Losing your job can hardly be called a delightful experience, however, nobody is safe from facing it at least once in a lifetime. To live through, you might need to find a shoulder to cry on for one or two evenings, dig up the list of your guilty pleasures and fulfill them, and finally get as much sleep as your body needs. After that, it’s time to collect yourself and start acting towards your new bright future.< In our article, you'll find a practical step-by-step guide on handling your life after being made redundant. We cover such topics as finance, mental health, and career-rebuilding strategies, so you're bound to find something helpful!

Table of Contents

Recognising the Signs of Impending Job Loss

Sometimes, the news about the layoff can hit like a bolt from the blue, but sometimes, some previous signs can indicate the upcoming disaster. They may be hard to acknowledge and accept; however, ignoring them isn’t an option either. Here are some of the signs that layoffs are awaiting around the corner.

Factors that an employee can’t have control over

The situations in which an employee is often helpless to resist a layoff include:

Restructuring or merger announcements. Companies resort to these decisions when something isn’t working well and crave substantial changes. Restructuring and mergers usually imply reducing employees due to consolidating roles, departments, or teams.
Overall performance issues. If the company has been communicating the issue of poor performance for a while but nothing is changing, the management may start looking for the reasons among the staff.
Loss of a major client or contract The loss of key clients can be a result of poorer service. If this theory is confirmed, the management will obviously try to solve this problem by firing poor performers and replacing them with more responsible employees.
Financial instability due to external factors. It’s what happened during the pandemic: if the economic world is crumbling, businesses will try to cut costs. Staff downsizing is one of the ways to do so.

Situations that could be addressed

Having a sincere face-to-face conversation with their superior might make a difference in such cases:

Workload reduction. Your position may be under threat if your workload is consistently diminishing, and your responsibilities are systematically reassigned.
Undisguised negativism. If your feedback has undergone abrupt changes to the negative side, and your boss demonstrates a lack of faith in your improvement, they may have already decided to fire you.
Lack of transparency. If you feel like you’re being constantly left aside or even excluded from some crucial work-related events, it may be connected to the fact that your participation has lost its sense of value, and you are about to be terminated.
Rumours. Regarding office gossip, always stick to the principle, ‘There is no smoke without fire.’ Don’t panic, just take it seriously and make your own investigation.

Immediate Steps to Take After Job Loss

The first days after your job loss are officially mourning days, as you might feel overwhelmed and stumped. It’s exactly the time for you to unearth your guilty pleasures list and cheer yourself up a little bit. However, you still have some other tasks to do to ensure your own well-being after losing your job.

Assessing Your Finances and Creating a Budget

Your job with a regular paycheck is gone but not the utility bills. Consider requesting statutory redundancy pay, pay in lieu of notice, or holiday pay from your former employer. Whether you want to continue in your previous role or switch career paths, it can take quite a bit of time before you start making money again.

Depending on your plans, do a rigorous planning of your finances for the next 2-3 months. If you feel like you need professional assistance, you can ask the Money Advice Service for help. They provide government-sponsored financial guidance on the issues related to money and debt to members of the public.

Exploring Unemployment Benefits in the UK

Besides financial help from your former employer, don’t neglect the financial assistance opportunities that the government provides to unemployed people in the UK. There are two types of unemployment benefits a jobless person is eligible for:

Claim Universal Credit: A monthly payment to help people with low income or no income to cover living costs;
Claim ‘new style’ Job-seeker’s Allowance: For those who are actively looking for work. It’s reduced or even cancelled if a person stops looking for a job without a good reason. The amount of money depends on the age and can be checked via the benefits calculator on GOV.UK.

Solving the health insurance issue

When you leave your organisation, they usually stop paying for your private health insurance. If you can’t afford to pay for it on your own, you have no other alternative than returning to the public one. The medical services list is quite decent; you can learn more about public health insurance options on the official National Health Service website.

Strategies for Coping with Job Loss

As soon as you’re sure that your financial life is not at risk anymore, take care of your mental health. In the state of shock, our brain may block the reactions and emotions connected with the dismissal. However, it’s healthier to live through all your feelings so that you can let the situation go and move on towards new job opportunities.

Managing Stress and Mental Health

Job loss may well cause anger, deepen the sense of injustice, and trigger financial anxiety. Those are normal reactions to such a stressful change in your life, especially if you didn’t initiate it. To cope with the negative emotions and avoid mental health problems, consider seeking help from a therapist. Your health insurance plan may be covering this type of medical service, and your pocket won’t be hit much.

Seeking Support from Friends and Family

Besides the therapy, your nearest and dearest are the ones who can also help you cope with the unpleasant situation. Somebody may have experienced the same and can share their experience and advice on how they overcame difficulties. Even if you don’t want to discuss the issue, just spend more quality time with your family: a warm atmosphere and positive communication can also be healing.

Exploring Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment

Being a freelancer or an independent contractor no longer surprises anyone; why don’t you try to monetise your skills and talents without the help of third parties? Make a professional account on social media and start telling the world about yourself. Use your existing networking contacts to find out if anyone could need your service. You won’t lose anything if you try, however, who knows what it will eventually lead to?

Job Search Strategies in the UK Job Market

Whether you decide to continue your previous career path or pursue new career goals, there are some tips on how to do it most effectively.

Updating Your CV

Your CV is not just a paper with your previous experience, it’s a tool to help recruiters spot your potential. The CV-creation trends don’t stand still, and it’s vital to consider them when planning to look for a new job. If you just send a one-size-fits-all outdated CV, your effort will have zero effectiveness. We highly recommend checking out our article ‘Free CV templates by career experts’ to make your CV work for you.

Developing your Digital Presence

Is your LinkedIn profile employer-friendly? Does it contain all the relevant information about you as a specialist? Research what keywords recruiters in your target job area use and include them in your social media profiles – it will make you more visible and reachable for them.

Learning to Network

Sometimes, you just need to ask one question, and this question will lead you to people who can help you with your job search. And if you keep quiet, how are other people supposed to know that you’re a great specialist and that you need help? Talk to your family members, friends, and ex-colleagues, or just visit events dedicated to your industry and make new acquaintances there. There are more kind and responsive people than we might think.