The Mental Cost Of A Layoff & How To Deal With It

As we go through the wave of mass layoffs by big and small companies alike, the employees who are at the receiving end of this deal are taking huge blows to their mental and emotional health. Major global companies like Meta, Twitter, and Amazon among others are laying off their employees in the counts of thousands, with Mark Zukerberg’s Meta laying off 11,000 employees, cutting 13 per cent of its overall workforce and Elon Musk’s Twitter trimming half its workforce.

Making matters worse the latest announcement coming from Amazon of a layoff of 10,000 people, cutting 3 per cent of its overall employee strength has already sent panic waves among its employees. As per a layoff tracking website Layoffs.fyi close to 1,34,739 people have been let go from their jobs in 2022 globally.  

On the other hand layoffs in India are going on for quite some time now, with firms like Byjus, Ola, Blinkit, Unacademy, Vedantu and Cars24 among others laying off large portions of their workforce. Overall around 15,000 people in India have been sacked in 2022, with experts predicting the layoff wave to continue in 2023.

Economic experts believe that the unfortunate economic downturn is here to stay till the end of next year, so for time being the news reports of possible layoffs at various companies will continue to flow and will continue to cause uneasiness among employees across geographies. 

Pertaining to these unsettling news reports of possible layoffs, psychologists say that these reports increase the experience of ambiguity or uncertainty for an individual, creating extreme anxiety, as the individual is not aware of the precise reasons or the criterion for the layoff.

Dr Kamna Chhibber, Clinical Psychologist, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, says that these cut-downs are not contingent upon the individual’s own performance and remain out of their physical control, which leaves them with the feeling of helplessness and without any virtue for the future.

Dr Chhibber says that it also leads to a lot of thinking or concerns around “Am I Really Worthy” or “Will I be Okay”, and it impacts the sense of self, self-esteem, and could snatch away a person’s confidence and belief which strikes their ability to navigate out of that situation.

“Employees can go through severe anxiety, with deep feelings of stress and a cyclic thought process of “Am I Next” making them go down a negative thought spiral where they tend to lose appetite with little or no sleep and all of this affects the performance at work. So they might underperform at work, feeling anxious and fearful leading to range of emotions from complete silence to anger outbursts,” stated Dr Mamta Shah, Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Counsellor. 

Psychotherapists say that when the sword is finally swung down the payrolls by companies, the employees experience all stages of extreme grief or loss. From denial, to shock to anger to blaming oneself as to “why me” to finally accepting the situation, and one may even go back and forth between these phases. 

“When something that was a big part of your life stops existing, you go through the grief and loss cycle as you invested your time and efforts in the company. One also feels helpless during this time knowing that there are hiring freezes all around and you are being let go from a very large company,” said Dr Shevantika Nanda, Counselling Psychologist, COO and Co-founder, Mimblu.

Dr Chhibber said the counsellors also need ensure that there is no onset of anxiety disorders or depression illnesses or any other illness associated with mental health while counselling the people who have experienced this grief. 

How To Deal With It

Dr Chhibber highlights that the individual should not believe that the experience is only occurring to them, they need to realise it's not personal and it's about a systemic change and an economic factor. 

“During this tense transition, one needs to ensure they maintain their motivation and drive while understanding and validating their emotional concerns,” Dr Chhibber added.

Resonating on a constructive attitude, Dr Shah said that one also needs to ensure that they are keeping some kind of routine perhaps of waking up on time, going for walks, having breakfast at the same time, and exercising. As having a routine makes one feel safe, especially in times which are unknown and remain largely out one’s control. 

External support from the peers, families, mentors, advisors and also professional help from therapists, can motivate the individual to maintain the drive to be able to find something that works for them.  

Dr Nanda advises taking time off at first and recuperating and then one should focus on the here and now, taking it one day at a time. As a big change with a lot of emotional turmoil needs time to process and one can focus on the aspects which can be controlled, like reviewing one’s resume and networking which will give them a sense of movement in a positive direction.