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- Major mergers are taking place in the technology industry. Last week, Meta laid off more than 11,000 workers.
- Fana Yohannes, a current Meta employee, took to Instagram to help those who lost their jobs.
- Here2Help, an account Yohannes started, connects unemployed workers with counselors and job guides.
When Meta laid off more than 11,000 workers last week, one worker had another job: helping colleagues who lost their jobs.
Fana Yohannes, a communications leader at Instagram, is behind the Instagram account for the leadership and network Here2Help.
He started the page in 2020 to connect new students and people who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 budget cuts with volunteers. At the time, the account helped people pitch to companies like TikTok and Spotify, as well as advertising and tech jobs, he said.
But when life returned for many people, Yohannes decided to take a break from managing the account.
“The account was dormant from 2021,” he said. “For next week.”
On the day that Meta laid off 13% of its employees, Yohannes posted on Instagram: “Here2Help is ending our hiatus to help those in need to fix job support now!” The post appeared on Instagram and was shared across LinkedIn. It now has nearly 3,600 followers.
Just weeks before Meta’s mass layoff, Twitter cut its workforce in half after Elon Musk took over the company.
“I checked with my former colleagues and friends on Twitter,” Yohannes said. “I asked ‘What do people want right now, especially on Twitter? A career guide? Are they reviewing? Advice?'”
Job’s mentors are the priority, and getting career or emotional support from friends is secondary, Yohannes said.
Here2Help is on Instagram.
Screenshot/Instagram/@Here2Help
Meta and Twitter workers aren’t the only ones out of a job. More than a dozen other major tech companies, including Snapchat and Amazon, have laid off workers in the second half of 2022 in response to the economic downturn and recession. This resulted in a competitive labor market while the overall market remained stagnant.
With Here2Help, a free service, Yohannes aims to eliminate that uncertainty with leadership, and finally, programs such as newsletters and other ways for people to connect in this “new era of remote jobs,” he said.
How Here2Help uses Instagram to ink leads
From job sharing to companies that are still hiring to help themselves, Yohannes is mobilizing community resources.
Currently, Here2Help’s main goals are to match unemployed workers with leads through Instagram Stories. Yohannes has also sent direct messages – from people who need help and those who want to help – to Here2Help Stories to use the random nature of the piece.
“I’m really inspired by the sneaker drop culture,” Yohannes said. “Comments were great because you only had 24 hours to do it. Whether you took a photo of the post or DMed someone — the Stories were gone, they were gone.”
Yohannes also uses a Google Form that Counselors can sign up and then match Here2Help students who are looking for support. Here2Help’s network of advisors includes people who hold jobs at companies like Meta, Apple, and Disney, as well as industries like media, fashion, and nonprofits.
As people take to social media to announce that the company has been rejected, Yohannes wants the Here2Help fund to be an effective call to action beyond just a message of support.
“On the floors [like] LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, you have to show in front that everything is fine, you have everything,” Yohannes said.
“We use Mark Zuckerberg’s internet for good,” the Here2Help page said in one of its recent posts.
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