Dear Bev: What Should I Expect If I’m Unexpectedly Laid Off?
This holiday season has brought an unwelcome surprise to unprecedented numbers of people in the media business – pink slips.If you’re among the unlucky, you’re probably going through some predictable emotions. Noted psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler Ross’s five stages of grief pretty much sum up the emotional roller coaster many of you may be riding right now.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. You may not experience them all and you may not experience them in rank order, but Ross says you can expect to experience at least two.
In my 12 years as a recruiter, I’ve talked to countless media executives that have lost jobs. I’d say denial and anger are the more common one-two punch with an overlay of depression.
Denial. Even with unemployment rates at an all time high and lay-offs occurring in every industry, we all can’t shake the “it won’t happen to me” delusion, until, of course, it happens. You’re crushed, left high and dry by the company you’ve been loyal to for years. Or maybe you were just unlucky enough to be part of the “last in/first out layoffs and it’s way too late to regret leaving that other job for a mere 15% to 20% salary boost. But the tears dry quickly as you move into phase two: Anger.
