Having been laid off and no prospect of another gig in the near future, the single piece of advice I'd give is to get a very tight understanding and control of your finances. We have mostly been used to a fairly or even generous income with little thought on what it is spent on. Pair it to the bone to see what your minimum to exist is, then work up from there.
With regard to recency, I cannot praise the help that UK sim operators have offered unemployed pilots over the last year enough.