Surviving Unemployment
Dealing with the loss of employment has been likened to walking
through a minefield. The book Parting Company identifies the most
frequent emotions experienced as
anger, shame, fear, sadness, and self
-pity. Coping with these is difficult.
The author observes: “You’ve been
handed a difficult assignment—
determining your future. You haven’t asked for this assignment, you
probably don’t know how to proceed, and all of a sudden you may feel very much alone.” And explaining
their sudden dismissal to their family is one of the
most difficult problems the unemployed face.
However, there are some practical ways to deal
with the impact of downsizing. The first step is to
downsize your way of life immediately by planning
for and living a life-style that is simpler than what you
have been accustomed to in the past.
Here are some suggestions that may help you to
handle the situation, even if they do not solve it altogether. First, recognize that unexpected job loss is a
reality in these times. So regardless of your age and
experience, plan ahead for that possibility in the way
you live your life.
Second, be careful about taking on any large debt
for items that are not essential for sustenance and cov-
ering. Live within your means, and do not assume that
you can cover debts with anticipated income from
promotions or regular wage increases. The message of today’s
economy is that there may be no
long-term future to rely on.
Third, look for ways to simplify
your life and reduce existing financial commitments. This includes
shedding debts for items that are not
essential to a reasonably simple,
wholesome life-style.
Fourth, review your lifetime goals, spiritual and
secular, and update them. Then you can weigh all
decisions against your goals and assess the impact.
Finally, do not look longingly at the life-style of
others in your community who are living less frugally,
lest you begin to desire the things they have and be
lured into their way of life.
These are a few suggestions that may help you and
your family to avoid the snare of relying on uncertain
riches in a very uncertain world and to keep free of
many of the anxieties incurred by contemporary lifestyles.
Former investment banker Felix Rohatyn is quoted
as saying: “There is something fundamentally wrong
in our society when one man’s unemployment generates another man’s wealth.”
An Ancient Problem
Unemployment is an old problem. For centuries people have on occasion found themselves involuntarily without
work. Once the job was finished, tens of thousands of workers used in large construction projects then became
unemployed themselves—at least until they were absorbed elsewhere. In the meantime they led a rather precarious existence, to say the least.
During the Middle Ages, “even though a problem of unemployment in the modern sense did not yet