5 Tips To Become Unemployment Proof

I spent many years working in Taranaki.

One of the icons of the region is the beautiful but unforgiving mountain.

Tens of thousands of people climb it every year and make it back safe.

You head up there prepared, and you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Signs even warn you to head back if you don’t have everything you need.

If you live there you know this and you respect the mountain.

But just about every year I was there, I read about someone who went up there and got caught in the weather turning.

They needed help and often they needed rescuing.

Unfortunately, people die climbing that mountain.

As much as people can be prepared, the unexpected can happen and things don’t go the way those climbers intended.

In Scouts there is a saying to ‘’Be Prepared’’.

Now you and I might not be climbing mountains, but we are in unforgiving economic times.

The unemployment rate is currently 4.3% at the end of March 2024.

It is projected to rise to over 5%.

This means tens of thousands of Kiwi who could still lose their jobs.

You don’t want this to be you and I don’t either.

But chances are it will happen to someone we know in our wider circles.

I have already seen it happen in mine and this week I noticed more KTC followers mentioning redundancy.

Previously, we’ve looked at a lot of content on increasing our income and making ourselves recession proof.

A lot of those cross over into being ‘unemployment proof’.

But here are some more specific things you may want to think about.

Firstly, I want you to scenario plan losing your job or income tomorrow:

? Who do you call?

? What do you do?

? How do you react?

? What do you do for money?

I know this isn’t fun to think about, but we want to be as prepared as we can.

Sometimes thinking through the worst case scenario can be useful to see how we will react, what plans we have and how quickly we could implement them.

Now that you are through the uncomfortable mental torment of dealing with that, let’s look at some more practical steps we can all take to help us soften the fall.

1. Have cash set aside

Build an emergency fund that can cover at least three to six months of living expenses. Yes yes I know all good and well if you can do it and a lot of people can’t and, hopefully, you find new work sooner BUT imagine the pressure this would take off you? This financial buffer can give you peace of mind and the time needed to find new employment rather than rushing into ‘anything else’ or ‘the first thing that comes along’. If you don’t have cash set aside, take what you can get baby, your back is against the wall!

2. Have a back-up form of income you could pivot too (via skills) and scenario plan that

Remember the recent Money Mail on skills, skills, skills? Develop a secondary skill or side hustle that you can pivot to, if necessary. This could be freelance work, part-time gigs, or leveraging a hobby that can generate income. It might even just be knowing you can call an old boss and go back to another form of income. You don’t want to rely on one sole form of income generation for your lifetime. De-risk this with income generating skills.

3. Know your budget well

Be stupidly familiar with your monthly expenses. Know what you can get rid of IF you need to. Know what levers you can pull. Business owners have to master this and make tough decisions at times. No different for employee’s. Knowing where your money goes allows you to make quick adjustments if your income is suddenly reduced.

If you need to start, use my template in this folder. These are resources from Week 2 of Money Mail.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1djmETm-76k4gEwb9EupQ_Hx0x4BtGT0Y

The template is called: Financial Position. Honestly, it looks ugly, but I’ve used this from being in debt to stacking hundreds of thousands. Make a copy and make it your own. AND do it EVERY month. Trust me. Watch the video under ‘How To Use This Tool’

4. BEFORE YOU GET MADE UNEMPLOYED ask around work and see what else you could do to help / train up on to become more valuable.

Proactively ask your employer what additional skills or tasks you can take on. By making yourself more valuable and indispensable, you reduce the chances of being laid off. This is a gold nugget many people overlook.

5. Don’t give anyone a reason to let you go

If it’s tough out there at the moment, watch your mouth, attitude, start & finish times, entitlement & boundaries. Ensure you’re not giving anyone a reason to let you go. It’s so 1990’s apparently but being a reliable and positive presence at work can make a big difference. Sounds basic but basic works.

When you’re going up a dangerous mountain the weather can turn in a flash. The same thing can happen in your life and your career.

Maybe the Scouts are onto something with this ''be prepared'' motto.

This could help you avoid a downward spiral in other areas of your life due to the shock of job loss.

By thinking ahead and taking proactive action, you can make yourself more resilient to job loss.

Remember, being unemployment-proof isn't just about securing your current job; it's about being ready to adapt and fight on, no matter what comes your way.

Be bold,

Luke

P.s. You are one of?10,250+?recipients.?The KTC podcast had?65,000?downloads in May.?Feel free to share a lesson with?someone to help this reach more people. _____________________________________________________________________ Did you know:?The unemployment rate in New Zealand reached an all time high of?11.20% in the third quarter of 1991.

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