How Layoffs Are Losing Their Taboo

How Layoffs Are Losing Their Taboo

Traditionally, many workers have found it hard – even embarrassing – to share news of job loss. But that’s increasingly changing. Plus, why ‘overthinkers’ may be struggling with remote work.

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Why more people are coming forward about job loss

Many workers feel ashamed or devastated by losing a job – yet more people are sharing their uneasy news on social media, especially as layoffs increase in some sectors. Communities on platforms including LinkedIn are rallying to help those who are going through this tough period – and it’s helping shatter the taboos around job loss.

Not only can posting about layoffs help provide the emotional support many workers need during tough and even isolating times, but experts say going public about getting laid off can even be a “very strategic move”.

Read more from Bryan Lufkin on how layoffs are shedding their taboo.

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Why overthinkers struggle with remote work

Anyone can suffer under the isolation of remote work. Even for the least social people, spending workdays with only a webcam or messaging platform to contact people they once saw all the time can eventually take a toll. But this isolation can be particularly hard on one type of worker: the ‘overthinker’. These are individuals who tend to over-analyse events around and pertaining to them, and need reassurance that everything is OK.

Overthinking can happen in any environment that allows room for uncertainty, but experts say remote work can make overthinking tendencies worse, because the lack of face-to-face communication among colleagues increases ambiguity and uncertainty – factors that can trigger overthinking spirals. (What did that one-line email mean? Am I getting fired during that afternoon Zoom?)

Read more from Bryan Lufkin on the remote-work problem for overthinkers.

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Can you stay in a job for too long?

How do employers see workers who have stuck with the same jobs and companies for years – even decades? The answer is complicated.

Read more from Kate Morgan on how recruiters view workers who stay put.

More around the BBC:

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Images: Getty Images, Courtesy of Maddy Cross

Maureen Callahan

Senior Global Finance Paralegal at Dechert LLP

2 年

I was laid off from my job during the crash of 2009. My industry was ground zero for the crash so I didn't take it personally although it was still deeply painful and terrifying. I took the position that my new job was to find a job and my new office was my dining room table. I told everyone I knew that I was laid off. The result was that I had friends and colleagues calling me with tips on job openings. One of those tips panned out. Seven weeks later, I was employed with an increase in salary and excellent benefits in a related industry. Be bold. Mighty forces will come to your aid.

Latif Joaquim

Production Management

2 年

Help your poor one like O.Joaquim 'll appreciate.

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Diana Ps

???? People & Policy Strategist | Social Entrepreneur | Executive Leadership Coach

2 年

People are being more and more treated like they are disposable. I would invert this message and say that firing people has become so normalised that we have all been desensitised towards it specially during lockdown.

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I’ve been through multiple layoffs in my life and my experience is that people who are professional do not view layoffs negatively. We cannot control our circumstances 100% all the time, but we CAN choose the company we decide to keep during tough times. Yes there are people who laughed at me and put me down when I was unemployed. Simply don’t choose those people.

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