The first and most important thing is to understand and firmly believe that it is not really about you. It’s not personal, it really isn’t, but it may be hard for you to accept at first.

This situation has arisen because your company is insecure, your owners/bosses/senior managers are not sure about the future of the company, they feel that the company is not strong within their market in the current global economic downturn. It could also have something to do with your salary: you cost too much, and your bosses think they can replace you by cutting your workload and adding it to other people’s tasks. But it’s not you – the person.

You are simply part of the consequences of a decision that your bosses have made. Your name will not have appeared for what you are. Bosses talk about roles, not names; they find it easier to fire people. It’s very impersonal, but people become the role they play at work. What is important to you is that you believe that it is not personal because it will be much more difficult for you to recover if you do not and it will not help you in the least.

You have not changed at all, you still have great abilities and valuable skills. In fact, you now have additional life experiences that bring with them even more abilities; now you know what it’s like to lose your job and that can help you in the future.

What should you do? First of all, don’t panic. You have to think hard and come up with a strategy to manage for the next few months. If you’re desperate, take any job you can get, right now, to earn some money and give yourself the time you need to think. Find a job that doesn’t mean you’re exhausted at the end of each day so exhausted that all you can do is fall asleep when you get home. It would help if the work is routine and not totally absorbing so you can keep thinking about other things.

This is truly a time of opportunity. You won’t think about it right now, but a lot of people who have been in this situation before you look back and say it was the best thing that ever happened to them, but that’s not easy to see right now.

What do you like? What do you want to do? Why have you been told that you were valued in previous jobs? What you WANT to do is the most important thing.

One strategy is to consider what you can offer other businesses and people directly affected by the recession.

We know a manager, G, whose company went bankrupt. He had been with them for 7 years. They told him on the 24th of a month that they would not pay him on the 28th and that there would be no more money from the company. They had no money and had huge debts. He arrived at work as usual at 8:30 am on the 24th and at 9:30 am they gave him the news. They asked him for his company cell phone and the keys to his company car and at 10 in the morning he was on a bus on his way to his house.

I was devastated and in a panic. His mortgage payments came out of his bank account on the 1st of every month and he had a wife at home taking care of his 10-month-old son.

He did everything he could to get him through the next month.

It was very difficult to ask for it, but he and his wife M asked their parents and relatives for help to pay the mortgage for the next 2 months. Between the two of them they got the money and his family will be returned as soon as possible.

Next, G and M sorted out all their unwanted/unnecessary/can’t do without items: baby gear, baby clothes, patio furniture, i-pod, bread maker, second TV, and a bunch of other stuff and sold on eBay. , which gave them instant cash, enough for food for 2 months if they ran low, and some money for their utility bills.

One mom suggested that I now give G, M and the baby the money she would have spent on her birthday and Christmas presents. G and M put sentimentality aside and accepted: the baby would never know that she had paid for a car for a combined Christmas and first birthday present. They asked the same thing of their other parents and of the relatives who used to buy them gifts. The family was happy to be able to help in a practical way that would not embarrass anyone.

G took a job driving 4 days a week and that covered the rest of the known expenses.

1 of the other 3 days a week, G babysitted while M worked at a local store. She helped M feel that she was contributing to her and got her out of the house and away from worrying about her for a day. G enjoyed her son and encouraged G to play and take care of her son.

The remaining 2 days of the week, G worked hard thinking about his future, doing a thorough job search, applying for jobs, and deciding what to do next.

Every night they would go for a walk as a family, just a half hour, to the park or around the block and deliberately talk about fun things and big things they were looking forward to: a vacation they would take in a couple of years when things were good, what what they would do for Christmas in 2 years when the baby was 3 years old.

You do what you have to do and you do it immediately. Don’t feel sorry for yourself for more than one day. It’s about survival. If you work at it, it won’t last long.

What emerged for G was the decision to go into business for himself and he has now been building his own company for 6 months. He works for clients who were disappointed when his original company went bankrupt. Those customers were left in the lurch and needed help: G stepped in. He had the knowledge, the experience and the contacts. Last month he had so much work that he had to hire an old coworker to help him keep up with the new job he was getting.

He’s working harder than ever, but it’s all for him and his family. Sometimes it’s hard for M and the baby, but for now G works from home and that has advantages: he sees his family a lot more. He has to be very strict with himself and not deviate from domestic things, but G and M are working together as a team to get through next year.