I've gone through four such periods in my career, but somehow managed to escape unscathed each time. This time I think I'm for the chop. Officially, the 'R' word has not been mentioned, but work in my patch has been drying up over the past couple of years and I've discovered today that my company has lost a large chunk of work they had left in Wales, so there will be even less to do.
I can't envisage any company paying people to stay at home doing very little for very long, so I think I'm becoming more and more surplus to requirements - which can mean only one thing. I'm bricking it because I'm 53. Where the hell am I going to find another job that pays £30k+ at 53 - in Wales. I was feeling happy yesterday as my late mum's house sale is finally going through and I will be able to pay off my debts at last. Now I'm worrying at the thought that I'm not actually going to have a small pot of money to do some nice things I've always wanted - visit a couple of places etc, but that I may end up having to use up all of my inheritance on surviving instead.
Who else has / is facing redundancy and how do / did you deal with the worry ?
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
Comments
Worrying though will make no difference to the outcome and is a waste of your energy. You need your energy to get the best outcome you can. If there are lots in the same boat get a good quality cv out there first, approach companies who have similar roles and sound them out don't wait for a vacancy.
I know its easy to say don't worry but it helps nothing.
I hope you either keep your job, or find something suitable, btw! It must be scary as.. Not been there, myself, but known plenty, coming from a coal and steel area. Remember coal and steel, anyone..?
I was made redundant three times in nine years, and currently earn £5ph less than I did in 1988.
I'm 53, have no savings, still have 10 years left on my mortgage, my parents have nothing and I have no real pension plan, but you know what? Fuck it, just learn to have a good time again.
When I had a 'proper' career I used to occasionally look at people doing what I regarded as menial jobs on a part time basis and wonder whether I could do something like that if my world came crashing down, and concluded that I couldn't.
I was so wrong, I have a stress free life pottering around for a few hours a week, do a few gigs, sell a few bits on eBay and am generally happier than I've ever been.
I set my sights a little lower in terms of toys, I have the coolest Royal Enfields instead of the coolest Harleys, I run Jet City amps instead of Marshall, but most important of all, I no longer lie awake at night worrying about losing it all, because I already have and you know what? It didn't hurt a bit.
I sincerely hope it doesn't happen to you, but I'd it does just mentally regroup and carry on, you're a resourceful man.
"When one door closes another one opens. I had a Vauxhall Astra like that once." - Alexei Sayle.
I wish I'd allowed myself to be happier when things around me were tough.
Being anxious and miserable didn't change anything, might even have made me harder to be around and thus more likely to be put on the list!
Good advice p90, and good luck and sympathy to anyone "at risk."
I think my age ( I got made redundant just before my 52nd birthday) didn’t help but I don’t know if it was really a hindrance or not to getting work. My brother in law got made redundant at 55, put on gardening leave and had another job to go to by the time his notice was up. He was quite stressed but just put that into looking for work. Had he been unsuccessful I suspect it might have made him quite ill, but he wasn’t and the redundancy money later got spent on cars.
Perhaps a bit in contrast to what has been said above one of the things that didn’t work for me was trying to get lower paid, hopefully less stressful, work. The problem with jobs that anyone can do is that anyone can apply for them and I really got nowhere with it. I did better applying for stuff I’m qualified to do ( well, not quite that simple but roughly speaking). I’m on a lower grade and less money now and no longer a manager but do I miss managing seventeen people and their constant whinging? No, I don’t at all. Actually, I’m amazed now that I stuck at it so long. Being made redundant meant I’ve had a financial buffer so on balance even though I was unemployed for a while I’m not financially worse off in the short term.
I was faced with the possibility of redundancy for quite a long time and although actually having it wasn’t great the good thing is that there is a point when you realise the worry of it happening has gone and you are just getting on with another chapter ( even if it’s the chapter titled Watching the Wright Stuff in your Underpants).
To pay the bills my wife went out doing cleaning jobs while the first thing I had to do was make something of the semi derelict house we had bought - the only thing we could afford. I discovered not only could I do a lot of the jobs I thought beyond me - plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying etc. but what terrific people a lot of tradesmen are. This was pre internet/youtube remember, there were none of these DIY vids about in those days, and I had to ask around for advice which almost without exception was given freely.
I did what @P90fool did for a while, did all sorts of odd jobs, and then started up a business, and my wife went in with a friend who wanted to do the same thing. For a while we lived like paupers, everything was ploughed back in, but it was all ours and now we're reaping the benefits. The main thing is I'm much happier than I would have been had I stuck in the same job for 40 years. The main issue at the outset was what I saw as a loss of dignity, but in retrospect that was a healthy process to go through as well.
It may sound a bit trite, but you really do have to look at this sort of thing as a positive, most people despair that they have no "transferable skills" and that they can't possibly live off less money than they were earning. Both these assumptions are untrue.
So, in the run up to Christmas, I was facing the inevitable redundancy at a time where recruitment pretty much dries up.
I work in London as an IT Manager and at the moment, I’ve still not got a new job having spent the last 2 months looking. I was officially made redundant on 4th January and got my final payment last week. I was with the company 5 years and they paid the minimum they could but I should be able to last a couple of months but then things start to get a bit twitchy. My partner earns good money however it’s still a massive worry going down to one salary when you’re used to 2.
Aside from the obvious cash flow issues, being made redundant has massively knocked my confidence. Much more than I expected it would. I guess you just need to try to not take it personally and crack on.
Searching for a new job in London seems to be pretty much a full time job in itself.
I wish anyone facing redundancy the best of luck finding a new job and hope you find something soon.
I have a grudging admiration to these “redundancy was the best thing that ever happened to me” stories, but for me, it sucked. Both times. Things are finally looking good for me now, but it was several years of watching my hard-earned savings depleted and general misery. Anybody experiencing this has my complete sympathy.
She's not terrified, surprisingly... but I am! If she loses hers I might have to go and get a real job instead of just pottering about fixing amps and being a part-time mail-order packing boy. The youngest kid goes to high school this summer too, so there's no *reason* I have to stay at home any more.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
if you would get a payout - how much, would it be a tax-free one?
Could you buy a house with that and your inheritance?
then what would your income need to be to maintain the same lifestyle?
While I looked for work I volunteered at a few charities and at a young offenders support organisation to keep myself busy and keep my self esteem up. Doing that really opened my eyes and when one of the charities offered me a job and a big pay cut I jumped at it. 8 years on and I'm still there and still enjoying it, more so than any other job I've had. My Mrs has had to up her hours a bit and we've cut back here and there but on the whole it's been really positive getting off the treadmill.
@EricTheWeary
My redundancy payout would almost certainly be the legal minimum - a quick fag-packet calculation puts it at around £10K.
No - my inheritance is pretty small - I'll end up with around £40K after I've paid off my debts. So £50k isn't going to get me much !
I don't have a 'lifestyle' as such. I don't buy anything, take 1 x week European package holiday a year and the rest goes on food, rent, council tax, utilities and debt repayment. Paying off my debt will make a big difference as I'm currently spending £350 a month paying that.
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."