The stories about job loss have now become familiar and commonplace all over the world. Daily wage earners have lost their livelihoods as companies have retrenched, and businesses have shut down with no opening date in sight. Skilled laborers, petty shop owners, housekeeping staff, and roadside chaat vendors all left in the lurch. Even teachers, accountants, engineers, and physicians have been adversely affected. Not to mention the ‘lockdown generation’ waiting to enter the job markets.
Most of the world is grappling with increasing unemployment and searching for ways of handling unemployment stress to ward off the accompanied depression.
Unexpected job loss can be overwhelming and intimidating for anyone especially as world leaders are unable to predict when we will see that promising light at the end of the pandemic abyss.
The stark reality of disappearing jobs
- The United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO) has stated that one in six people aged 29 years of age have stopped working since the pandemic began. It has also stated that about 1.6 billion people in the working population, which constitutes half the informal economy, can expect hard times as working hours have been drastically reduced, adversely affecting business.
- India’s unemployment rate multiplied to 23.52 percent in April 2020 (121 million salaried jobs were lost) from 8.75 percent in March 2020 largely due to the lockdown. Since then, it has petered down to 6.67 percent in September 2020 with some level of recovery in place. However, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the condition of some professions deteriorated over time.
Effects of job loss
Hopelessness, dejection, loss of purpose, stress, and depression are some of the unfortunate outcomes. Some people pick up unhealthy habits like binge eating and drinking. It’s not hard to understand why. There is immense financial pressure as well as mental stress.
What can you do about it? Quite a lot. Here are some ideas on how to cope with unemployment stress and its accompanying depression.
How to deal with job loss
1. Accept & digest the situation
Don’t blame or shame yourself. Give yourself some time to let the tumult of emotions pass. Anger, fear, anxiety, bitterness, self-pity, a feeling of unfairness, and the ‘Why Me?’ lament.
Don’t stop these feelings from passing through you; at the same time, don’t stop them from making their natural exit either. We get stuck when we hold on to feelings. When we allow the event to sink in and digest, we open up space for newer ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Once the negativity passes, you can move on to the next phase – the action phase - What do I do now? This is a hopeful phase, and creativity and possibilities arise in this space.
2. Speak to a friend or mentor
Most of us clam up and freeze when we are distressed. You simply don’t feel like saying that you are unemployed. The situation seems to assume more reality when expressed. But, when you have given yourself some time, let your well-wishers and mentors know that you are now ‘available for work’. At the very least, you will get a different perspective of the situation and possibly even information about positions that may be open and suitable for you. Again, this means you are now ready to move on to a positive space - the possibility of getting new (and possibly better) employment.
3. Keep up your routine
Routine gives you a sense of purpose and calms the mind. When you had to get up for work every day, what was your schedule like? 7 AM jogs, 8 AM breakfast, 9 AM dressing up for work? Maintain it even when you don’t have a job to go to (or, a site to log in to). It will help you feel normal and keep you sane at a time when you are likely to feel a bit sensitive, and under the weather. Organized activity keeps you alert and confident. You will also be in the frame of mind to move past ‘becoming unemployed’ to ‘being employable’.
4. Make a plan to spend your day usefully
Just so you don’t feel like you are all dressed up with nowhere to go, make a plan for the day. Schedule in job searches, update your resume, take up some volunteering work, and spend some time with long-forgotten hobbies. Having something to do will help you feel useful and ward off overthinking and depression. In this positive state, you will find that good things come your way sooner - because you allowed them to.
5. Improve your skill set
Look at the situation as an opportunity to hone your life skills. Know that you can positively manage your life when you lose your job, you’re bigger than the situation.
The percentage of a formally-trained workforce in India is alarmingly low at 2.3 percent, while countries such as South Korea have 96 percent skilled workforce, according to the India Skill Report 2020. Skill development is the need of the hour.
- You now have time on your hand to re-evaluate your goals, and take stock of what you have and where you are. See if you are on the right track to accomplishing your goals.
- Assess what hard and soft skills you need to improve; you could also learn a new life skill, like taking up a community project that could showcase your creativity, leadership qualities, and interpersonal skills. Sign up for courses, and brush up on knowledge of your industry. All this will help build your profile, and you will feel confident to get back on the playing field armed with more than when you left.
Affirmative steps will help ward off unemployment depression.
6. Indulge in fun activities
While it would be better not to binge-watch Netflix and Amazon Prime right now, read books, listen to inspirational talks, and go for walks with friends (maintain social distancing, please!). It will go a long way towards maintaining mental health. In this happier frame of mind, you can take better control of your new situation.
7. Cut costs
Many unemployed people feel nervous that their bank account is now only seeing debits. This tends to make them rash and they end up taking lesser jobs in relation to their skillset.
Instead, try to reduce your expenses to the basics for a while. Set yourself some goals to enable the same level of savings as before. This will make you feel more confident about your ability to ride the rough wave of unemployment. Pump yourself up with the thought that it’s just till those credits appear again on your account.
8.Take some time out & meditate
Remember that what you feed inside of you, grows. So, if you focus on lack in your life, it will increase. If you focus on the abundance that always surrounds you, it too will increase. Meditation can help calm and center the mind, allowing you to connect with your inner self. This will propel you to a positive frame of mind.
Meditation is the only way you can transcend negative thoughts, and then positive thoughts will come spontaneously and automatically.
-Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
So, meditate twice a day – morning and evening - for 20 minutes. Positivity will seep into your life seamlessly. You will find yourself feeling more in control in an uncertain environment - the best gift you can give yourself in such times.
Remember that unemployment is part of the business cycle in a market economy. The best way to deal with unemployment is to look at it as life’s way of presenting an opportunity to you to take a better, possibly faster, route towards success.
Meditation can help you see calm in the chaos of getting laid off. Read about it here.
Try the online meditation & breath workshop to guide yourself towards a calmer and more productive space.
You can also call our Anxiety Helpline at 806 761 2338. Do reach out. We are available from 9 AM to 9 PM for you.
Written with inputs from Dr. Prema Seshadri, Faculty, The Art of Living
