How To Deal With Being Laid Off Due To COVID-19

How To Deal With Being Laid Off Due To COVID-19 How To Deal With Being Laid Off Due To COVID-198 min read Read ­ing Time: 7 min ­utesThe COVID-19 pan ­dem ­ic has affect ­ed an unusu ­al amount of indi ­vid ­u ­als around the world. It has influ ­enced every ­thing we have a ten ­den ­cy to take for grant ­ed â€" our loved ones, our mor ­tal ­i ­ty, and yes, even our jobs. Dur ­ing an eco ­nom ­ic down ­turn, one of the pri ­ma ­ry things com ­pa ­nies do to cut costs is â€" reduce their staff. The finan ­cial impact of COVID-19 is being felt glob ­al ­ly across dif ­fer ­ent indus ­tries. Many com ­pa ­nies and small busi ­ness ­es are forced to either close tem ­porar ­i ­ly or per ­ma ­nent ­ly. As a result, count ­less employ ­ees have been either laid off, fur ­loughed, or received a salary cut. Being laid off is nev ­er an easy thing to deal with. Espe ­cial ­ly dur ­ing a glob ­al cri ­sis, the par ­a ­lyz ­ing fear of the unknown tends to get the bet ­ter of us. But that is exact ­ly the kind of thing one should not give into. If you have been laid off from your com ­pa ­ny, keep in mind you are not in this alone. And as easy as it might be to hide under your cov ­ers away from the world â€" now is the time to be head ­strong and take con ­trol of things. Communicate With Your Employer The very first thing you need to be sure of is the com ­mu ­ni ­ca ­tion between you and your employ ­er. You need to under ­stand if you are being laid off or if you are being fur ­loughed. To some peo ­ple, there might not be much dif ­fer ­ence between the two. In either case, you are not get ­ting your salary. But there is one major dif ­fer ­ence â€" and that can help you deter ­mine your next course of steps. Being fur ­loughed means you are being sent on tem ­po ­rary unpaid leave from work. This means the com ­pa ­ny even ­tu ­al ­ly plans on hav ­ing you back on board as a salaried employ ­ee in the future. Being laid off, on the oth ­er hand, means a work ­er’s employ ­ment has been per ­ma ­nent ­ly ter ­mi ­nat ­ed from the com ­pa ­ny. Make sure you are both on the same page and there has been no mis ­com ­mu ­ni ­ca ­tion about whether you are being laid off or fur ­loughed. Whichev ­er the case might be, you need to ensure you have clar ­i ­ty about your employ ­ment sta ­tus before you start mak ­ing new plans and upcom ­ing goals. Manage Your Current Expenses For most peo ­ple, the biggest ques ­tion between the time they have been laid off till they find some ­thing new is â€" how to man ­age expens ­es? Sav ­ings can only take you so far â€" but it is worth some ­thing for sure. You need to fig ­ure out a way to do some cost-cut ­ting per ­son ­al ­ly. Hence, you must plan your short term bud ­get goals till the time you are back on your feet again. This is main ­ly in terms of man ­ag ­ing your dai ­ly and month ­ly expens ­es. Cre ­ate a list of all of your month ­ly as well as dai ­ly expens ­es. Be it for gro ­ceries, com ­mut ­ing, rent, bills, house help pay ­ment, month ­ly sub ­scrip ­tions, and so on. Now cir ­cle out all the expens ­es that you can min ­i ­mize or can do with ­out for a lit ­tle while. For instance, maybe you don’t need a sub ­scrip ­tion to Ama ­zon Prime, Net ­flix, Hulu, as well as Apple TV. Choose one and cross off the rest. Talk to your land ­lord about some relax ­ation in the rent. Make them under ­stand your sit ­u ­a ­tion. In fact, many states have request ­ed home ­own ­ers to pro ­vide rent relax ­ation for ten ­ants. If cre ­at ­ing bud ­gets and keep ­ing track of your expens ­es is not your forte, try using per ­son ­al finance apps that make it easy and man ­age ­able. Wal ­ly and Mint are some of the most effi ­cient apps that you can use as a begin ­ner. If you are not a fan of apps and pre ­fer a more man ­u ­al approach â€" you can try cre ­at ­ing a bud ­get spread ­sheet. Nerd ­wal ­let pro ­vides a pre-made bud ­get work ­sheet that you can use. Make A Game Plan Once you have had a moment or two to process the changes, it is time to sit down and make a game plan. This should include what you wish to achieve in terms of your career in the upcom ­ing times. Eval ­u ­ate your inter ­ests, skills, needs, as well as oth ­er pref ­er ­ences. Once you have fig ­ured out what you real ­ly want, the next steps will come more eas ­i ­ly. For instance, you want to find a new job â€" but do you want to make a change? Or do you want to look for a sim ­i ­lar role? If you wish to change your indus ­try, do you have all the skills and require ­ments need ­ed to make this change? Do you wish to relo ­cate? You need to fig ­ure out the answers to all such pos ­si ­ble ques ­tions. Also, try to stick to a sched ­ule even if you don’t have a full-time job at the moment. It is easy to let things go and binge-watch your favorite series till 4 AM â€" but keep ­ing on track of things will keep you more alert and ener ­gized. And if you want to make a game plan, you need to be alert. So get up on time every day as you nor ­mal ­ly would, take a show ­er, get dressed, have a good break ­fast, and then get on with what ­ev ­er plans you have made for the day. It could be as sim ­ple as updat ­ing your resume, or read ­ing a book, or cook ­ing some ­thing new. Always have things to look for ­ward to. Do Industry Research The impact of COVID-19 has been unprece ­dent ­ed and nobody knows what the future holds. So if it seems like ­ly that it will take a while before your indus ­try gets back to hir ­ing more peo ­ple, maybe you can find a tem ­po ­rary gig till then. The spread of this virus has had dis ­tinct effects on dis ­tinct indus ­tries. While on hand peo ­ple are los ­ing their jobs, on the oth ­er hand â€" there is a require ­ment for more peo ­ple in cer ­tain sec ­tors. Doing indus ­try research will help you find these oppor ­tu ­ni ­ties. Take some time out from your every ­day rou ­tine and con ­duct thor ­ough research to dis ­cov ­er which com ­pa ­nies are hir ­ing. That being said, if you are able to find oppor ­tu ­ni ­ties in your field â€" do not hes ­i ­tate in apply ­ing for them too. In fact, it is bet ­ter to keep your search on for your ide ­al role. You nev ­er know what you might come across unex ­pect ­ed ­ly. But for that, you have to put your ­self out there. Keep in mind that los ­ing your job does ­n’t say any ­thing about your abil ­i ­ties. This is just an unfor ­tu ­nate sit ­u ­a ­tion that affect ­ed the com ­pa ­ny’s eco ­nom ­ic con ­di ­tion. It does not mean you are not good at what you do. So, apply to a good num ­ber of jobs every day and remain patient. Improve Your Skills Now that you don’t have to com ­mute to work every day and the whole coun ­try is on lock ­down, take this as an oppor ­tu ­ni ­ty to learn new skills or pol ­ish exist ­ing ones. Don’t let your ­self get rusty just because you are at home. Make a list of skills that you picked up at your job and work on enhanc ­ing them fur ­ther. Or focus on the skill you still haven’t had a chance to learn but will ben ­e ­fit your career immense ­ly. You can even pick up a new hob ­by â€" learn how to play an instru ­ment, take online art class ­es, etc. There are hun ­dreds of resources avail ­able online where you can reg ­is ­ter and take free online cours ­es. These cours ­es include cre ­ative writ ­ing, graph ­ic design, ani ­ma ­tion, and thou ­sands of oth ­er options. Go for what suits your pro ­file the best, or what ­ev ­er you wish to learn. In fact, YouTube also serves as a help ­ful tool with video tuto ­ri ­als. You can use apps like Duolin ­go for learn ­ing a new lan ­guage with the help of fun activ ­i ­ties. You have to keep your brain active and not go into a slump. It is okay to have unpro ­duc ­tive days but don’t let it become a habit. Learn ­ing new skills will help you a great deal in find ­ing a bet ­ter offer than you orig ­i ­nal ­ly had. And even if you plan on switch ­ing indus ­tries, learn ­ing new skills is always a good addi ­tion to your resume. Plus it is an excel ­lent way to keep your ­self busy when you are in lock ­down. Keep A Check On Your Mental Health Being laid off is an over ­whelm ­ing expe ­ri ­ence for the best of us. And espe ­cial ­ly in these times, when you have to go into self-iso ­la ­tion, it is nec ­es ­sary to look after your ­self and care for your men ­tal health. Many peo ­ple are unable to keep a pos ­i ­tive out ­look about it and strug ­gle with their real ­i ­ty every day. Plan ­ning for an uncer ­tain future can only cause more stress. This is why you need to take out time for your ­self every day and do things that make you hap ­py. Whether it is doing yoga, drink ­ing tea in your bal ­cony, med ­i ­tat ­ing first thing in the morn ­ing, writ ­ing in your jour ­nal, or any oth ­er activ ­i ­ty you like to do in your “me” time. Make sure you take out time for it every day. Try using Head ­space for med ­i ­ta ­tion and stress release exer ­cis ­es. You can also use Mind ­Shift to help with anx ­i ­ety. Rely on your rela ­tion ­ships, call your par ­ents, friends, do group video calls. Nev ­er under ­es ­ti ­mate the pow ­er of a good con ­ver ­sa ­tion with a loved one â€" it can lift your mood like noth ­ing else. Final Words Being unem ­ployed is nev ­er easy, let alone dur ­ing a glob ­al cri ­sis. Once you have tak ­en a beat to process your new sit ­u ­a ­tion, use these tips to get back to rou ­tine and make things hap ­pen for your ­self. You might have lost your job but this is a chance to look for ­ward to find ­ing your foot ­ing in a new and bet ­ter posi ­tion. dealing with laid off due to covid19