Your Last Paycheck

Your Last Paycheck™
Navigating Job Loss and Layoffs in the Age of AI

Roughly 40 million Americans lost their jobs through layoffs and discharges in the last 24 months (Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS; 2024 total and 2025 annualized through November). This may include some of the same people losing their jobs more than once.

That number does not include the additional ~78 million resignations reported separately by the Bureau of Labor Statistics over the same 24 month period – a category that also captures a large but uncounted number of “forced resignations.”

Job loss isn’t just losing a paycheck. It’s losing a rhythm, a role, a sense of identity, and – too often – your sense of safety.

In today’s world, people are being laid off through no fault of their own:

  • Entire departments replaced by automation and AI.
  • Companies are restructuring so fast that employees never see it coming.
  • Senior professionals are pushed out because their salary line is “too big,” even if their contribution isn’t.

It’s not unusual now for a job search to last six to twelve months or more.
Savings get drained. Confidence erodes. People start to question their worth.

Your Last Paycheck™ exists to keep that spiral from swallowing you.

Part One – Surviving the Shock and The Gap

The first half of the book is about what you do right now – in the first hours, days, and months after job loss.

You’ll find:

  • A step-by-step checklist for what to do before your access is shut off (documents, contacts, IP, benefits, references, LinkedIn strategy, and more).
  • How to stabilize your finances for a long search, not a short one.
  • Practical scripts for difficult conversations with family and friends.
  • How to handle the emotional crash: shame, fear, anger, numbness, and the “what do I tell people?” panic.
  • How to structure your days so you don’t drift, collapse, or grind yourself into exhaustion.

This section is written as if I’m sitting at your kitchen table the day after the layoff, helping you think calmly when calm is the last thing you feel.

Part Two – A Career Blueprint for the AI Economy

The second half of the book is not about “getting your old life back.”
It’s about designing a future-proofed career path in a world where AI is changing almost everything about work.

You’ll learn:

  • How to become AI-competent in your current profession so you’re on the right side of the disruption.
  • How to identify roles that are being augmented by AI rather than replaced by it.
  • A tour of 25+ AI-related roles that will shape the next decade – what they do, who they fit, and what the earning potential looks like.
  • How to think about retraining without burning years and tens of thousands of dollars on the wrong path.
  • How to rebuild your professional narrative so employers see your experience as an asset in the new landscape, not a relic of the old one.

This is not about chasing hype. It’s about crafting a resilient strategy.

Tools You’ll Find Inside

Throughout the book you’ll encounter:

  • Worksheets to map your financial runway and decision deadlines.
  • Templates for outreach emails and LinkedIn messages that don’t feel desperate or generic.
  • A “Red Flag” list for job postings and company cultures that will likely put you right back in danger.
  • A personal scoreboard for tracking real progress, not just “number of applications submitted.”

Who This Book Is For

Your Last Paycheck™ is for:

  • Anyone who has just been laid off or knows it might be coming.
  • Spouses and partners trying to support someone through job loss without losing themselves in the process.
  • Professionals who can see their industry shrinking and want to get ahead of the curve.
  • Career counselors, coaches, and HR professionals who need a resource to put in people’s hands when there’s bad news.

For Corporate Buyers: A Stabilizing Resource for Outplacement, Retention, and Humane Performance

Your Last Paycheck™ is not only for individual readers. It is also an unusually strong fit for organizations navigating layoffs, restructures, role eliminations, and AI-driven workforce change – especially companies that want to handle disruption without damaging trust.

When job loss hits, employees rarely need another pep talk. They need a practical sequence. They need clarity under stress. And they need tools that reduce panic-driven decisions and protect families from cascading financial and emotional damage.

This book works in corporate environments because it is structured, private, and action-oriented. It can be used in outplacement programs as a stabilizing guide for employees navigating identity shock and urgent financial triage. It can be used through EAP and wellbeing programs as a pragmatic resource that supports mental stability without forcing public vulnerability. It can also be used as a retention tool for high performers who are quietly burning out or beginning to disengage – helping them regain traction, rebuild confidence, and make grounded decisions instead of emotional exits.

Most importantly, it meets people where they are: the first hours, the first days, and the first months. That realism is what creates adoption. And adoption is what creates results.

A Glimpse of the Tone

This book will not tell you, “Everything happens for a reason,” or “Just stay positive.”

Instead, it will say:

“This is hard. It’s not your fault. Here’s how we protect what matters and build what comes next.”

Join the Your Last Paycheck™ Advance Reader Community (ARC)

The Advance Reader Community (ARC) is a small group of early readers who help strengthen the book before publication. ARC members read early drafts and provide real-world feedback so the final version is clearer, stronger, and more useful for the people who will rely on it during their own job loss or career reset.

Advance Reader Community (ARC) members:

  • Receive the early-access PDF
  • Offer practical, real-world feedback on what’s missing or unclear
  • Help refine the AI-career section so it’s as useful as possible
  • Receive the final ebook free on launch day
  • Can be acknowledged in the book if they wish

If you’ve lived through job loss – or you’re in it now – your perspective will make this book better for everyone who follows.

Join the Your Last Paycheck™ Advance Reader Community (ARC): FiveYearLife.com/ARC