Generally People Go Through 3 Phases When They Lose Their Job
i) Phase 1 - immediate (starts immediately after being informed about losing his/her job; usual reactions is shock and disbelief; sometimes feeling of optimism towards completing tasks at home, ie initially can resemble forced re-location; if difficult to find another job, anguish and shock can become acute)
ii) phase 2 - acknowledgment (acknowledging the reality of the situation as impact on personal work identity starts manifesting; meaning of being unemployed starts to 'sink in'; self-worth stagnates; if lack routine, disorientation can start; inter-family relationships deteriorate; increasingly desperate attempts to find work; hopelessness can increase if unable to find work)
iii) phase 3 - adjustment (as unemployment continues, work identity disappears; lower standard of living, with other family members becoming main financial contributors; contact with previous colleagues fades away; can feel inferior and subordinate; can develop psychometric symptoms and health deteriorates)
"...The effect of retrenchment on an employee influences his subjective quality of life, where the phenomenon is indicated by emotional well-being, satisfaction with life and general mental health..... Retrenchment causes severe negative psychological and physiological effects..."
R. J. Morabe as quoted by Ryk Croukamp, 2018
There are 3 dimensions of the cognitive process that you go through when dealing with trauma caused by job loss, ie
i) intensity (impact of losing a job has been described above; some even equated it to the experience of losing someone to death)
ii) reversibility (after repeated failures to find alternative employment, hopelessness can set in; hopelessness is generated by not finding a new job and/or lacking income to generate previous living standards;
"...Hopelessness also stems from the perception that their fate was irreversible..."
C. R. Leana et al as quoted by Ryk Croukamp, 2018
Other feelings include discouragement, pessimism and despair.
iii) causality (this is related to the assignment of blame, ie retrenched employee tends to blame management for what has happened, ie management incompetence, office politics, etc; governments can be blamed for not helping.)
NB Consequences of being retrenched are a lot more than merely the monetary income lost
Person-centred dynamics of retrenchment
(source: R. Volpe as quoted by Ryk Croukamp, 2018)
"...losing social support of friends and colleagues at work is one of the most distressing aspects of losing a job. Employees' sense of belonging is gone in this context, triggering a possibility of a loss in meaning. This applies as much to the departed employees as to those remaining behind. Such employees will also feel angry with management for having cause the retrenchment of their friends in the first place, or for mishandling the process and support for departing staff or speaking disparagingly about them..."
C. R. Leana et al as quoted by Ryk Croukamp, 2018
Some positives can come out of downsizing
- new challenges
- opportunity to grow
- better career opportunities as thinner layers of management
- more autonomy