So You’ve Been Layered – Now What?

What to do when you feel like you’ve been demoted

Photo by Burst from Pexels

At the beginning of the 2020 lockdown, I was layered.

For the past year, I had worked directly under the CEO. But in April, a new VP was hired and he became my new boss. I went from having access to everything happening at the company to now having a filtered view through the new VP. I had moved one step further down the hierarchy. I’m supposed to be moving up, not down.

I was devastated.

Being layered means that the company has added a new role between you and your current boss. For example, if you’re a Manager and you work for a VP, being layered would mean that your VP hired a Director to work under them, and you now report to the Director. In terms of hierarchy, you’ve now moved one step lower — yet your role and responsibilities remain unchanged. So while you haven’t technically been demoted, it can certainly feel like you have been.

I work for a small, cutting-edge tech startup. At least 80% of our employees are on the engineering side, leaving the business team extremely lean.

As a relatively new MBA grad, working at this company has been an incredible opportunity for me to learn directly from the best: The CEO. While the company’s technology is not my passion per se, I have stayed here for the opportunity to learn from the CEO and to get my feet wet in all aspects of the business. From finance and marketing to product management and sales, I’ve been involved in it all. As a heavily career-driven person and (hopefully) a future entrepreneur, I was living the dream.

But I also knew that I didn’t belong.

Here I was, just 2 years out of school, a manager, working at the same hierarchical level as the VPs and C-suite, all of whom were 20+ years my senior.

Before joining as a VP, my new boss had been working for the company for several months as a consultant. Through this time, I had the opportunity to get to know him and his work quite well — and I really liked working with him! He’s incredibly smart, has a huge amount of experience, and his work style is very similar to my own.

Heck! Had you asked me where he would fit into the company, I likely would have layered myself to work under him!

So then why did it feel like the world was ending when I was layered?

I’m not an emotional person, but I spent the entire night crying.

I think a large part of it has to do with my personality type. As an INTJ, a huge sense of who I am and my own feelings of happiness and success are tied to my career accomplishments. I pride myself on being an incredibly hard worker — always seeking new challenges and taking on far bigger responsibilities than my paygrade. I’m also the epitome of imposter syndrome, constantly second-guessing my abilities.

The combination of tying so much of my self-worth to my work, combined with roaring impostor syndrome is likely why the change was so hard for me to come to terms with. And with the news having been delivered to me over a video call with HR, there was no opportunity for me to understand why this was happening.

I needed to know that this org change was not because I was failing to deliver.

I needed reassurance that I was not being demoted.

I needed to know that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and this was simply a decision made to enhance the leadership team.

Even though I knew this org change made a lot of sense logically, I still felt embarrassed and ashamed.

I dreaded having to tell my family and friends about being moved down the org chart— I couldn’t bear the thought of them thinking that I’d been demoted.

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in this story.

I’m still working for the same company today, and I’m happier in my role than ever. It may sound cheesy, but this org change has truly been a huge blessing in disguise.

My new boss is amazing. Looking back, I realize now that the CEO didn’t have the time to be the mentor that I really needed. I needed someone to bounce ideas off of, to debate important decisions, and to challenge me to think smarter. And I needed this step to happen before presenting the final proposal to the CEO.

The day after I was layered, I had a conversation with my old boss to find out why I had been layered. I felt vulnerable and struggled to hold back tears on the video call with the CEO. But on this call, I received all of the answers that I so badly needed.

I asked him why I was layered.

I asked him why I was layered under this VP and not another.

I asked him if my work quality or quantity had an impact on the decision.

It turns out that he felt the new VP would be able to provide the mentorship I needed to continue to thrive and grow in my career. He actually made the decision to layer me with my own success as the driver.

WOW.

Looking back, I may have overreacted… but just a little.

Being layered is often a turning point for many people in their careers. And it can be a catalyst for someone to leave a negative work environment. While my experience turned out to be a positive transition, being layered can also mean that your boss doesn’t feel like you’re pulling your weight, or that you’re not capable of growing into the newly created role. In that case, most people who’ve been layered will find a new job where they feel their value is better appreciated.

But how do you know if your experience of being layered is a positive or negative career event?

Here are 4 actions to take before you make a decision to stay or leave:

1. Ask your old boss why you’ve been layered. Request a meeting (in-person or on a video call) with them as soon as possible to prevent your mind from spinning.
2. Ask your old boss why this person was brought in to work above you. Do they have expertise in an area that you’re unfamiliar with? Will they be a good mentor for you? Have they thought about how this will affect your career goals?
3. Consider the size of the company. For growing companies, especially startups, being layered is inevitable and common practice. As a business grows, teams also need to grow, and they can’t just keep hiring at the bottom.
4. Give your new boss a chance. If their management style is great and they respect your work quality and responsibilities, this could be a great opportunity for you to learn from someone who’s been very successful. But if your new manager belittles you, considers you their assistant, or is a micromanager, it’s likely time to refresh your resume and start your job search.

Remember, being layered is not always a bad thing. It’s important to find the answers to all of the questions that are running through your mind as quickly as possible (trust me, letting my thoughts meddle overnight was a very bad idea). This will help you understand if the org change is going to be a positive or negative change for you.

If you too have been layered, I know what it’s like to feel as though you’ve been demoted. And I hope you find some comfort in knowing that being layered isn’t a death sentence.