The psychology of redundancy

Psychologists say it is important to put a redundancy into perspective.

Psychologists say it is important to put a redundancy into perspective.

‘‘Many people have told me, retrenchments are happening everywhere, the state is in debt. But that doesn’t help while I lie next to my husband tossing and turning at night trying to consider his future and the rest of the family’s future as well. My husband doesn’t deserve to be treated like this. He is not ‘‘deadwood’’, he is not a lazy ‘‘pen pusher’’ but a good man who deserves some loyalty from his employer. Just as he has shown for the last 35 years.’’

So goes just one of the many thousands of personal stories of Queensland public servants who have been made redundant. Or are waiting to be made redundant. Or are told they are safe but are forced to watch their friends walk out the door for the last time.

The above quote comes from just one letter that has been sent to brisbanetimes.com.au about how the public service redundancies are affecting individual Queenslanders.

These stories give us a peek behind the statistics and into the psychology of redundancy, what someone goes through when they have lost their job.

According to psychologists there are a range of emotions attached to redundancy: anxiety, depression, embarrassment, irritability, inability to think clearly, ‘‘catastrophising’’ and even relief.

But despite the short term emotional effects, specialists emphasise it is important for people to keep their job loss in perspective.

Do not catastrophise

Psychologist Peter Doyle is the founder of Guidelight Psychology which has offices in the Gold Coast and Brisbane and has a focus on ‘‘navigating life’s dramas and puzzling moments’’.

Mr Doyle said one of the most important things was not to ‘‘traumatise’’ or ‘‘medicalise’’ redundancy and to remember it is just another life experience.

‘‘Yes it can be shocking and unsettling for somebody so they need to use change coping and adjustment strategies but it is no different to a range of significant changes that will happen in everyone’s life,’’ he said.

‘‘...even though not every employee will be made redundant, virtually every employee in the workplace will have some level of challenge, change and emotional during the course of their life.

‘‘It’s no different to parenting challenges, it’s no different to educational challenges as people go through university exam pressure and career choices, it’s no different to when people go through grieving and an adjustment to the loss of a loved one.’’

On an emotional level he said people could go through stages of fear, anger, irritation, inability to think clearly and ‘‘catastrophising’’

‘‘But those things can be managed, processed and new opportunities and choices will emerge,’’ he said.
People left behind in a workplace after redundancies have taken place do not escape the situation unscathed either.

‘‘There’s a sense of empathy and compassion, a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’, for others there is a heightened level of future anxiety, what if I’m next? And is this the beginning of the end?’’ Mr Doyle said.

‘‘Again, there’s some powerful common sense tools here. For instance, ‘is this the beginning of new possibilities? Or is this the end of old patterns that are no longer useful? Either way, even in crisis and adversity and sudden changes, those people who are not made redundant have a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow and still have a sense of empathy and compassion for the colleagues who are gone.’’

One of the most inappropriate things a colleague left behind can do is make their colleague’s departure a ‘‘monkey on their back’’ and according to Mr Doyle they have to remember it is not their responsibility to remedy their former colleague’s situation.

‘‘Some staff who are in employment whilst a colleague becomes redundant unnecessarily assume the worst so they start playing the ‘what if?’ game,’’ he said.

‘‘What if this happens to me? What if my mate who was made redundant doesn’t find a job? What if my good colleague slides into depression? What if the workload increases on us and I can’t cope?

‘‘That ‘what if?’ thinking doesn’t change anything, it just makes the individual unhappy.’’

‘‘We are sick at the thought of supporting our family as two unemployed parents’’

In another letter to brisbanetimes.com.au a public servant has told of the anger she feels as she and her husband, also a public servant, wait for the ‘‘callous’’ axe to fall.

‘‘I am watching him slip gradually into depression; he is talking with a little less logic, and is hopeless and powerless about his situation,’’ she wrote.

‘‘He is not sitting back doing nothing, he valiantly applies for jobs wherever he can, but it’s not a job seekers’ market to say the least.

‘‘We are sick at the thought of supporting our family as two unemployed parents. We have worked our whole lives and have never relied on welfare. ‘‘I called my husband at work last week, just to check in on him. His voice lacks something; he has sadness in his voice that is not usual. I am worried.’’

Organisational psychologist Jasmine Sliger, who has counselled countless people through redundancies both in the private and public sector, said some people who lose their job also feel like they have lost their position in life.

‘‘It can have harmful effects, not only psychologically but in terms of one’s attitude,’’ she said.

‘‘So the attitude is one of abandonment ‘‘the company has abandoned me after so many years’’, it also has a lot to do with your world view.

‘‘If you over identify with your job, like ‘‘this is the only job I have’’ then you may have a struggle because one of the things about being made redundant is you need to become a bit more flexible in the way you do things.’’

Ms Sliger said one of the best things people could do, if their redundancy pay out allowed for it, was to go on a holiday such as a week long break to ‘‘draw a line’’ beneath their time with the organisation and clear their heads.

She said a redundancy had the potential to not just harm someone’s self esteem but to harm their relationships too.

‘‘Some people are over-identified with their jobs but for some people it is an opportunity to start afresh in something new,’’ she said.

‘‘The biggest stress will be on family, it’s important not to lose hope and get depressed about the financial situation.’’

Ms Sliger said one of her focuses when counselling people who had been made redundant was helping put together a resume and talking about their ‘‘second life’’.

‘‘Some people are really concerned about money, really concerned, to an unrealistic end and so (your partner) can put undue pressure on,’’ she said.

‘‘It doesn’t have to be all negative though, it can also be a time where everyone rallies, and everyone starts helping out.’’

Does the Premier dream of sacked workers?

As for the people at the top, the Premier, the Minister, the Director-General, is there an mental process for them?

Are they too on an emotional rollercoaster as they watch their departments get smaller and smaller?

‘‘The people making the decision sometimes, to be honest, don’t care and some of them really do care,’’ Ms Sliger said.

‘‘...unfortunately I think there is some carelessness for people and also it depends if the redundancy is accompanied with career counselling, if people have a package so they can have access to a psychologist.

‘‘I hate to say this but some bosses actually don’t care, they’re just doing their job they say but some bosses actually do care and they’re really upset about the way an organisation has handled it.

‘‘...it’s interesting because the public service has traditionally been seen as safe, as the one place where you will always have your job.’’

Leave a Reply