Updated June 8, 2023
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Prepared For A Layoff
Layoffs are a common feature, and the news, like companies axing over 100 staff or employees, makes every employee feel frightened about losing a job. Even you might feel scared about losing your job anytime.
This indicates that layoffs suck, but given the unstable condition of markets and business, they are no longer a surprise. So it is better to prepare for a potential layoff than look for guaranteed job security.
You should take proper measures or steps to reduce the chances of getting laid off. Keeping this basic concept in mind, it is better to stay prepared for the likelihood of getting laid off.
Getting geared up for a potential layoff in the future is just like framing and preparing your own will. However, it is much more unproblematic to keep the entire task away and just think that you do not need it.
But it isn’t very comforting to find yourself jobless one fine day in the future, and then you will be more contended if you have planned a few easy things in life.
This article will briefly preview how to prepare for a potential layoff in the forthcoming days.
Are you getting the vibes of potential layoffs or facing the threat of losing your job? Be it the rumors doing the rounds – or if you have completely reliable information regarding restructuring in your organization, it is the right time to prepare for it.
This thought of losing your job can be true even if you feel that your job is completely safe. Things happen faster whenever any firm undergoes an acquisition, internal reorganization, or merger.
It can bring unexpected and very frequent alterations within the company. The best solution to handle such situations is to be prepared in case you are asked to leave the job.
In the following section, you can find some helpful and simple steps to prepare yourself for a sudden job loss. As the saying goes
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
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Step 1: Conserve Some Cash
You should save some cash, even a meager amount, while on the job. This money will be your emergency fund when you lose your job. If you haven’t thought about saving, then this is the right time to do so.
Just save whatever you can every month. According to the advice given by Dave Ramsay, the king of debt reduction, to a radio show caller, he should stop spending additional money on credit card bills rather should start stockpiling cash.
What’s the reason behind this advice? The unions might strike, and the caller might leave a job or be without pay for at least a month. Thus he will require enough money to sail through the regular expenses for a month or so.
If you weigh up the situations at the job, then considering the risk, it is suggested that you divert some money to savings immediately.
For some time, stop paying the extra amounts on debts and reduce spending wherever you can. However, it is not advisable to start contributing towards the retirement account.
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Step 2: Be Ready with Resume and References
It is although sad and painful, losing a job suddenly is hurting. Some employees have better intuitive power, while others cannot do so.
Thus, whenever a sudden layoff hits, you can be ready with an updated and brand-new resume to start the job hunt as soon as possible.
Always remember that you are making a re-entry into the market and will stand against those who are already unemployed or who have been out of work for months.
Take help from friends or consultants to prepare the new resume. They will also help analyze the resume and can also be solid references.
Search the network established with your past co-workers to find if anyone can be of help or if any other firm is hiring.
The best thing is to establish references and past connections. You will probably grab an exciting opportunity even before your requirement. Bingo, go for it!
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Step 3: Take Care of Unemployment Benefits
Due to the sudden layoff, if you get a nice severance package or benefits, do not start spending it on a vacation trip. Give yourself a week to decompress and start looking for a job.
This period is unpredictable. Before the severance package ends or runs out, set a deadline to fetch jobs. It can also take a few months or maybe a year.
Make sure you apply on time for unemployment benefits properly by taking the help of online submission or form filling if available, as it is quick and easy.
However, do not depend totally on unemployment benefits. If an employee is laid off involuntarily, they will qualify for state unemployment benefits.
But these benefits will not be equal to your monthly earnings. They will match a portion of your earnings, fulfilling your monthly or weekly needs.
The worst part is that unemployment benefits are taxable. So imagine if you are unemployed and cannot afford approximately 35 percent of each cheque as taxes. The amount you will owe after getting all the benefits would be very hefty.
So it is wise not to rely totally on the unemployment benefits received.
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Step 4: Create Branding Materials
Once you start networking with people after a layoff or apply for fresh job opportunities, everyone will ask for your resume. Create a strong brand about yourself with an effective LinkedIn Profile.
You may submit a cover letter for the desired job vacancy. Ensure you carry a hard copy of your resume in any interviews, and the online portfolio should be updated.
Take your time. When someone asks for your resume, being prepared will help avoid last-minute scrambling
Taking enough time to update the credentials when asked for a resume will create a poor brand image of you. While updating the resume, do a critical analysis of the entire portfolio and keep in mind a few points:
- Is my resume readable?
- Does it have a concise and entire career summary?
- Does it have bullet points indicating your education, work, technical skills, awards, etc.?
- Can you figure out as a layman your area of expertise?
- Have you checked it for grammatical or formatting mistakes?
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Step 5: Look Out for Warning Signs
Large businesses indicate some warning signs through public communication. Most publically traded firms inform their shareholders about profit issues or business downturns.
The best way to look for warning signs is by listening to the bad and good news. This will help ensure you do not miss out on bad news as you have been concentrating on the good messages.
Once you spot the bad news, think about- How will that news affect the area in which you work or your job? If you cannot translate it to your perspective, just take the help of your firm’s management.
Simply say, “Do Your Homework.” Once you get it clarified with people inside and outside your firm and collect various points of view, decide whether it is a warning sign.
It is tough to detect in the case of smaller firms or businesses. Listen carefully to communication messages even if the company is smaller and runs well.
For example, any activity needing money would be the first stopped or cut back in smaller organizations. So, although small firms do not display warning signs easily, you can easily detect them through smart observation.
There might be companies that do not give out any kind of warning signals for potential layoffs. I know some people who have been promoted or got raises in a week and have been laid off the next week.
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Step 6: Stay Away from Tussle
The relationships in the office might get uglier when the layoffs are around the corner. Even the stress levels of your co-workers would be at an all-time high, and even there might be speculations related to who will be the first to be laid off and who will stay.
You might get curious to involve in this kind of gossip. It is better to stay away from malicious or any kind of negative conversation.
Analyzing and talking about the upcoming layoffs will raise your anxiety levels. Moreover, keeping apart from co-workers is never in your best interest.
Just think that the co-worker you are hitting around through gossip columns might be the person you asked for a job reference the other day.
Lastly, you will divert your attention from your topmost priority (your job) if you participate in the gossip sessions or are worried about impending doom. So it is better to stay away from any dispute.
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Step 7: Make Everything Run Smooth with layoff
If there’s any time to prove your worthiness or to put your nose in a grindstone, then this is the right time. To alleviate the workplace’s stressful atmosphere, ensure everything around the office runs smoothly.
Ensures that your boss or immediate supervisor gets to know about it. Your work should be efficient as well as should get completed within the allocated deadline.
When your work is complete, take the initiative for the extra tasks. Mainly the ones which will make your boss’s life much better.
While working on this A-game, ensure it does not go unnoticed or without any acknowledgment. During regular meetings with your boss, ensure that your boss learns about all your new tasks.
For example, give him a brief outline regarding all the projects you have completed and undertaken recently or, if it is related to sales, the amount of money you have brought in for the organization.
This will help justify your salary to the immediate supervisor or your position to the higher management within the company. Do not be reluctant to blow your own trumpet, as it is the need of the hour.
The best way to keep the cycle running is to prove to the organization how profitable and beneficial you are to the company.
While deciding which employees to keep and which ones to part with, the companies consider many factors.
You cannot control all these factors. You can easily turn some factors to your benefit by preparing for the potential layoff and working on the relationships.
Through a combination of hard work with shining luck, you can easily retain your employment and sanity even during the layoff season.
Tough times don’t last forever, but tough people do.
Layoffs can be tougher, but stay calm and do not panic. By analyzing and preparing, you can increase the chances of not being laid off or making the best use of your work connections. Stay away from the rumors of layoffs. But be attentive to the warning signals.
