Start an engineering search with the work the new hire will own. A layoff announcement gives company context, but it does not tell you which engineers fit your role or who is looking for work. Use it to focus your review, then assess each person independently.
Turn the job description into a concrete search
Separate requirements from preferences before opening profiles. For a backend role, requirements might include building production APIs, working with relational databases, and owning services after release. Experience with one particular framework may be a preference if the team can support a transition. Write down level, expected ownership, and working location as well as technologies. A long keyword list can obscure what the person actually needs to do.
Review scope alongside the title
Senior, staff, and lead titles can describe different responsibilities across companies. Look for the scale of projects, decisions the person owned, and how they worked with other teams. Infrastructure work, product delivery, and data platforms can overlap in titles while requiring different experience. A familiar employer or a matching title is a reason to read further, not a substitute for that review.
Example: a backend hiring brief
Hypothetical example: a startup needs a senior backend engineer to own a customer-facing API and improve reliability. The hiring team lists API design, SQL, and production incident experience as essential; a specific cloud platform is preferred. It reviews backend and platform profiles against those responsibilities, recording unanswered questions for a conversation. Someone who only shares the employer name with a layoff announcement is not assumed to have lost their job.
Confirm location and working arrangements
Compare the profile location with the actual role requirements. A person based near an office may still want remote work, and a remote role may have time-zone or country constraints. Confirm those details in conversation rather than treating a city or a remote label as an agreement. Keep separate searches when the roles have materially different working arrangements.
Make the first conversation about the work
Explain the role, the team, and the specific experience that made the introduction relevant. Ask whether the person would like to learn more. Do not open by asserting that they were laid off or are available immediately. If their current situation is unclear, leave that question open. Respect a decline and avoid repeatedly contacting someone who has said they are not interested.
Organize the review in MovTide
Use Layoffs for company-event context and compare relevant people with the role, seniority, skills, and location in your hiring brief. Open LinkedIn profiles for a current review. Keep unanswered questions for a conversation; you make the contact decision.