Wealth Finance

Congratulations. You just survived your company’s third (or fourth, or 100th) round of layoffs. You’re still employed – one of the fortunate ones who gets to keep on working.

Welcome to the life of the Layoff Survivor.

The good news, of course, is obvious: The paychecks keep coming, and there is no need to conduct a lengthy and stressful job search. The downside to surviving a layoff, however, may not be as easy to spot.

As the laidoff workers clear out their things and head out the door to face their own uncertain futures, those who are left behind must now accept a new normal. In addition to feelings of guilt, the pain of saying goodbye to departing co-workers and friends, and the stress of not knowing if they will be next, they have one other newly mounting problem: Their colleagues have exited, but their workload has stuck around, and it is now the responsibility of the layoff survivors to get it all done.

Deal with your emotions

Interestingly, layoff survivors face levels of stress and difficulty that match, or even exceed, those of the unemployed. In the book “Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers” (Yale University Press, 2010), researchers embedded themselves within the Boeing corporation for a decade and studied the effects of layoffs on the survivors who were left to adapt, change, survive and endure a parade of new bosses (who were also just trying to save their own jobs).

The researchers found that certain stress indicators, like alcohol abuse, were much higher among those who remained employed. Binge drinking in particular was actually cut in half among those who lost jobs, compared to the survivors. Average depression scores were nearly twice as high for those who stayed with Boeing.

In other words, survivors need to focus on doing more than just surviving. If not, they risk being worse off than those who were let go.

Think before approaching the boss

One of the most common mistakes employees make when approaching the boss – and not just in a downsizing environment – is to think, “If I could just make the managers see what is happening, they will understand and do something about it.”

When it comes to layoffs and increased workloads, this is the absolute worst tactic. The boss is quite aware of what is happening. A reminder is not necessary. He or she has probably had to play executioner and make difficult layoff decisions. Managers at all levels are likely struggling with their own guilt – and their own fear of job loss.

Therefore, never approach the boss to dump the “How am I going to get all of this done” problem in their lap. Instead, bring up potential solutions, especially those that look at what unnecessary duties can be cut during lean times. If ever there was a time when the boss would be willing to listen to suggestions on how to cut out time-wasting tasks, it’s now.

Ride it out

Whether times are good or bad in the workplace, there is one constant that should always be kept in mind: Fortunes change. No boom time has ever lasted forever – and no difficult period of turbulence is permanent, either.

Hard times call for innovative solutions, which often means a willingness to let go of cherished routines and processes in favor of ones that work with far less people.

Trust in your ability to change, adapt and do what is necessary to thrive – whether you are the one let go or left behind.

Similar Posts:

• Is Market’s Plunge Reason to Buy or Bail? (By the Numbers)
• Would you pay $200,000 for a flight into space?
• Don Draper of TV’s ‘Mad Men’ would be a real-life work wash-out
• Newspaper Layoffs – Is it the Economy Or Technology?
• Mortgage Options for the Self-Employed