After a Pharma or Biotech Layoff: A 30-Day Plan

A layoff can rearrange your life in one short conversation. Your instinct may be to update the résumé and start applying right away. This guide helps you slow down just enough to make better decisions about what comes next.

It’s written specifically for pharma and biotech professionals in Medical Affairs, HEOR, Commercial, Market Access, Regulatory and beyond, who know this industry has its own dynamics.

What’s inside, week by week:

• First 72 hours: Stabilize. What to get in writing, what not to sign under pressure, and what not to take with you.

• Days 4–7: Estimate your financial runway, decide what’s worth investing in, and build an accomplishment inventory using Problem → Action → Influence → Outcome → Evidence.

• Days 8–14: Read the market before you enter it. A simple scan of 15–20 roles to see where demand is moving and where your experience fits.

• Days 15–21: Build a market story a real person can understand, including how to talk about the layoff.

• Days 22–30: Go to market with a weekly rhythm and a simple dashboard that tracks signals, not application counts.

Also included: a “What Not to Do” list and a 30-day check-in.

Thirty days is a framework, not a deadline for getting over a layoff. The goal is enough structure that fear doesn’t make every decision for you.

Written by Christine Ong, PharmD, founder of Talmedica. Free to share with colleagues who may need it.