Job loss leads to loss of identity

A lot of social interaction revolves around our jobs.  When you meet someone for the first time it is more likely to be a question of finding out what they do, rather than the potentially close to the bone things like "Are you married?"  "Do you have kids?"

I am seeing the psychological trauma that the huge wave of redundancies is having on people's identity.  We all dream of having more leisure time, winning the lottery etc.  But even a payout of a year's salary and voluntary redundancy has a longer term negative impact on people once the euphoria has worn off.

As a people and career management specialist, the majority of my time is spent trying to initially understand how redundancy has affected an individual before than advising them on their next career move.

If a job involved a lot of socialising, redundancy can mean losing not only a daily structure but also a social life. High-level executives tend to be driven, strong-willed and highly critical of their own performance.  They define their self-worth by work and if you take away their job, their self-esteem goes too.

For women who have risen to senior positions losing a job may make them question the personal sacrifices they have made because to attain such seniority they may have had to work harder and give up more.

The behaivour that is consistent with all of these reactions is the euphoria/denial/anger/depression/acceptance phases of humans responding to change.  The Buddhists have a wonderful way of summarising it:  To change takes a minute, yet we spend most of our lives preparing for that change.

If you are affected by redundancy and would like some practical advice, contact Recrion www.recrion.co.uk or call Katherine on 01780 484910.

We are facilitating a government scheme to help people affected by redundancy by offering free advice and access to training.  Visit www.recrion.co.uk/free to see if you are eligible.