“If you commit to nothing, everything looks worth doing.”
TL;DR
Employers added 165,000 jobs in October, but 2.0 million people have been out of work 27 weeks or more: 27.6% of everyone unemployed.
ServiceNow, Block, and Axonius cut this week, and Block's new package carries 3 months of COBRA, down from 6 in February.
Move of the week: log into your unemployment claim and write down your last payable week.
📊 Poll of the Week
Last week: 1 of you who answered reported an offer. Small poll, one real offer. Congratulations, whoever you are!
Running tally since September: 32 weeks with an interview reported, and 4 offers.
Did you get an interview this week?
🦃 Basket Case (the Good Kind)
Free Thanksgiving baskets for laid-off Bay Area folks
We can't fix the job market. But we can fix you a plate.
This Thanksgiving, Offboard is giving away Thanksgiving baskets to folks who've been laid off. Each one is a roasting pan packed with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, a green bean casserole kit, cranberry sauce, corn, candied yams and dessert. Add a turkey or ham, and that's dinner. Keep the pan, too. That's what the turkey goes in.
There's no proof, no explaining and no five-month plan required.
Know someone who could use one? Request a basket for them. A friend, a former coworker or a neighbor who just got the email. They just have to be in the Bay Area, newsletter subscriber or not.
How it works:
Pick it up at Offboard HQ (Industrious, 2001 Clayton Road, Concord): we'll schedule a time for you to pick up. Stay for coffee if you want, or grab it and go.
Can't make it to Concord? Request by Wednesday, Nov 18, and we'll get it to you before Thanksgiving.
Baskets are first come, first served, so don't sit on it.
🚨 The Big Story
165,000 jobs, and 2 million still waiting
What happened: Employers added 165,000 jobs in October, more than triple the 48,000 monthly average of the year before, and unemployment slipped to 4.1%. The same BLS report counted 2.0 million people jobless for 27 weeks or more. That's 27.6% of all unemployed, the highest share since December 2021, according to ADP Research.
Why it matters: The gains went to health care, couriers, and professional services. Information, where a lot of tech jobs sit, barely moved. People working part-time because they can't find full-time jumped 339,000, to 4.8 million. And most states stop regular unemployment at 26 weeks, so anyone cut in May (2026's busiest month for tech layoff events on TrueUp, with 84) is running out of checks about now, right as the headlines turn sunny.
Our take: ADP's economists put it in one line: "Keeping a job has become much easier than finding one." (ADP Research) Companies are firing less and hiring less, so the people already outside the door stay outside longer. If that's you, the gap on your resume is the market's doing, and any hiring manager who reads a jobs report can see it. Treat month six as a planning deadline. Make the money decisions before the last check lands, and put current work on the page, even if it's part-time or unpaid.
What to watch:
The November jobs report on December 4: whether the long-term share stays above 27%.
Microsoft's buyout deadline in early December. Challenger says voluntary exit offers "tend to signal more layoffs to come."
Your move:
Find your last payable week on your claim and plan the 60 days after it this week, while you still have options.
Add one current line to your resume this month: a contract, a part-time role, or a project you shipped.
📉 The Layoff Report
ServiceNow, Block, Axonius, and a thinner package
ServiceNow: November 5. No headcount disclosed; staff in the US, UK, and India hit. The company wants to "end 2026 where we started," after booking $167 million in severance costs through September, up from $53 million a year earlier. Its CEO called a shrinking headcount a "gorgeous situation" on the earnings call. (We heard you, Bill.) CTech
Block: November 5. Second round this year, no headcount, mostly Customer Ops, Risk Ops, and Learning & Content Operations. US workers get 60 days of pay, 30 more if they sign, at least 7 weeks of severance plus a week per year, $5,000, and 3 months of COBRA (February's package had 6). The memo swapped "AI" for "using better tools." Business Insider
Axonius: November 9. 66 jobs, about 9% of the company, including 46 engineers in Israel (22% of that center). The CEO says it "changed how our software gets built" around AI. It passed $200 million in annual recurring revenue this year, growing 35%. CTech
Smaller cuts, same week: Tripwire Interactive (36, November 9), Bria (20, a third of staff, November 5), Abridge and Skydance Games (no headcount), and Val Town is winding down (November 10).
Bottom line: TrueUp counts 205,349 tech layoffs in 2026, up 985 from last week. Challenger logged 5,576 tech cuts in October, the sector's quietest month of the year, and 171,501 through October, up 21%. TrueUp
☀ The Bright Spot
Software postings up 6.3% in October
IT occupations added about 26,000 jobs in October and IT unemployment fell to 2.8%, per CompTIA's read of the federal data. New software developer postings hit 51,944, up 6.3% from September, and new IT postings are up 22.2% from a year ago. The long search is real. So are these openings. CompTIA
💰 Benefits You're Missing
Your unemployment check is taxable income
Unemployment feels like a lifeline. The IRS counts it as income, and nothing comes out for taxes unless you ask.
Federal: you have to include all unemployment compensation in your income. IRS Topic 418
Withholding is opt-in. Form W-4V lets your state agency withhold 10% of each payment. You file it with the state agency that pays you.Form W-4V
Already behind? The fourth 2026 estimated tax payment is due January 15, 2027. Or file by February 1, 2027, and pay the whole balance with your return.
Your 1099-G arrives in January with the year's total in Box 1. If it lists benefits you never received, someone filed in your name: ask your state for a corrected form.
California doesn't tax unemployment at the state level. Many states do, so check yours.
Your move: check whether your claim has federal withholding turned on. If it doesn't, file the W-4V or set aside at least 10% of each check yourself (your bracket may call for more).
🧠 The Hiring Manager’s Brain
They rehired the context AI couldn't copy
Robert Half found that 32% of hiring managers whose companies cut positions after adopting AI have since added those roles back. Among them, the top reason (40%) was organizational knowledge and context the tools didn't have; 35% said the productivity gains fell short. People Matters
That's the other side of the table telling you what it's paying for: people who know how a messy system actually runs.
What to do about it: rewrite your top three resume bullets around context. Name the system you knew cold, the edge case you caught before customers did, the account only you could calm down. If you've been out six months, lead with it. That knowledge didn't leave with your badge.
✅ Your Moves this Week
Find week 26, check withholding, fix bullets
Log into your unemployment claim and write down your last payable week.
Know someone in the Bay Area who just got cut? Request them a Thanksgiving basket (by Nov 18 for delivery).
Check whether federal withholding is on. If not, file a W-4V with your state or start setting aside 10%.
Run your runway twice in Offboard: with your benefit and without it.
Rewrite your top three resume bullets around context only you had.
Pick one contract, part-time, or project line you can add to your resume this month.
Take one evening off the job boards. Two million people are running this same long race.
Six months out is hard, and right now it's common. You're in good company, and you're not out of moves.
The Offboard Team