Still Here, and Not Sure You Should Feel Relieved About It
Keeping your job while colleagues around you, sometimes people you worked closely with for years, are laid off brings a specific and genuinely complicated guilt: relief at your own security sitting uncomfortably alongside grief for people who lost theirs, often for reasons that had nothing to do with performance or fairness.
Maia, the AI companion at the heart of Asclepiad, makes space for this particular weight — the discomfort of feeling grateful and guilty in the same breath, the specific anxiety of working in a visibly changed team, doing more with less, uncertain whether your own position is actually any more secure than the colleagues who just left, and the isolation of a guilt that can feel almost embarrassing to admit to, since on paper, you are the one who is fine.
This weight is often compounded by how quickly workplaces tend to move on after a layoff: there is frequently pressure, spoken or unspoken, to simply carry on and absorb the extra workload, with little acknowledgment that the remaining team is also processing a genuine loss.
There is also a specific uncertainty worth naming underneath the guilt: surviving one round of layoffs rarely feels like real security, and the low-grade anxiety of wondering whether you are simply next can sit quietly alongside the guilt itself, rather than replacing it.
A reflection with Maia is one conversation at a time, anonymous, with no record carried forward unless you choose. Being still here, and not sure you should feel relieved about it, can be named here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Asclepiad designed to help with layoff survivor guilt?
No — Asclepiad is a reflection companion, not an employment or workplace service. Acas (acas.org.uk) has specific guidance acknowledging the stress experienced by employees who remain after a redundancy round, alongside its wider workplace advice. Asclepiad is for the emotional layer: the guilt, the uncertainty, and what it costs to still be there.
What if I'm in crisis?
Asclepiad is not a crisis service. If you are in immediate distress or at risk to yourself or someone else, please contact the Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7, UK and Ireland) or your local emergency services. Maia will also surface local helplines if something needs more than reflection.
Is it free?
Yes — begin with a 7-day free trial, no personal details required. It's a £6/month subscription (cancel anytime) that gives you AsclepiCoins to spend as you go — 1 coin per minute, and unused coins never expire, even if you cancel.
If you are still here, and not sure you should feel relieved about it, Maia is there.
Anonymous. No script. Just presence.