How to Cope with Redundancy: A 7 Step Guide

Facing redundancy can often be a very difficult time filled with uncertainty and a lot of anxiety. A redundancy is tough at the best of times – let alone during a global pandemic, so it’s important to process everything, dust yourself off, and with the right balance of support and planning, start making positive steps towards your next role.

Here are 7 tips to help you if you are dealing with redundancy:

1. Understand your rights

Understanding your legal rights legal is important when facing redundancy. Knowing how much redundancy pay you’re entitled too and how long your notice period is for example will help you regain some balance and give you clarity moving forward from the off.

This information should be readily available from your employer, however, The official Gov.uk website is also a great resource to find this information if you feel an impartial source is required or simply if you’d prefer to find this out in your own time.

2. Don’t take it personally

It’s vital to understand that there is always a logical and commercially driven decision behind making someone redundant. This decision is often a hard one to make for any business and as soon as you can process it wasn’t a personal one, the easier it will be to move forward positively.

This year alone, in the 3 months to September, 314,000 people in the UK were made redundant. The world is facing an unprecedented issue like never before – trust us when we say although it may feel like it, this wasn’t a personal decision.

3. Managing Money

Revising your usual budget will help to ease some of the financial pressures of redundancy – at least until you secure new employment.

Assess your lifestyle – are there any areas in which you feel you could perhaps cut back on? Little things like suspending your Netflix or Amazon Prime are great small changes to start with.

Switching bill providers, changing your mobile or broadband supplier are also great little changes that can ultimately go a long way during a testing time.

4. Time for change?

Sometimes in the long run redundancy can be considered a “good thing” – we of course say that with hesitation, as redundancy is of course far from good. But with that being said, it can present itself as a good opportunity to evaluate what it is you want from your career – giving you a chance to perhaps change your path if feelings of fatigue and being burnout arose when you left your last role.

Sit down and ask yourself – what do I want from my working life?

5. Be realistic

Entering the job market again can simultaneously be both exciting and daunting. In the wake of redundancy, it’s important to know your worth and make sure the future role you’ll be stepping into, whatever that may be, is right for you.

It might seem tempting to accept the first job offer that comes your way, but just make sure you aren’t compromising on your personal satisfaction. For example, If a job arises in a location that would triple your commute, ask yourself, is this going to affect me in the long term?

6. Call upon your network

It’s true when they say it’s not what you know but who you know. Reach out to your network and let them know you’re available and looking for opportunities. Or, if you’re considering a new career path altogether, start the process of building a new network.

Social media is a great place to start when it comes to this, particularly the business oriented platform LinkedIn. Sharing your expertise and industry related knowledge on a site like LinkedIn will get you seen by the right people in no time.

7. All systems go!

With that being said, it’s time to start the job hunt.

It’s important to have an up to date CV at the ready and to tailor your cover letter to each application you’re applying for.

If you are looking for a new permanent or temporary position – use our job search to look for opportunities in your area or contact your local branch.

If you’re looking for specific job hunting tips why not check out the catalogue of advice we’ve got on our Career Tools page from our very own recruitment specialists?