Having been laid off a few times, I don't think can ever really prepare for it, any more than you can prepare for a sucking chest wound.

That being said, there is a reason why I'm not complaining about being underemployeed. I'm working for a company that does property management software, and I specialize in the affordable side of things. My only concern is that as an engineer my skills have a shelf life, but for right now, I'm in no danger. They tried outsourcing to India- my customers are often (and I'm quite serious here) illiterate and speaking English as a second or third langauge, so the added language barriers kinda blew up.