‘No one can help each other’: Family of six with three mortgages scrambles after simultaneous layoffs

Layoffs across the technology, fintech and aviation sectors continue to affect workers globally, with thousands of employees losing jobs over the past two years as companies cut costs, restructure operations and slow hiring. Against this backdrop, a Reddit post describing how an entire family lost their jobs at nearly the same time has gone viral online, drawing attention to the growing financial pressure many households are facing.

In the post, the user explained that both parents and all four siblings in the family are now unemployed and struggling to manage mortgages and living expenses. The writer said, “Everyone in our family has been laid off, and now we’re in a financial crisis. No one can find work.”

The post further read, “Both of our parents and all four of our siblings have been laid off. No one can help each other, and now we are all worried.”

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Tech, Fintech, and airline jobs lost

According to the post, two siblings had worked at separate FAANG companies before losing their jobs within the past year. The user said one sibling has remained unemployed for more than a year, while another was recently dismissed without severance pay. My sister and I worked at different FAANG companies, and we were both laid off within the last year or so,” the user wrote, adding, “My sister has struggled to find work in over a year now. I was recently laid off with no severance.”

The user also explained that another brother had worked in fintech before being laid off in August last year, while the youngest sister lost her job after the airline company she worked for shut down.

“Our other brother worked in fintech that laid him off in August of last year, and our youngest sister worked for an airline company that recently shut down,” the post read.

Mortgage pressure and financial struggles

The family’s financial problems have reportedly worsened because some members own homes with active mortgages.

The writer said temporary jobs in retail, food service, or ride-hailing would not provide enough income to cover monthly repayments.

“The sticky situation is that my brother and I have our own homes, and fast food, Uber, and retail will not cover our mortgages,” the poster explained in the post.

The two youngest siblings were forced to move back in with their parents after they could no longer afford rent. Although they managed to end their apartment leases, they have struggled to find work because the parents live in a rural town in South Carolina with limited employment opportunities.

“The youngest two had to move back home because they couldn’t afford their apartments and were able to break their lease and not renew,” the post stated.

The user also added that the siblings have been trying to support their parents financially, but jobs are difficult to find in the area.

“They have been trying to help our parents with the mortgage, but they cannot find work because our parents live in a very rural town in South Carolina with very scarce opportunities, he added. 

The user further explained that few industries in the area matched the family’s professional experience.

“Due to their experience, there is literally no industry present in our parents’ town, and you have to know somebody to get a retail job,” the post read.

Family debates which home to save

The post also reflected on the family’s financial background and how they believed stable corporate jobs would provide long-term security.

“We all grew up struggling, and we all worked extremely hard to get good jobs,” the individual wrote before adding, “I never imagined in 1 million years that we would all be f***ed at the same time.”

The family is now debating which property they should prioritise saving as financial pressure grows. According to the post, the parents want everyone to focus on paying off their home first because they believe it is closest to being cleared.

“The discussion in the family right now is which house to save,” the user wrote.

The writer added that the parents believe everyone should contribute towards saving their home first. “Our parents are thinking that because their house is almost paid off, everyone should hunker down and help them pay the mortgage off, especially since they’re behind.”

However, the individual argued that the mortgage was not actually close to being completed because the parents had struggled with repayments for years.

“The reality is our parents have struggled to pay for the mortgage so long that really it’s not almost paid off,” the post continued.

The parents reportedly hope that once one home is secured, the family can work together to save the remaining houses. The writer, however, questioned whether that would be realistic in the current job market.

“They believe if everyone can help them pay off the house, then we can start to work together to pay off the other sibling’s house and work as a family,” the individual wrote.

The user added that the situation has become increasingly stressful because no one has been able to secure stable work. “But that is not realistic, and everyone is just super frantic because no one can find work and there are like three mortgages amongst the family, and at this point it’s like someone is gonna lose their house.”

The post ended with the writer saying, “We just don’t know how to deal with this. Seeking any advice possible.”