As I mentioned in my last post, I was laid off from my job as a librarian at Northwestern University in July, along with 200 other employees.
I’d like to take the opportunity to write about the costs of being laid off, from an employee perspective. Northwestern hadn’t discussed the possibility of layoffs after the Trump administration withheld federal funding, and I didn’t imagine I’d be laid off from a university without warning. The emotional costs are just as difficult as you’d expect, but the financial costs may not be as clear to those who haven’t gone through this experience.
My insurance coverage ended in September. I straight up wouldn’t have been able to afford COBRA to continue my job’s insurance policy; it would’ve cost me over $800 a month. Luckily, my spouse has been able to pick up the significant extra cost of insurance coverage for me.
A new insurer means new hassles in getting my prescriptions. A prior authorization request for the antidepressant that keeps me alive meant a week of being stuck in prescription drug limbo, calling my pharmacy, then the insurance company, then the prescriber, then back to the pharmacy, and the prescriber again, and the pharmacy again, and the prescriber again, and finally a last trip to the pharmacy. At last I was able to pick up my prescription! Unfortunately, my spouse’s insurance isn’t as good as what I had before, so my payment for 30 days of this drug is $383.96.
Adding to the financial stress is that I’m in an unusual situation, in that I live 500 miles apart from my spouse. That has its ups and downs. While I’d much prefer to live with him, we struggle with the two-body problem, in that it’s difficult to find two cataloging librarian jobs in the same city. I’ve lived in Chicago for three years now, and I’m not sure whether I should stay in Chicago and try to find a job here, or move back in with him in Minnesota until I find something. While I make a few hundred dollars each week through unemployment and my part-time adjunct job, it’s not enough to cover rent. But it would be a $2,500 penalty fee to break my lease, which isn’t up until May. Should I wait until I find a job that might pay my moving expenses? Moving once is expensive enough, but moving back to Minnesota and then to another state for a job would double the costs. The unknowns are maddening, and the combination of despair and uncertainty makes it hard to make decisions.
I’ve heard at other universities there was a crowdfunding effort to support those who’d been laid off. That didn’t happen for me or the other Northwestern employees I was laid off with. Everyone of good heart here in Chicago is discouraged and anxious about the relentless kidnapping of our immigrant neighbors off our streets. My experience is just one of the many people hurting because of political choices made by those with power. This is living in the U.S. in 2025, and there are more nightmares to come.
Writing about this very personal topic isn’t easy. I’d rather be writing about cataloging, or —hell, even writing about AI, which if you know my thoughts on AI, is really saying something. Honestly, I’d rather just lay low and not talk to anyone until I get a new job, although I’m sincerely worried that will take a long time. Some days I’d rather just disappear altogether. But I’m writing about it here, in this space, because I think layoffs are going to become a more prevalent experience for academic librarians. As always, we need to cultivate solidarity with each other to survive. If you’re reading this after going through something similar, now or in the future, I encourage you to reach out, I’d be happy to talk.