For the next couple of weeks we’re going to be talking about redundancy, how people deal with it, and what help there is available from anywhere and everywhere for people who have been made redundant.
I pulled the short straw out of the hat, so you’ve got me for a day or two - and I want to look at the emotional rather than the material effects of redundancy. I also want to hear from you about your experiences of redundancy, and what you think/thought and feel/felt about it, and what you believe are the best ways to deal with it.
I’ve been made redundant – actually more than once – and one of those occasions came at a really bad time. I’d recently lost my sister, and being made redundant just then was very much like being bereaved all over again. It was a serious loss, and I really felt shocked, and numb, and grieving and angry, and it happened - Oh joy! - at Christmas. My last working day that time around was the 23rd of December.
I think it didn’t help that no formal process of grieving accompanied the loss of my job, my colleagues, my income and my financial security. There were no comforting words, and no ceremonial parting; somebody said ‘Sorry, but we’re going to have to let you go’, and that was more or less it. The door closed Friday, I had nowhere to go Monday, the farewell party (and I think I was lucky to get one!) was grimmer than a genuine wake, and everything that had given structure to my life for five days of every week for three years (and had sometimes occupied my thoughts out of business hours) vanished.
I found that that absence of ceremony made it difficult for me to stay positive and motivated to accept the change and move on, and that it was far too easy for me to stay angry and keep grieving. The most difficult thing, though, was coping with the ‘structural void’ that not having a steady job left in my life.
I was lucky in having good friends and the opportunity to be ‘self-employed’ - but it was still an effort in the beginning not to slide into a cycle of getting up late, not bothering to dress for ‘business’, or trying to pass empty hours by watching too much television, or eating, drinking, or smoking too much.
My own experiences (and in particular that experience!) of being redundant have taught me that redundancy can put a serious dent in your confidence and self-esteem - and that imposing a new structure on your life from day one is vital when you suddenly find yourself ‘surplus’ to someone else’s requirements. And yes, there are a lot of ways of looking at that statement that don’t involve finding yourself without a job – but we won’t talk about that here and now!
Re-structuring your life takes self-discipline, self-motivation and a lot of determination – but it’s worth the trouble. You may find that you have unexpected strengths and abilities that you might never have known about had not circumstances forced them to surface.
Don’t forget – I want to hear from you about your own experiences. This is supposed to be a conversation, not a monologue!
I pulled the short straw out of the hat, so you’ve got me for a day or two - and I want to look at the emotional rather than the material effects of redundancy. I also want to hear from you about your experiences of redundancy, and what you think/thought and feel/felt about it, and what you believe are the best ways to deal with it.
I’ve been made redundant – actually more than once – and one of those occasions came at a really bad time. I’d recently lost my sister, and being made redundant just then was very much like being bereaved all over again. It was a serious loss, and I really felt shocked, and numb, and grieving and angry, and it happened - Oh joy! - at Christmas. My last working day that time around was the 23rd of December.
I think it didn’t help that no formal process of grieving accompanied the loss of my job, my colleagues, my income and my financial security. There were no comforting words, and no ceremonial parting; somebody said ‘Sorry, but we’re going to have to let you go’, and that was more or less it. The door closed Friday, I had nowhere to go Monday, the farewell party (and I think I was lucky to get one!) was grimmer than a genuine wake, and everything that had given structure to my life for five days of every week for three years (and had sometimes occupied my thoughts out of business hours) vanished.
I found that that absence of ceremony made it difficult for me to stay positive and motivated to accept the change and move on, and that it was far too easy for me to stay angry and keep grieving. The most difficult thing, though, was coping with the ‘structural void’ that not having a steady job left in my life.
I was lucky in having good friends and the opportunity to be ‘self-employed’ - but it was still an effort in the beginning not to slide into a cycle of getting up late, not bothering to dress for ‘business’, or trying to pass empty hours by watching too much television, or eating, drinking, or smoking too much.
My own experiences (and in particular that experience!) of being redundant have taught me that redundancy can put a serious dent in your confidence and self-esteem - and that imposing a new structure on your life from day one is vital when you suddenly find yourself ‘surplus’ to someone else’s requirements. And yes, there are a lot of ways of looking at that statement that don’t involve finding yourself without a job – but we won’t talk about that here and now!
Re-structuring your life takes self-discipline, self-motivation and a lot of determination – but it’s worth the trouble. You may find that you have unexpected strengths and abilities that you might never have known about had not circumstances forced them to surface.
Don’t forget – I want to hear from you about your own experiences. This is supposed to be a conversation, not a monologue!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave us some comments!
Talk to us folks!