Getting laid off might be the best way to start the year.
In 2025 nearly 250k tech jobs were impacted by layoffs (*via TrueUp), plus >5k people already in 2026.
But it doesn't have to be a disaster if you're facing an uncertain future. Take inspiration from these 8 opportunities you now have:
Delighted to become a Level Up Partner for games industry mental health awareness and advocacy charity @safeinourworld.org. After surviving my own burnout, menopause and ADHD, I'm just as passionate about de-stigmatising talk around wellbeing and inclusion, and can't wait to help. safeinourworld.org
We'll debug what career management means in 2026, help you escape the loop of meetings and inboxes to work out your long-term career roadmap (because shipping features ≠ shipping your best career), and build a framework to assess the current version of you versus the release you're aiming for.
Week 1 back: surfing that fresh install energy
Week 2: realising you're still on same old OS that was crashing before
Career feels like it's buffering while everyone else is upgrading? Time for more than just a restart. Let's clear the cache.
www.identityspark.net/events/careercraftingfeb26
Great testimonial from a career coaching client that reinforces the magic that can come when you find the right coach/client match.
Could WE be a match? Sign up for my FREE 'Pre-Year's Resolutions' career coaching workshop on 3 Dec to find out. Link in pinned post.
#NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth
As #NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth comes towards a close, there are still places left on my FREE career reflection and coaching workshop next week.
Make sure your career works for you and allows you to lean on your superpower values and skills.
Sign up now to work out your pre-year’s resolutions!
Reconnect with why you do what you do (or why maybe you shouldn’t!) and set meaningful goals for next year, ahead of everyone else.
Spaces are are limited to keep the group small and collaborative so sign up now or find out more at: www.identityspark.net/events/pre-y...
It's OK to spend time thinking about yourself this December instead of just others.
I’m running a free coaching workshop on 3 Dec to help you take stock of your job, reflect on your 2025 achievements, and properly plan your 'Pre-Year's Resolutions' for 2026.
#NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth
Whether you're applying for a job, placement, UCAS or further study, this is for you. Just £40 for a bespoke 1:1 coaching session with someone who's seen more students and applications in 35 years in business than she can shake a post-it note at.
Join here: www.identityspark.net/services
Great response to the 🧑🎓 Student Career Firelighter 👩🎓 coaching sessions I just launched. If you're a student aged 16+ who wants meaningful, constructive and actionable help to take your next step then get in touch.
#NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth
#students #studentcareers #careers #careercoaching
Great to catch up with @andrewbrazier.bsky.social at Warwickshire College. Ace to see they're continuing to deliver incredible, forward-thinking courses for games, esports & digital creative media students. A great option for anyone after a career in creative tech. #NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth
I'm offering career coaching for 16+ students who need more clarity, confidence, direction or self-awareness.
Prepping applications for UCAS, post-grad internships or full-time work, this could be the most important hour they spend getting ready.
Sign up now at www.identityspark.net/services
Do students know how great they are? And can they tell you?
Even with ace exam results and extra-curriculars, students can struggle to join dots into a clear path that they're excited by and can articulate.
The Student Career Firelighter is the answer! Just £40 for #NationalCareerDevelopmentMonth
Here's the original blog for anyone who missed it the first time round: gamerepublic.net/features/tak...
Great AMA chat this morning with the wonderful @seffers007.bsky.social via the Great Northern Games Discord. We did a deep dive on my recent blog, and the importance of understanding how we get in our own way when having business conversations. Thanks again for having me, Jamie!
The current climate's stressful and anxiety-inducing for 16-18 yr olds, navigating 6th Form, driving lessons, part-time jobs, university apps and more, but the thoughtful, reflective way my interviewees were open to improving their self-awareness gave me confidence they're headed for great things.
Teaching our young people that it's OK (in fact it's GREAT!) to reflect on our own self-worth, and then articulate that to someone else, is something that I'm incredibly passionate about.
I always get so much joy from helping to unlock that in teenagers and it's a privilege to have the opportunity.
The biggest thing our teenagers need is the ability to recognise and value their own strengths.
Spent the morning mock interviewing Y13s at my son's school. The most common theme was how few of them were able to give themselves credit for their strengths and values, if they recognised them at all.
Game Republic New Horizons entry badge and lanyard plus Natalie Griffith's Identity Spark Coaching business card
Mario and Mega-Man characters as pixel street art painted on the side of a building
Jamie Sefton at a podium opening the New Horizons conference while wearing an Indiana Jones hat
Joyous and energised time at last week's awesome inaugural @gamerepublic.bsky.social New Horizons event. Huge props to @seffers007.bsky.social & team for a thoughtful, engaging and positive couple of days, and for your ongoing support and encouragement. Looking forward to next year!
I'm heading to @gamerepublic.bsky.social New Horizons on Wednesday, for my first games event since Covid. My nerves about hitting the circuit again led me to realise that the most important networking conversations we ever have are the ones we have with ourselves. Check out my blog for more. <3
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Omg yes! Such an underrated movie. Hubby and I have been doing a linked-movie marathon since middle of Aug and I’ve just spent 15 mins looking for a link from last night’s (The Player) to Sneakers so we can watch tonight and keep the streak going. (David Strathairn & Mary McDonnell btw.)
Awesome stuff! I discovered this series last month (after loving some of your standalone stuff in the past, esp Redshirts) – I’ve been inhaling them since.m! Currently on Zoë’s Tale so give me a couple of weeks…! Good luck with the launch – ordering now to help your 1st week numbers. :-)
Proud to have joined @gamerepublic.bsky.social! Still inspired by founder @seffers007.bsky.social, GR’s such an important presence in the North of England. 💪
Look forward to seeing folks at GR’s New Horizons event next month too – LMK if you want to meet there. (Coaching discounts for GR members!)
Delighted to have earned a Merit in my Life Coaching Diploma this week, 9 months to the day since I started the course. If you’re a games, tech or creative pro and interested in compassionate, empowering coaching from someone who truly understands your sector and its challenges then do get in touch.
Ha! Would play!
Two people smiling and embracing while posing for a photograph, one using a wheelchair, at a sunny outdoor event.
It costs on average £2,000,000 a year to run SpecialEffect, providing free support and access to tech for physically disabled people all over the world.
Sign up to become a regular giver, and you’ll help support people like Shaz for the rest of his life! www.specialeffect.org.uk/news/your-re...
Ever notice how anti-DEI folks lift up some of the least qualified people, proving why DEI matters?
Obama went to Harvard and taught constitutional law at U Chicago; now we get a guy who can’t grasp high school economics. Yet we hear nonstop about diversity hires.
Seen in a Toronto Star headline.
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“You can’t have your cake and eat it too” is such a damn stupid phrase…I don’t want to own a cake for, like, display purposes. Is that a thing people want?? A /liability/??
No, I want to put it in my god damned mouth.