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How to Be Ready to Lose Your Job
Land on your feet when you suspect bad news is looming
Last year, I lost my job when the owner of the website I worked for shuttered it over a union dispute. He had been threatening the shutdown for some time, and though we didn’t know for sure what was going to happen, the air in the office had been heavy for months with pre-layoff anxiety.
Staff jobs in journalism were shrinking long before the shutdown, and to me, the prospect of freelancing in perpetuity seemed untenable. As a single woman with no debt, dependents, or significant health issues, I was in better shape than most, but I still had to make rent.
If you’re in the workforce long enough, there’s a chance that, at some point, you’ll get fired or laid off.
There was also an emotional toll. My work made up a significant piece of my social life, and it was lonely not having my friends and co-workers around me on a regular basis. My job was tied intrinsically to my identity — it was jarring, to say the least, to no longer self-identify based on my occupation.
If you’re in the workforce long enough, there’s a chance that, at some point, you’ll get fired or laid off. “Things are not the way they were when our grandparents…
