Emotional Preparation for Job Loss and Career Change

Who knows how long they will be employed in these troubled times?

Should you prepare in case you lose your job?  There’s a book of Chinese curses.  One of the curses says, “May you live in interesting times.”  One interpretation of this curse is, “May you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life.” The clear implication is that “uninteresting times,” those of peace and tranquility, are more life-enhancing.

Well, we've got the curse.

There are probably more descriptive words for our times than “interesting,” but we won't print them here.

What's actually going on?
Initial thoughts are:

• No one really knows.
• Everyone thinks they know exactly what's going on.
• Everyone thinks they know exactly how to fix it.
• So far, no one's made a dent in it.
• It's only going to get worse.

My job … and yours

I still have mine but it's hanging on a very thin thread that could snap at any moment.
Is your job secure? Will you still be employed in a week or month or a year? Companies are cutting back. They call it by different names, such as enforced shedding of jobs and retrenching of staff.

Besides learning about Chinese curses, I’ve been learning about the emotions of job loss and career change.

The emotions of being fired

The emotions that are evoked in being fired are:

• Manager guilt.
• Employee "survivor guilt."
• Employee fear of "Am I next?"
• Loss of trust.
• Loss and grief.

Retrenchment involves a bereavement process. Do management and employees honor or even notice their "departed" colleagues? ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Emotional Preparation for Job Loss and Career Change"