Redundancy isn't the end of the world
There is every chance that by the end of this year around 1 out of every 10 people of working age in the United Kingdom will be unemployed.
That’s a pretty depressing statistic. Every day we hear about another company going into administration or a major employer laying off thousands of staff. Underneath all that, not making the headlines, are the thousands of self-employed workers, contractors and small businesses struggling to keep their heads above water. Right across the board, whatever your industry, age, experience or skills, it seems everyone is feeling the wave of job insecurity sweeping the nation. If you are one of those unlucky enough to lose your job then I feel very sorry for you because your situation is totally hopeless, right? Wrong.
We certainly shouldn’t make light of the situation – losing your job can be a hugely painful and difficult experience as well as leaving people with some difficult practical and financial situations to deal with. But we mustn’t get sucked into thinking that losing your job is always an unmitigated disaster.
You are not your business card
It’s all too easy to do this if we take someone’s job as the primary indicator of someone’s identity. We very easily slip into this though don’t we? Think about the scene at a party - you head into the kitchen to grab a drink and bump into someone you’ve never met. You introduce yourself but once you’ve got past the names and your links to the host you’ve got to think of your follow up question, what’s it going to be? All too often we end up plumping for the not very exciting, ‘what do you do?’ Urgh!
We quickly look to pin someone’s identity to their job. We all do it; it’s a society wide thing. Now the problem for those who lose their jobs is that it can feel like someone has just stripped them of their identity – like all of a sudden they’re nobody. Of course this is nonsense but it’s easy for people to feel this way. If you’re out of work or worried about your job then please remember – you are not your business card!
Practical tips
Dealing with the emotional impact is often the hardest part of redundancy but there will always also be some practical things to consider, especially on the financial side of things. Here there are three key steps to remember:
• Get what you’re due when you go. If you’re being made redundant you have lots of rights to things like time off to look for alternative work, statutory redundancy pay and other contractual rights such as your notice. Make sure you understand the process and speak to your employer to get everything you’re owed.
• Draw up a budget. It’s not fun, but it is fundamental! You need to sit down, work out how much money you’re going to have when your income drops and work out how you’re going to get by and what you might need to cut back on until you’re back in work again.
• Claim your benefits. There’s no shame in a claim! The reason you pay your taxes whilst you’re in work is so you can get some support when you’re not. As well as things like Job Seekers Allowance you might also be able to get help with housing, council tax and other benefits while you’re out of work.
If you act quickly, stay positive and think practically the redundancy needn’t be a disaster, even if it’s never going to be a joy. You might even be able to use it as an opportunity to get some extra training or qualifications or as an opportunity to look into moving your career in a different direction; some people (though by no means all) end up looking back on redundancy as giving them just the shove they needed.
Help is available
If you are worried about your job then there are lots of organisations who exist to help, so do speak to someone about it. Credit Action has produced a new Redundancy Moneymanual covering all the areas touched on in this article. You can download the manual here completely free of charge.
Whatever you do, don’t despair. Redundancy is the end of a job; it’s not the end of the world.
Chris Tapp is the Director of Credit Action, a national money education charity.
Read this story of someone who went through redundancy twice and lived to tell the tale.
Written by Chris Tapp.
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