strict limit or sending an invoice that charges an hourly consulting rate for your advice.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Former employer asking for help after laying me off
- 1Quoting a high hourly consulting rate for any assistanceDid this help you?
- 2Sending a polite message directing the replacement to current managementDid this help you?
- 3Ignoring the messages entirelyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Got laid off recently and stayed professional through the entire transition period. A few weeks later, my replacement hire (lower position than mine) reached out to me on LinkedIn asking questions about some of the work I used to handle and asking for guidance.”source ↗
“After I was let go from my last role, I did this. My subordinate asked me how I did something, I liked her so I told her how, but also informed her that that was the only free request I would provide.”source ↗
“This kind of happened to me - replacement was texting me asking me questions while I was at my new job.”source ↗
“I was asked to do this once. I sent an invoice for my future services and didn’t even get a reply.”source ↗
“I did this, but at $150 an hour, and they said yes. I’ve been paid for about 25 hours since March to basically jump on calls and provide input and advice.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 19Why do accountants take the first job offer after unemployment?
- 23Why can't I find a job after being laid off at 50+
- 43How to handle the financial and identity drop after leaving a career
- 5When should I prioritize cash savings over retirement contributions?
- 3Why am I getting ghosted after great career fair chats?
- 12How do I roll over a 401k after a layoff?