Layoffs
are a very scary thing, whether you are a young single person or a married
parent of five, a general
manager or a brand new hourly employee. There are many things that
people have to worry about when it comes to the potential layoff. For starters,
yes, there are other jobs out there. But depending on where you are from and
how large of a city you are near, there may not be a lot of options and the
options that are there may be limited, especially if there are five hundred
other people who just got laid off suddenly looking for work. You could lose
your home, your car and find yourself bankrupt, all because of a layoff. If
this doesn't sound like a fun time to you, then you are going to want to make
sure that you are doing everything in your power to survive a layoff. Remember,
unless a company is completely closing their doors, there are still going to be
people left working for them. It is your job to make sure that you are one of those
people.
The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you are not panicking. When
people panic, they loose sight of what is really happening and they generally
end up digging their own grave. You will end up being a part of the office
gossip as more fear and speculation is spread around like wildfire. These are
things that the company does not appreciate happening. If you are caught being
a part of it, you will most likely not make it to the top of their list of the
people that get to survive the layoff. Also, when people start to panic, they
spend a lot less time concentrating on their actual job, which leads to
mistakes and oversights, which could cost them their job. You do not want this
to happen to you.
Now, even though you want to concentrate on your work and stay positive, you
also want to prepare for the worst, since you cannot predict what is going to
happen. When you hear rumor of potential layoffs, whether it comes from the
general manager or someone else, it is time to review your finances and get
everything in order. Even if the rumor proves false, getting all of your
finances in order has its own benefits. Make sure that you are saving what
money you can, cut back on the extra expenses and look over your insurance
benefits to see how long you will be able to keep them active after a layoff.
This might now be the time to continue to work on the development of your job
skills. This way, you will either show your current employer that you are
dedicated to your work and that you are going to be a very valuable asset or
you will be ready to start the job interview process after a layoff. Sure, you
could always get called back, but sometimes you can't wait that long and some
layoffs are permanent.
Make use of recruiters and make sure that you are networking. This way, you are
getting your name out there, you are learning about your various options and
you are setting yourself up in the best possible position should a layoff
actually take place. The more proactive you are, the more you will show the general manager that you
are worth keeping. If you know your value, so will the company you work for.
