A job layoff can have a huge impact on the stability of your life. Here are some tips on how to survive a job layoff.
There are a lot of things that can cause you to be laid off from your job. Certain uncontrollable factors within your company, industry, or the greater economy, all play a role in this. Getting laid off is scary. It can greatly affect the stability of your life. Here are some tips on how to survive a job layoff.
Take Some Time to Gather Yourself
Getting laid off from a job is a major event. It’s probably going to take you a little while before you get your head straight afterwards—especially if it was an unexpected layoff. It’s a good idea to take a bit of time to gather yourself following a layoff. You won’t be better off if you’re in an overly emotional mindset. Stepping back and letting things settle a bit will allow you to proceed with a clearer head.Â
Create a Hard Budget
It’s a good idea for all people to have a budget to tell them exactly where their money’s going each month. But budgeting becomes even more important when you find yourself in some form of financial hardship. Loss of income is the prime example of this. Here’s what you’ll need to do in order to build an effective budget:
- Total up all sources of income. You might have another way of bringing money in besides your previous job. Additionally, many people receive government assistance in the form of unemployment benefits when they get laid off. Figure out how much you’re going to be bringing in each month.
- Look at all your financial statements. This will include bank accounts, credit cards, investments, or anything else. Seeing where you currently stand financially will give you an idea of how much wiggle room you’ll have over the coming months while you’re trying to line up a new position. It’s not advisable for you to continue spending as you were beforehand, regardless of how much you have in savings. But having a bit of a cushion can give you some time to get back on your feet without having to go into total panic mode.
- Add up all expenses. You need to see an itemized list of all necessary and non-essential costs. This will help you determine the best places to cut things out of your budget in order to lower costs.
Negotiate Debt
A lot of people are already in a tricky financial spot before they get laid off from their job. People in the U.S. are carrying over $420 billion in credit card debt balances. This means they’re paying high interest on that debt, which only causes it to get bigger. Losing your main source of income can send you into a much worse place when it comes to credit card debt. You might want to consider debt negotiation if you find yourself in this scenario. Freedom Debt Relief is an organization that has worked with many people in similar places. They work with creditors to arrive at an agreement that will let you make more reasonable payments on owed money. People with greater debt issues might even qualify for their Consolidation Plus program to consolidate their debt after entering into the company’s debt relief program.
Plan Before You Get Laid Off
Sure, you can’t exactly plan for what you can’t expect, but you can plan for the unexpected. It’s wise to have some level of preparedness ahead of an emergency; which could include medical bills, vehicle breakdown or sudden unemployment. Dedicate some of your income to building an emergency fund which can hold over you and your family for three to nine months. Having some savings set aside can allow you to survive much longer when you lose your income.Â
Understand Your Benefits
Will you retain insurance through your former employer? How long will that last, and at what cost? How do you go about transferring any retirement accounts, or cashing out stock in the company? Will you receive a severance? When will you stop getting paid? These are all things you need to ask in order to get a clearer understanding of your situation. Talk to someone in HR about all the details of your layoff. Make sure you keep documentation in case there are discrepancies between what they say and what actually happens.
Find Part-Time Work
It’s not an ideal situation; but you might want to just get some form of part-time work in order to ensure you have income. This might be something like driving Uber or freelancing in your industry. Whatever it is, you shouldn’t write off getting a part-time job just because it’s not exactly what you want. Keeping your finances in good condition needs to be your top priority.
It’s extremely difficult to go through a layoff. This can lead people to times of great uncertainty—particularly if they have a family or other dependent. Keeping these ideas in mind can help you get through a tough layoff.
