Building a career means being ready for the ups and downs.
We get promotions. We start new jobs. We grow.
But sometimes we also get let go. And one of the hardest versions of that is redundancy.
If the word is new to you, here is the short version. Redundancy is when your role is no longer available and you are let go. It is different from being dismissed for performance reasons or for breaching your contract. Redundancy, for most people, has very little to do with you. It has far more to do with the company’s financial situation or its forward planning. The role you have filled simply isn’t there anymore.
With so many businesses downsizing right now, and news of redundancies coming from all over the world, I think it is worth understanding what this actually feels like.
A quick note before I go on.
This is not a post about the legal side of redundancy. If you have questions about your rights, or you feel there has been unfair dismissal, please go to your favourite search engine and speak to someone who can support you properly. There are plenty of people who do exactly that.
What I want to talk about here is the emotional side. What it feels like when it has already happened to you, or when you can see it coming.
I remember it like yesterday
A few years ago, my role and another manager’s role were made redundant.
I was in my mid-thirties, and it was the first time in my life I had ever been made redundant. In the past, I had always relocated, or left a job because I was ready to go.
This was different. And that difference is the whole point.
Redundancy is complicated even when you didn’t love the job (although I did enjoy my role at the time). Even when there were things about the role you were happy to walk away from. Because the terms have changed. You didn’t choose to leave. The company chose for you.
In my case, there was nothing else they could offer me. The role, and any role at that level, was no longer available. I had two weeks’ notice and two weeks’ pay.
For those of you reading from other parts of the world, that is normal here in Australia, especially for smaller businesses that simply can’t afford the kind of payout a big corporate might offer. So I had about half a month of runway.
I was lucky. My husband and I had some savings and a backup fund for exactly this kind of situation. But it is still a frightening thing when it happens, with very real financial and emotional effects.
The part I wasn’t ready for
Here is the thing nobody quite prepares you for.
Redundancy can be a genuine shock, even when you saw it coming.
Even if you knew the company was restructuring. Even if you suspected your role might be at risk. We always assume it won’t be us. Until it is.
I remember sitting in that pit. I had wonderful friends and a strong professional community around me, and still I felt completely alone. I felt like a failure. I felt like the company didn’t care enough to keep me.
Logically, I knew better. I knew there were strong financial reasons behind the decision. I understood that letting go of more expensive manager roles can make sense for a business, big or small. But understanding it in your head does not stop it from hurting.
And it taught me something. So often it isn’t only about what happened. It is about how it was communicated.
I was fortunate. My manager was open with me and simply ripped the band-aid off. She told me exactly how it was. Although, if I am honest, I had a quiet feeling something was coming when I saw it was her plus another manager on a call I didn’t normally have. If you have ever been in a bigger organisation, you will know the signal. When your manager and HR are both in the room, something is usually happening.
Redundancy: what I wish someone had told me
A company can deeply value the work you do while you are there, and still have to put the business first. That is not cruelty. It is structure.
HR exists to support and protect the organisation. They have a duty of care to you, of course, but they are not there to look after you as an individual worker. I say that with full respect to everyone working in HR. It is simply the reality, and knowing it ahead of time is kinder to yourself than learning it in the moment.
A little while ago I wrote a post about not being fully attached to a single job. About keeping your fishing lines in more than one pond, so to speak. Having options. Having a backup fund and a backup plan. Redundancy is exactly why that matters.
But the part I most want you to hear is this.
I carried a lot of shame around being let go. Even though I knew, logically, that it was not about me, it was still one of the hardest things I have been through professionally.
And what did I do? I dove straight into applying for new work. I panicked a little. I sent off applications as fast as I could, mostly so I wouldn’t have a gap on my CV or my LinkedIn.
What I wish I had done was give myself a bit more emotional support first.
This is exactly the kind of moment a career coach, a counsellor, or one of the many resources out there can help with. Talking to friends and family helps too. But if they haven’t been through redundancy themselves, and even if they have, their experience will have felt different to yours. Speaking to someone about it as it happens can be one of the kindest things you do for yourself.
If this is you right now
If you have been through redundancy, I would love to hear from you. What was the hardest part?
And if you are sensing it might be coming down the track, have a read of my earlier post on preparing yourself in the current job market, so that if something does happen, you already have backups and choices in place.
I know this is a tough one for a lot of people right now. I hope sharing this helps, even a little.
And if you ever need to talk to someone, please do reach out and book a call with me.