From Loyalty to Layoffs: How Benedikt Oehmen Turned a Career Nightmare into a Mission to Help People Navigate Layoffs and Corporate Downsizing

Every day, it seems like you can’t escape news of layoffs, corporate downsizing, or restructuring.
Today’s guest, Benedikt Oehmen, has been directly impacted by it. Benedikt spent 17 years with Blizzard, a market leader in creating epic gaming experiences.
In today’s workplace, loyalty to employers—or even employers’ loyalty to employees—feels like a relic of the past. So, how was that experience for him? For the most part, it was positive and enjoyable. But then, things shifted. Hearts were broken. Hopes were shattered.
Now, Benedikt is turning that experience into something powerful. He’s built a full-time practice to help others navigate similar challenges of layoffs and downsizing, offering a shift in mindset and sharing the principles from his book, where he lays out his “Big Three” strategies for stepping out of the shadows and moving on—better, faster, and stronger.
Episode Breakdown:
2:53—From Physicist to Gamer at Blizzard
5:13—From 17 Years of Loyalty to Facing Layoffs: When Blizzard Prioritized Profit Over People
“I started with Blizzard in 2005, and by 2018, after 13 years, the focus had shifted from creating epic experiences for gamers to just making more money.”
13:51—Breaking Free from the Corporate Overlord: Coaching Passionate Geeks on Their Own Terms
“Bound to a corporate overlord who tells me what to do and where my priorities are. And all my efforts basically go towards making rich people even richer in a sense."
19:38—From Panic to Possibility: How to Flip Career Transitions into Exciting New Opportunities
24:21—Learning in Disguise: How the “Big Three” Turns Mistakes into Milestones
“Being kind to me is all about self-acceptance, embracing the good things in our life and not looking at what we think we are missing.”
29.38—From Five Minutes a Day to a Finished Book: How Tiny Steps Lead to Big Wins
35:47—From Kindness to Saving the World: An Elevator Pitch for a Life-Changing Book
(tiny.cc/Big-Three-Goodies) -- "the Art of Meaningful Change" is freely available for download
“It’s like a tabletop that we built ourselves with different aspects, and we choose how we want to play our game of life on top of that tabletop.”
39:37—Self-Compassion Isn’t Selfish: Why You Need to Put On Your Oxygen Mask First
“It is in a sense egotistical, but egotistical in service of helping others.”
43:54—Nuggets of Wisdom for Navigating Layoffs: From Setback to Bounce Back
“Be aware of that mindset. If you’re in the mindset of ‘this is the end of the world,’ then that’s where your reactions and thoughts will lead you.”

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Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Benedikt Oehmen

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