5 Ways to survive a lay-off.

Kenya Commercial Bank- KCB, recently announced that it will lay off hundreds of workers to help the company cut costs. Barclays Bank also did the same a few weeks ago. The bad thing is that once one company starts, it stretches through the whole industry. So, how do you survive a lay-off? Here are five ways to.

1. Have a Savings Plan or side investment.

Financial planners advice that one should have at lest six months worth of saving. This means that if you were not to earn anything in six months, your life, and those of your dependents, will still be fine. If you don’t have a savings plan, than a side business or hustle that brings in some income will help you a great deal. By being financially secure, you will be able to cope with the lay-off better, and avoid the kind of stress that accompanies a loss of income.

2. Have Identity outside the Office.

Many people who lose their jobs suddenly go into depression, not so much as they have lost their income, but because of a lose of their self esteem, a loss of their class and some power. A better question to ask you
is if you suddenly removed the job title from your name, would you still feel complete?

3. Tap into your networks.

In your job, if you haven’t cultivated any networks within the company, and in the industry, then you are sleeping on the job. Do you attend conferences, seminars and industry events? These are important places to establish contacts and networks, which may prove useful in job hunting.

4. Treat your work as a consultant.

The era when one stuck to one employer, and expected to retire from the same company are long gone. By all means, give your employer the time, skills input, and dedication, since that’s what you are paid to. However, go a step further, and view your job as selling your skill to the employer, and just as a consultant or contractor, your job could come to an end anytime. The time for loyalty has long gone, and just as a company would not hesitate to walk you off the lift, you should in the same vein be prepared to scour any opportunity that might come at a moments notice.

5. Stay Calm.

Once senior managers start uttering words like ‘restructuring’, ‘lay-offs’, and ‘redundancy’ in the company meetings, a shock wave goes through the employees, and many are in a panic mode. However, it is always important to remember that a lay-off doesn’t necessarily mean that your job performance is questionable. Sometimes, lay-offs even happen to the most hardworking of employees. A technology could come along and render your job obsolete, or your company could be bought off, reducing the structure of the company. There is a tendency for one to blame themselves after a lay-off, but sometimes, a lay-off could offer one an opportunity to start afresh, and utilize skills that one never knew he had before.  

Posted in: Banking Jobs Kenya,Career Advice