Business

I moved to New York and was laid off eight months later. I am not alone in fear of it happening again.


I moved to New York for what many in my life considered a coveted opportunity in the world of journalism. I agreed. Within a few weeks in the summer of 2021, I packed up all my stuff and left the Midwest to meet my second cousin and her newlywed husband in their East Village apartment. I started my new gig and waited to secure my own spot.

I look back at old journal entries that describe when I started my new job as thrilling but overwhelmed, cutting edge but uncertain. I am extremely nervous about establishing myself in a new place, but look forward to meeting the team as we embark on what I think will be years of working together. It was my first full-time role after college, and I felt lucky to have gotten my foot in the door. I gave it all mine.

Eight months later, me and my team were suddenly let go.

It’s been seven months since I was laid off in April, and four months since I started a new job, but I still fear the next layoff. I have attributed my anxiety to generalized anxiety that I have dealt with for as long as I can remember, which has always occupied the passenger seat in my mind. I suspect it’s largely self-anxiety, but it’s also the nature of how we associate our overall identity and self-worth with our work. And losing a job – to put it simply – is a huge life change.

Research suggests that those who are laid off may face a higher risk of depression and anxiety and felt low self-esteem and higher negative self-esteem. Feeling associated with dismissal include loss of enjoyment, shame, and worthlessness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of depression is about three times higher for unemployed American youth than for employed youth. (CDC).

Darryl Rice, a professor of management at the Farmer Business School at the University of Miami in Ohio, focuses on behavioral ethics, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Luck. “In a grand scheme, the value you bring to the organization isn’t enough to warrant continued hiring.”

Many experts tell me that these early feelings can linger and manifest in many different ways even when you get a new job.

Charlie Trevor, academic director of the Center for Strategic Human Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin School of Business, said: “Fire victims learn through unpleasant experience that trust lies in loyalty. Employers’ beliefs may be false and optimism about job security may not be valid. “The psychological impact of layoffs seems to spill over into subsequent jobs. This leads to anxiety about the future. “

That’s true for me and Remina Nair, 28 years old living in London, who was fired in 2015. Even after subsequent opportunities, she still feels anxious, noting the feeling of being fired a times how easy.

“It always lingers in the back of [my] Nair, who writes about music and fashion, says. “Just saying an editor doesn’t like my writing, there’s a subconscious thing where I’m like that, does that mean they don’t want me? … Sometimes I get nervous if an email comes in, and then I’m like, ‘Am I about to be fired?’ “

In subsequent jobs, she did excessively well and described herself as being constantly in a state of “pathetic thinking” – trying to do everything to not get fired again. Nair eventually sought therapy years later to grapple with these anxieties and reframe her experience.

In fact, layoffs tend to happen for reasons that are beyond the employee’s control. I know that’s true for me.

And I felt fortunate to be fired and eight weeks later I found a new job that matched my interests and values. I feel most deeply for those in my group who have moved across the country with their young children — enrolled them in a new school for this opportunity — and have struggled more difficult to rotate.

However, I still fear that the last-minute urgent email will come again — summoning me into the room with my colleagues when we learn that higher power has cut our department and our jobs. will no longer be bright. I even joked with my editor that sometimes her “want to catch 10 minutes” Slack messages make my heart skip a beat.

Although I’m no longer naive to think that it can never happen again, the constant fear makes me angry. For weeks after being laid off and even starting a new job, I felt insecure, almost paranoid, that made me want to avoid settling into my role altogether. What will happen to my mental health if this happens again?

Many experts say that much of how you feel at work after being fired has to do with how you received the news of the layoff. Connie Wanberg, a professor in the department of work and organization at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, says whether you can afford severance or career advancement tools and issues related to notification. Even in a new job, the way you feel compassion and fairness when you’re fired can affect your view of the employer as a whole.

Either way, it’s hard not to initiate layoffs.

For many of us who have been laid off, our growing stress and anxiety is caused by a loss of trust, which feels like a contract that goes away overnight.

“This contract covers what people feel they owe to their owners and what they feel owes to them,” says Trevor. “We tend to modify contracts based on experience. Something as traumatic as a layoff is often seen as a breach of contract, forcing us to rethink the obligations of both workers and employers.”

When I received the news of my own layoff, I felt shock, and then a bit of loss, like something I cared about was taken from me before I could blink. I felt ashamed and embarrassed, like I had moved to New York, the supposed city of opportunity, and had failed. I know the layoff wasn’t my fault, but it’s hard not to think it’s my fault. This, along with the financial and emotional stress of losing a job, can be more severe for parents and carers and those who may not have a strong support system.

And while I’m just getting started in my career, my Type A personality allows me to feel a deeper connection between my work as a reflection of myself and my motivations.

Stephen Bowlby from Colorado Springs agrees and deeply regrets being “married to his job”. He devoted himself to television and film work for most of his career and recalls many times choosing it before his personal life, including his marriage. He admits to believing he is the leader, special, and irreplaceable in the workplace. He was let go.

The mental health impact of layoffs is compounded by the feeling of starting a new job and not having the same confidence as before.

“They could have worked there for a long time and really have a reputation and people know that they are strong contributors,” says Wanberg. “And then when you move on to a new job, you have to prove yourself again.”

When Bowlby was released, he experienced depression and later regrets; at first for failing to learn other skills that, in his opinion, could have prevented his dismissal from happening; and then, to tie his identity to his career.

He also brought those feelings of doubt into his future work.

“When will the other shoe fall off? How long will this last? And oh my god, am I about to get hit? … That feeling has never left me,” says Bowlby. It’s not that he’s performing differently, he added, but it’s just a constant annoying voice in his head. “The feeling of doom is coming to me ever since.”

Trevor’s research corroborate these fears. People are 56% more likely to quit any job after being fired for the first time – and 65% more likely to quit their first job after being fired. Each additional layoff in an occupation increases the chances of quitting a new job. Many people have to take jobs that don’t reflect their skill sets in the same way or even a low paycheck, which can lead to feelings of distress and unhappiness.

“The evidence is pretty clear that it’s the psychological impact of the previous layoff,” Trevor said. His article states: “The layoff culture in American business may begin to be seen as a problem for management, rather than simply a strategy whose costs are solely borne by the layoff victims. out”.

I’m not sure where to go from here. If we work hard, we expect confirmation and positive feedback. In fact, working hard isn’t enough to avoid getting fired, which can lead to feelings of emptiness and even anger. Should you work hard and not expect a return? Or simply find other ways to feel fulfilled so that if you lose your job, you don’t lose your life?

Only doing what you get paid to do and setting company boundaries can help — AKA give up quietly tendency to focus on not going above and beyond in an act of protecting mental health and sanity. Maybe we all need to take a break from being laid off before we’re supposed to start running again. Ultimately, we have no control over an organization’s decision to cut staff, which can be the part many of us struggle with the most. And maybe all I can do now is stress that the impact on mental health is real.

Talking about how layoffs affect you (which I did) can help break the stigma and shame associated with not having a job.

I’ve also found that getting to know co-workers can help re-establish a sense of security.

Ultimately, Nair told me that although it took many years, she finally realized her love of freelance work and probably wouldn’t have turned it around if it weren’t for the unexpected loss of her job. I am simply happy to write, something that ended with the loss of my job gave me a chance to find it again. And I can only hope others see the layoffs as not their fault.

But will I always dread those difficult emails? Maybe.



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