Is Job Insecurity bothering you?

For a generation of India’s college graduates, a job in the technology industry was a passport to a successful life. Experience was considered super-valuable – the more experienced individuals had a queue of recruiters lined up to offer jobs at unheard-of salary hikes. Well paid techies received a lot of marriage proposals. Life was good.

Not so now. Ask anyone serving in any capacity and job insecurity will figure at the very top of the list of their concerns. Worse, this time, the more experienced staff members are the most worried: the fatter pay packets are making it difficult to get a job. It is one thing to have lost a job and be concerned about finding a new one – altogether a different thing to continue to have a job but be more worried that you might lose it soon. The focus of this article is on the latter category.

What to do

Control your emotions

The first thing to do when you are insecure about your job is to stop reacting with emotions. Control those emotions – before they control you. Often, brooding over job insecurity causes health challenges and low work focus, leading to poor work performance –the last thing you want to be known for is non-performance.

Uncertainty and ambiguity are the reasons why we fall prey to emotions. Knowing the facts eliminates uncertainty and doubts.

Get the facts right

Just because the broader industry is going through tough times or your best friend has lost her job doesn’t mean you will lose yours too. You need facts and data to reassure yourself. Talk to your manager or the right person in your organization who knows the real picture. Ask the facts

-         What are the organization’s focus areas?

-         What is the plan for your function? Your Role? Yourself?

-         How close are you to losing your role? And are there other options before your tenure ends?

Most managers will be surprisingly open about the organization and happy to help – if you are sincere in your approach. Such an open conversation is cathartic and will play a major role in keeping your emotions in check. You will get a clearer sense of whether you need to look out for options outside.

Keep your options open

If your analysis of facts shows that you are a misfit in your organization or you stand a realistic chance of losing your job, it is time to look out for options outside. After all, you have bills to pay and family to take care of. Clear your mind and get to work. Update your resume, use job portals, tap into your friends, attend job fairs and network with recruiters. Enroll for a course in the field that has opportunities - get yourself certified.

Always maintain a tight relationship with a few good industry-networked recruiters in your field. They are your first point contact whenever you need help. Over years, they will get to know you well and will be in a better position to find the appropriate role for you.

Ask your seniors for help too- no one wants to see you lose a job. They would rather help you find another one instead.

Stay clear of gossip

When emotions run high, facts take a backseat. Rumor-mongers and office loud-mouths – always the first to offer free advice - use this opportunity to spin stories of disaster befalling you and stir up emotions to heights. Often, rumor-mongers have a bigger role in increasing job insecurity than the actual situation at work or in the industry.

Avoid such people – if you cannot, stop listening to their gossip and free advice. Nothing free has value.

Develop the right perspective on jobs

Some people tend to identify themselves with their job completely.  Look up LinkedIn titles of individuals, it is a reflection of their job title. Realize that there is a lot more to your life than your job.

To reach Sydney from New York, you might have to switch vehicles like car, flight, bus, cruise and train. While you definitely enjoy each part of the ride, you don’t get so emotionally attached to the vehicle that you forget your destination. Likewise, a job is a vehicle to fulfill your purpose or dream. To reach your destination, you may have to change several vehicles many times over– some jobs serve the purpose of just taking you to your next opportunity. Don’t be so emotionally attached to a job that you forget where you are going or fail to notice when you are going in the wrong direction.

Such a perspective will go a long way in keeping you balanced through vicissitudes of life.

Realize that losing a job isn’t the end of the world

Read this excellent article that shows why job loss isn’t the end of the world.

What NOT to do when you feel insecure?

Spread rumors/Bad mouth your organization

Except non-profits, corporate organizations are setups that exist to fulfill their vision and generate returns for their shareholders. Market dynamics, customer losses, strategic priorities, competition and many other factors could be responsible for changing fortunes of an organization – leading to a staff cut. Organizations rarely enjoy cutting staff- they are usually forced into that situation.

Speaking ill of your organization or spreading rumors – while still serving in the organization – is perhaps the quickest way of damaging your professional reputation. Word gets around - even your most confidential discussions – and very likely will reach the top management, portraying you in poor light. Such poor professional ethics are likely to be bigger threat to your job than any organization challenge. Even if not a direct threat to your job, loose talk will lead to a loss of valuable opportunities in the future.  

Burn bridges with work colleagues

When insecure about job, don’t misunderstand  the intent of Human Resource (HR) professionals or your immediate managers. Recognize that they are merely doing their job – just like you. Organization decisions – especially those around job cuts  - are usually taken at the highest levels that you won’t have access to. Immediate managers and HR are mere fronts for execution of this decision – don’t confuse a messenger with a decision-maker. For most HR professionals and managers, asking someone to leave an organization is perhaps the least likable of their job responsibilities and one that emotionally drains them down too.

Getting upset with managers, HR/ finance or anyone you perceive as responsible for your job insecurity - and burning bridges with them - won’t help you achieve much. If anything, these are the very people that might be the first to help you. Secondly, you never know where your paths might cross again – reputations stick and you could lose a lot in life in the future with a wrongly timed outburst.

Recede into a shell

Insecurity of any kind is a miserable feeling. This is the time you need support - dont recede into a shell. Talk to your family and relatives – they can be unusually supportive if you are open. Channelize your energy into learning a new skill that may help you to be better prepared for upcoming opportunities.

Relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation and prayers do a world of good – and if these aren’t your routine, use the job-insecurity as an opportunity to cultivate some good habits.

Panic and take up any job that comes your way without checking

If you are indeed at the risk of losing a job, you need to find another one. Getting the right job takes time – allow it. Don’t rush and pick up any opportunity that comes your way – you might have just chosen the next insecure job. The last you want to do after joining a new organization is to start a job search afresh.  As many have discovered, grass is not always greener on the other side.

If you have comments or thoughts, please leave your comments in the box below. Please share the article with other people to help them better prepare to handle situations in life.

Raja Jamalamadaka is a thought-leader in the field of neurosciences and organzation culture. His primary area of research is the functioning of the brain and its links to leadership attributes like productivity, confidence, positivity, decision making and organization culture. He is a technology veteran, entrepreneur, mentor to startup founders, coach to senior industry executives and a board director. If you liked this article, you might like some of his earlier articles here:

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