This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with James Strawn, a 56-year-old former senior software quality engineer in Colorado, who worked at Adobe for 25 years before being laid off in June 2025. After a difficult job search, he landed on a completely new career path: being a school bus driver. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I had every intention of retiring from Adobe on my own terms, aiming for age 59 ½. I always pictured what I would say at my retirement event.
Adobe had other plans.
I worked at the company for 25 years
For the first eight years, I worked at the headquarters in San Jose. I was hired in 2000 as a contractor, and they made me a regular employee later that year. In 2008, the company let me work remotely, so I moved to the Colorado home that I’m still in.
It was a good job, one that I loved most of the time. I started on the Illustrator team, then moved to the Premiere team for over 20 years.
Adobe was always good to me — I have no complaints. The work could be frustrating, but I was able to do it. It was excellent to work in the tech industry remotely and to earn the pay I was getting.
Courtesy of James Strawn
My layoff caught me by surprise
One day last year, I got a calendar invite. When I joined, the person started reading the layoff script. I remember my face melting and being in disbelief.
I had a few weeks before my last official day on payroll, so I took a family vacation we already had planned.
When I came back, I spent a lot of time every day looking at internal positions, trying to reach out to people to call in favors, and getting the word out that I was looking.
August 1 was my last official day. With no job lined up, I lived off severance for a while. My job search during that time was very informal. At that point, I still thought, I’ll totally find a replacement role; this will be great.
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The job search became exhausting and humiliating
I applied for unemployment in September. The search became much more official and demanding and took up a lot more of my time. I did everything I could: I hired a coach. I took seminars. I redid my résumé, customizing it whenever I could.
I was looking at tech jobs that paid at least $100,000, as I’d been making over $150,000 at Adobe at the end, but as time went on, I lowered my desired pay.
I either heard nothing back or I’d hear, “This is great. We’ll get you an interview.” It would feel really promising — and then crickets.
It was by far the worst period of my life, career-wise. There were some nice things — I was spending more time with my family and sleeping in — but it was so demoralizing and difficult. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
I felt like a failure because, according to LinkedIn, it seemed like every other person I knew who’d been laid off had some fantastic job already, a few months later. I was like, What’s wrong with me? I still don’t know why.
It felt like a perfect storm. I’m old, so I have ageism working against me. The tech job market was especially competitive. The third piece of the storm is AI — filtering my résumé out before humans even see it and causing panic in the workplace.
I was trying to be positive, but it really felt like I was never going to get hired.
Unemployment benefits stopped
Once my unemployment checks ran out this past spring, I said, I’m not looking for tech jobs. This is going nowhere and just sucking my soul away.
I went to Costco to ask if they were hiring. I tried to apply to one of the fitness centers in my area, but it was crickets. Finally, my friend started working at the bus barn in the area, and said they’re looking for school bus drivers.
My initial reaction was, No way I’m doing that. But then I thought, it’s time to humble yourself, and it’s a good job. It’s steady, with a good schedule. It’s AI-resistant, and it could be fun.
Another friend who has worked there for years introduced me to the transportation manager and the primary trainer. We met and had a really good conversation. It was more personal than a tech interview, and the questions were simple, such as regarding how to show the kids that you care, not how big and fancy my projects were. They told me that they expected a one-year commitment to the job if they were going to train me.
The meeting ended with them asking whether I wanted to come back later for a bus ride-along.
The job is hot, loud, and exhausting
I got the job, which was a drastic pay cut from my Adobe earnings.
After the first ride-along, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. It was hot, loud, and exhausting. In tech, you’re always free to walk away from your work, unless you’re in a meeting or something. This was more in your face and overall physically and mentally exhausting.
I did two months of training, which included getting a commercial driver’s permit and license, a lot of on-the-road time, and student management training.
I had the summer off. My family had some savings that we were still living on, and then the school year began in August.
The stakes are much higher as a school bus driver
It was really hard for the first week and a half.
In tech, the biggest error that I could make is a bug getting out to a user; no one was going to get hurt.
As a bus driver, you have to be focused all the time, and get everything right when you do a train crossing or a student stop. Children’s lives are at stake, and there’s no room for error.
I had a couple of meetings with my supervisor and spoke honestly about how hard it was. But I just kept at it.
I’m feeling good now, and finally enjoying it despite some very difficult days. I have everything down to muscle memory — kids’ names and the route.
I drive a few hours in the mornings and a few hours in the afternoons, to and from the elementary, middle, and high schools.
I live in a beautiful area. I get to see the sunrise every morning, mountains, and tons of wildlife. The kids are usually pretty quiet and well-behaved in the mornings.
I still think about whether or not I could do this for one year or five years. But I’m enjoying it, and I don’t have any regrets. The supervisors and the bus drivers are all exceptional people, and they’ve been so encouraging.
Courtesy of James Strawn
The support I’ve gotten has been unbelievable
When unemployment ended, I went completely off social media. I just wanted to be done with it for a while. However, I decided to make a post about my new job.
The response was unbelievable. I’ve never gone viral or anything like that, and I wasn’t trying to. There’s an online community of people who were inspired by my story, and they’re trying to campaign on my behalf to get enough money donated to help me retire early. I set up a memecoin for people interested in supporting my family and me. I still have to make it until I’m at least 59 ½, when I can draw from my retirement without penalty.
Unless someone reaches out to me with some fantastic tech job, I’m not planning on going back. If I do decide to leave the bus barn before five years — that’s when I can get the full vesting for the Colorado state retirement fund — I’m certain I’d only look at other driving jobs.
Have you made a career pivot, or have you been job searching for a while? Reach out to this reporter to share at [email protected].
