The laid-off low down: seven secrets for surviving job loss in a bad economy
By Dr. Richard Bayer
It’s no big secret: The economy stinks, the stock market is struggling, and businesses everywhere are taking drastic cost-cutting measures just to keep their doors open. And if you are one of the “costs” that have recently been cut—or if you just see the handwriting on the wall—you’re feeling America’s financial crisis in a very painful and personal way. It’s tempting to crawl under the covers and hide out until the crisis is over, but you simply don’t have that luxury. You’d better get busy preparing and executing your own layoff recovery plan.
No one enjoys looking for a job, even in the best of times—which these clearly aren’t . It’s a process fraught with stress, rejection, and a lot of tedious leg work. But with a smart strategy for handling your finances, managing your time, and executing your search, you can turn what could be a full-on disaster into merely a bump in the road. Approach the time immediately after you’ve been laid off with the same sense of purpose you felt with your job. Resist the urge to think of unemployment as the end of the world, no matter how upsetting it may be. Think of it, instead, as an opportunity to improve yourself and to make a fresh start. You can end up better off than you were before you got the ax.
The fundamental rules for surviving your job loss are simpler than you think. Read on for some tips to help you survive—and thrive—after the proverbial pink slip has been laid on your desk:
Negotiate the best possible severance package. (Hint: Don’t automatically go for the cash!) There are two keys to getting the best possible severance package. First, whether it’s the cash settlement or career coaching benefits, negotiate each item individually. This will give you more leverage. Second, decide what you want out of a severance package, without regard for the company’s policy. Many employees simply don’t know what they can ask for in their severance talks, but it pays to research this issue and give it some careful thought.
When you approach the severance issue, think of what will truly benefit you in the long term. Health insurance, for example, costs the company less than it would cost you. You can also ask for one year of career coaching and the right to select the coaching service. People often underestimate how much time it will take them to find a new job, so they accept cash for the entire settlement. The reality is the time in between jobs can be far less worrisome when your health insurance is covered and you have career coaching to help you stay positive and find a great new job. Cash may ease the pain in the short term, but it’s these other benefits that will set you up the best if you are searching for a job for a long period of time.
Don’t take it personally. Lay offs are usually the result of budget cuts and lack of business—and not a direct result of poor performance. Remember that lots of good people get downsized, and in today’s economy it’s happening more than ever. If you are the company’s most recent hire, or if your department is being cut out all together, your position can be in jeopardy regardless of how well you’ve done your job. But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you’re being laid off because your employer is having trouble in a tough economy—which doesn’t mean that you can’t still be a valuable employee to someone else.
