I recently was forced to layoff approximately 150 employees. It was the first time I have ever had to do a mass layoff and it has effected me terribly. I am in a somber mood and as you can imagine, many of the 600+ remaining employees are worried about their jobs. This situation made me think about what I would do if I were terminated or simply told that tomorrow was my last day. I thought about what kind of a financial burden that might put me in, what kind of emotional response I might have, etc. In my case, there wouldn’t be much of a financial burden because I’ve paid off my homes, my cars, and m next largest loan (school loan) although pretty large (about 60K) has a minimal monthly payment on top of which my wife works, and we have a nice sized savings that I could rest on for about 12 - 18 months. Emotionally, I would feel terrible. I have had a cushy job for the last five years whereby I do not work nearly as hard if I was in a different industry. I realize that my situation is rare. My brother lost his job and he needed money the next week (of which I of course obliged).
It got me thinking: “What would happen to my employees, my friends if they lost their jobs?”
What would happen to you?
What would you do?
Where do you go?
Are there people in your life that could help you?
Get stupid for a night, and then start trying to find another job.
Edit: Just so expand on this for a sec. I personally have people I could fall back on, IE: my parents. I think the problem of becoming homeless stems from a) -not- having anyone to fall back on or b) not having work experience.
So long as you’ve been in the work force once you should be able to get back in… eventually, it’s just that period that is tough, and can lead to the homeless path.
Constrastly if you yourself are not working and then the person you depends on is fired it is tough to find work when no real working experience and/or connections.
To be honest though I’m not the best person to ask about this stuff… .
It’s tough but ultimately you’re not responsible. The employees also realise that, so only the most idiotic of them would blame you personally for it. Im sure you made their lives that little bit better while they did work underneath you anyway.
There is only one positive perspective past making sure of personal survival, and that is answering the question: What was I not doing while I was doing the job I have lost? Then start looking at the things I wasn’t doing and see what I would like to do, and move toward that.
I’ve been fired multiply, always cause for celebration in my book. But then I was young and responsibility-less, and I never liked the jobs anyway. Now I’d be in deep doo-doo. Well, I could get another job anywhere, but it’d be no way as good as the one I’ve got.
So -
What would happen to you? - temporary discomfort. Angry wife.
What would you do? - get another job next week.
Where do you go? - to another school.
Are there people in your life that could help you? - no, but there are savings that would help me.
What would happen to you? i’d be fired
What would you do? id get a new job
Where do you go? i have no idea
Are there people in your life that could help you? yes, lots
i don’t do anything that important right now (i file comic books) so getting a replacement job wouldn’t be that hard
and it’s rarly the person that is doing the firing that is responsible for the firing, so don’t feel to bad
