The one time in my career I got laid off was the day after I got married. I had taken the day off, got back in the office the next day, and was let go. I was close to finishing my PhD at the time, and had never made a secret to my employer that I was planning to move abroad after that, but the layoff still came as a bit of a shock to me.
That is a great point. Never show your hand. Letting an employer know that you are planning to leave often does not end well. Its hard when you have good, family like, relationships at the office. Best to keep major changes under wrap until you are fully committed.
I don't know. In this case, I ultimately suffered no material adversity at all (the company in question was a spinoff from the lab where I did my PhD, and my advisor simply wrangled some short term employment for me at the lab), and I would have hated for somebody with longer term perspectives at the company to lose their jobs over a misunderstanding.
Exactly, there are other things that might get you shown the door on the spot like considering leaving to start your own business.
Once had someone think I was going to compete with them and worried I was taking inside info to help myself. Showed up one day and one of the partners met me in the parking lot with a box full of my stuff. Funny how business can screw up friendships.
The kids have a meme for that now: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/027/763/07B...
The one time in my career I got laid off was the day after I got married. I had taken the day off, got back in the office the next day, and was let go. I was close to finishing my PhD at the time, and had never made a secret to my employer that I was planning to move abroad after that, but the layoff still came as a bit of a shock to me.