Talking Redundancy/Layoff

“You’re younger than me so you wouldn’t understand.”

Your friend is right but if he thinks being younger means you don’t have career worries, he’s got a short memory.

The conversation between you continued.

“I’m looking over my shoulder at all these people younger than me. How can I compete with that?”

A short silence fell while both your minds raced.

His question went unanswered.

[Walking & Talking - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here]

“I’ve been laid-off before but it's different this time. I just feel like my luck has run out.”

He finished talking.

You considered your reply.

You took a deep breath and started to speak, “...

How did you respond?

What would you have said to your friend in that conversation?

All the best for now,

Paul

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Previous posts on redundancy:

Norris's story: Redundancy/Layoff in a Team

More about redundancy and layoff

Redundancy: Is there a positive future?

Redundancy - A personal view

Alex's story - Redundancy/Layoff with a Positive Outcome

A Commuter's Tale

Tuesday morning. It’s dark and raining.

You walk to the train station avoiding the puddles. Your umbrella keeps you dry for the moment. The same umbrella will soon make you and the person beside you wet on the busy train.

“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” you say out loud. Thankfully, no-one is close enough to hear you.

Your job is OK. It’s a good company. Good people. You know what you’re doing.

“So what’s the problem?” you say to yourself. Still out loud but a little more quietly this time.

[Rain Tracks - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here]

The more you think about it (and you have thought about it a lot lately) you don’t hate your job. You just aren't one of those people who enjoy what they do.

You don’t envy the people who seem happy at work.

“They should be praised for proving it’s possible.” you think to yourself. Not speaking out loud this time.

“It’s up to me to figure out what’s missing. To understand what I want. Not just from my job but for the rest of my career too.” you quietly resolve to yourself.

You splash into the station and continue to think as you roll up your umbrella.

Your umbrella rolls up in a smooth, practised motion that reflects the many times you have done it before. It's a familiar, satisfying feeling.

“That’s the feeling I want from my job!” you speak out loud again. Louder this time.

The ticket collector hears you.

She smiles and you know that she wants the same feeling too.

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A bit of an experimental post today. I hope you like it!

All the best for now,

Paul