Job Loss and Transition
Workers and their families can suffer significant psychological damage from job loss. Research offers many insights into these psychological problems, which can indicate approaches management might take to counteract these effects.
The multiple impacts of job loss:
Job loss can be a very stressful experience for both employees and their supervisors.
- The loss of a job results in a period of transition.
- Individual reactions to this transition process may vary considerably.
- Although many employees cope successfully with the transition process, some individuals react to the experience of job loss with moderate to severe emotional distress and may become temporarily overwhelmed.
Supervisors are in a key position to help their employees cope more effectively with job loss. The following guidelines may be particularly useful in this regard. And the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) offers counseling and referral services for managers and employees.
- Early intervention: If you have advance notice (i.e., by several weeks or months) that an employee(s) are going to be laid off, you can arrange for FSAP to provide one or more pre-transition sessions with them. This intervention enables the employees to learn and utilize coping strategies for the impending layoff. FSAP will provide individual and group sessions as necessary throughout the transition process.
- Short-notice intervention: When you only have a few weeks (or less) notice that employees will be laid off, it is critical to act quickly in order to maximize FSAP's ability to intervene.
- Contact FSAP as soon as possible to arrange for group and individual sessions.
- Identify those employees who may be more vulnerable to the stress of layoffs, and so at greater risk for a maladaptive response to impending job loss.
Common reactions to job loss:
- Sadness
- Anger
- Self-blame, blaming others
- Low morale
- Decreased productivity/motivation
- Stress and anxiety
- Uncertainty about the future
- Job identity crisis
- Denial, negotiation, resignation
Suggested ways for supervisors to facilitate employees' coping process:
- Provide constant open, and empathic communication to employees throughout the layoff process. This promotes trust and can reduce problems with morale and productivity.
- Communicate continuously with employees before, during, and after downsizing to the extent possible, both formally and informally. This can best be accomplished though the use of multiple media, i.g. staff meetings, newsletters, audio-visual aids, memos, e-mails, informal breakfast/coffee break meetings, one-to-one and group meetings.
- Provide updates with accurate information, which helps dispel rumors or inaccurate information.
- Communicate with survivors of job loss (those who keep their jobs), as these employees also feel the impact of their co-workers' layoff, i.g. increased uncertainty, survivor guilt, and/or changed work duties.
NOTE: The Supervisor's role in this identification process should be done only by direct observation of objective signs: work performance, attitudes, and verbal or non-verbal behavior.
In other words, do not attempt yourself to diagnose employees' emotional problems or to analyze their state of mind. The objective information you gather will be very useful for the consultation and referral process and can facilitate timely interventions.
Common indicators that may increase the risk of maladaptive reactions to job loss include, but are not limited, to:
- Current/recent and/or multiple psychosocial stressors (financial, personal, family, marital problems, the death of significant others
- Major medical illness
- History of substance abuse
- Limited social support systems
- How the employee has coped with stressful situations in the past