Episode 378 | Author: Emilie Aries

Recent headlines about Meta, Disney, and Amazon layoffs have led to a lot of uncertainty in the tech industry. Many folks are living in limbo wondering if they’re next on the list to receive a pink slip.

A recent survey from the APA found that 81% of Americans cite global uncertainty as a major source of stress. The psychological and emotional impact that comes with layoffs is huge and it’s important to know how to navigate that roller coaster of uncertainty.

Today, I want to share some practical strategies for managing that anxiety and stress - not necessarily how to deal with getting laid off, necessarily, but the overall worry that you might be next.

BE PROACTIVE

How can we manage and mitigate the impact of that stress? Be proactive.

Stress is your body telling you that you need to take action. In fact, stress can be very good in that way. For example, when you hear a loud noise or you see something that surprises you, your body pumps stress hormones through your entire system because it's trying to spur you into action to protect yourself.

I’ve found that it’s best to imagine what you would do if you did get laid off. I know that's a grim thought experiment, but I distinctly remember going through a similar period of uncertainty myself.

After months of shopping around my business plan for Bossed Up, I felt stuck, not sure of what to do next. A mentor of mine told me, “Emilie, it’s time to take an actual risk and make your move.” I was so paralyzed at that moment, I felt stuck, clinging to the safety of my day job and afraid to make the leap. Then she asked me, “Emilie, what would you do if you failed?”

I had to really answer that question for her and say, “Well, here's how I would rise again. Here's how I would brush myself off and try again. Here's what complete and utter failure would look like.”

And while it can feel like a depressing thought experiment, it's actually a very freeing one because fear is paralyzing in the abstract, but once it's concrete, you can actually get busy doing something about it.

So I want you to make a list: what are the first few things you would actually do if you did get laid off? For example, maybe your list would include:

Refresh my resume
Revisit my brag book
Reconnect with my network
Ask for informational interviews
Update my LinkedIn profile
Research the best job search resources out there

Consider this list your career's first aid kit and then put it away for a rainy day.

MANAGE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

The second thing to think about is managing your mental health.

It’s one thing to feel a little anxious, which is understandable in terms of fearing a layoff, but it's another thing to have a chronic anxiety disorder.

I talk about this when I speak on the differences between burnout, anxiety, and depression, but if you feel like your mental health is really impacting your basic functioning on a daily basis or even an hourly basis, that is a red flag that you have got to seek out professional support.

Don't underestimate the importance of getting your mental game on lock. I feel like everything else becomes possible when our mental health is in a good place, so don't get so busy polishing up your resume if your mental health is what's really calling for your attention.

STAY CONNECTED

Regardless of how mentally healthy you're feeling at the moment, don’t forget to stay connected.

Human connection is not an optional perk, it's a basic human need. And yet, even the most extroverted among us - myself included - withdraw when we’re feeling vulnerable.

I want to acknowledge that it makes sense and that it’s valid, but we cannot allow ourselves to become hermits when we're feeling at risk, both personally and professionally. It is important to keep isolation at bay and to reconnect and connect with anyone and everyone around us, to feel less alone.

That means talking to your colleagues about how they're feeling. That means talking to the stranger at the dog park about how their day is going. That means giving yourself permission to say, “Wow, I'm feeling really anxious and really disempowered right now. I need to - now more than ever - pick up the phone and call my bestie or call my loved ones,” because staying alone in your room watching Netflix s not going to help.

Even though it feels like there's this huge emotional hurdle to overcome, this is the time where human connection is needed. We need some eyeball-to-eyeball connection to feel grounded, to feel safe, and to feel whole.

REMIND YOURSELF: YOU HAVE MORE POWER THAN YOU KNOW

Finally, I want to leave you with this important reminder: you have power and choice at this moment. You have power and control over how you react.

Remind yourself that you've been here before. This is not the first challenge you've navigated. This is not the first surprise in your life. This is not the first unforeseeable change and turn of events that has knocked you off course. I’m sure that if you look back through your work history or through your life history, there are moments in which you have pivoted and you have been resilient.

A lot of how we react and respond in unforeseeable circumstances and in moments of uncertainty goes directly back to our identity, who we feel we are and what we feel we are capable of.

One of my favorite researchers, Hermminia Ibarra wrote a great book, Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Her Career. In it, there's a section called In the Middle, where she describes how tricky these moments of transition can feel. She writes:

“It's always ugly in the middle. At the root of transition is transit, a voyage from one place to another.As in any voyage, there's a departure, a disorienting time of travel,. and finally, a destination. To be in transit is to be in the process of leaving one thing without having fully left it. And at the same time entering something else without being fully part of it. It is a gestation period of provisional, tentative identity when many different selves are possible and none are obvious.”

If you feel like you’re anxious about layoffs, know that you’re not alone. These moments of transition can cause us to deeply reflect on who we are, what we're here for on this planet, and what we imagine is possible for ourselves.

I want to come back to a truism we've always turned to here at Bossed Up: have confidence in your ability to figure it out.

When you're navigating layoff anxiety, you might not be sure of where you’re headed next, but you don't need to know what's next to have confidence in your ability to figure that out. I want you to bet on yourself in these moments of uncertainty.

Looking for more support in navigating a career change?

Be sure to check out: HIRED, our 3-month job search accelerator, for all the right tools to land your next best role.

Got a career conundrum you want us to cover on the podcast? Call and leave us a voicemail NOW at 910-668-BOSS(2677).

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