I was laid off by Oracle 2 years ago and still can't find a job. I've blown through my savings and now sell antiques to stay afloat.

Clair Todd has been struggling to find work since being laid off by Oracle in 2023. She's reselling antiques to try to replace her former six-figure income and make debt payments. She said her job search has made her question whether her mid-career pivot to tech was worthwhile. This "as-told-to" essay is based on a conversation with Clair Todd, a 40-year-old job seeker from New Hampshire, who worked as a site reliability engineer for Oracle until being laid off in 2023. Business Insider has verified her employment with documentation. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. I started at Oracle in January 2020 as a site reliability engineer. In November 2023, I started hearing that my Oracle coworkers were getting pulled into Zoom meetings and told they had been laid off. I hoped I wouldn't be next, but I was. My entire team was let go. I didn't start looking for work right away because I'd received some severance pay, and I'd heard it was difficult to land a tech role during the holiday season. I took some time to reassess what I wanted from my career and began my job search in February 2024. I was optimistic at first because most of my prior job searches hadn't taken too long. As the months dragged on, it became clear I had the wrong impression of the tech hiring landscape . More than two years after being laid off, I'm still unemployed. My long job search has taken a real toll on my finances When I was let go from Oracle, my severance, unemployment benefits, and my emergency fund helped for a while. After going through more than $50,000 in savings, I'm now in a tougher position. I earn between $500 and $1,000 a month by reselling antiques I find and refurbish, including old instruments, electronics, and collectibles that I purchase on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. It's a huge drop from the roughly $5,500 a month I used to take home at Oracle. In addition to my mortgage, I have about $45,000 in student debt I need to pay off. I'm covering my mortgage and bills by dipping into savings and selling stocks when necessary. When my washer and dryer broke last year, I had to buy a new set on a payment plan - something I'd never done before. In the past, I would've just paid for it outright. My search has made me reflect on my career pivot In my early 30s, I decided to go back to school and pursue a bachelor's degree. I had spent most of my career in sales and customer service roles, but I didn't see a path to earning the kind of income I wanted. I was still living in a small apartment, and I wanted to own a home someday. When I started thinking seriously about a career change, tech was the obvious choice. My dad, mom, and brother all worked in the field, so it felt like I'd be...

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