Reactions to Job Loss

William Bridges has written many books about transition.  The first, Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Change, was an outgrown of transitions he was moving through in his own life and career.  His most recent book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, focuses organizational change, yet I see Bridges' message as very applicable to anyone going through the trauma of job loss.  Bridges contends that corporations often move through transition from the wrong end.  Companies announce a merger by sending up balloons and talking about a bright future, while for most of us impacted by a merger, there is anything but joy.

We sit with questions like...
Will I still have a job?
How will this change the way we operate?
Why do we have to make this change?

OR thoughts like...
Things were just fine the way they were.

All we deal with is change and more change.

The change itself is the merger or what may be dubbed a new beginning.  The change is the action.  The first phase of the transition process that springs from the change is generally about endings, not beginnings.  Companies need to help employees grapple with transition by acknowledging the endings.  Bridges' model moves from endings to a neutral phase, one that I envision as having a foot back in endings and a hand reaching out towards the ultimate phase of new beginnings.  It's a time for letting go, exploring what's now in place and how you fit into it, and then moving forward.  Transition may go pretty quickly, or may take a while, depending on whether or not it's acknowledged and how it's planned for and supported.

For me, the typical stages or reactions to job loss clearly relate to what Bridges writes about.

Typical stages often include... 

Sadness
This is often accompanied by fear and confusion.  You are losing your day to day structure and, for many of us, our work family, the people we often spend more time with than our actual family.  

Anger
How could they do this to me?  I've given everything to this company!  Anger is a phase you may pass through more than once.  I can still look back at my parting from one company and feel both angry and hurt by the way I was treated.  THE ONLY PERSON YOU HURT WITH ANGER IS YOURSELF.  If anger leaks into your actual job search, it will only serve to scare people away.  I'm not saying don't feel it.  I'm just cautioning not to let it seep out when you network or interview. 

Rejection (or denial)
This is especially true when there's a 'notice' period.  It's almost like you work harder at your job with an inner hope that they'll realize they can't function without you.  Once you've left your job, rejection or denial may surface in delaying your job search until severance or unemployment runs out. 

Acceptance 
This is the part where you take control.  While it may read like a cliche...
You don't have control over the decision to cut your job.  You do have control over how you react to  that decision.
 
And it is through taking control that I can add...
Hope

Again, just because you pass through a stage doesn't mean you won't revisit it.  The key is to acknowledge your feelings and keep moving forward.

So, like the Bridges model, it's moving from endings, acknowledging what you'll miss about your work situation, through that neutral stage into a place of acceptance, hope and new beginnings.

The message I want to convey through this post is to be kind to yourself.  This is a tough process to move through. Acknowledging what you're feeling is one step in successfully moving through this transition and charting the course towards your new beginning.