Layoffs tells the story of three people-a graphic designer, a computer instructor, and a middle manager-who report to work as usual one Monday morning only to find that they are caught in a layoff. In five minutes, Amber, a 33-year-old single parent, Tom, a 32-year-old harassed father of two, and Leigh, a 38-year-old career woman, lose not only their livelihood, but in the workaholic world of Washington, D.C., their very identities. Layoffs tells how these characters-each different, each compelling-work through the conflicts of finding new jobs and new identities in the marketplace of the late 1980s, when the world of work changed faster than the myths surrounding it. As topical as today's headlines, Layoffs recounts the struggles, the setbacks, and the eventual triumphs of the three main characters.