Coping with Retrenchment: How to Manage Stress and Anxiety After Job Loss

We’ve all been hearing news of retrenchment and job loss in recent times. Some of us may even be part of companies that have already laid off employees. Others may have lost their jobs due to the retrenchment process.  

Losing a job is hard, painful, and scary. And the worst part is that the entire situation is out of our control.  

Sometimes, watching your colleagues lose their jobs might also increase anxiety. What if you’re next? How would you cope with retrenchment? The question may cause panic, but there are things we can do to evaluate our work and plan for the ‘what if’ of a layoff.  

We assure you that you’re not the only one feeling job anxiety, which is why we’re writing this article: to share insights on dealing with stress and anxiety after job loss.  

Also, look out for some actionable steps you can take to recover and read about how anxiety therapy may help you build a better work environment.  

Introduction to TYHO

TYHO provides in-person and online therapy in Singapore. Our platform connects clients to vetted and experienced Psychotherapists, Psychologists, and Counsellors in Singapore. We refer to all our mental health professionals collectively as "Therapists", given the overlap in their scopes of practice. A majority of our Therapists are members of recognised bodies such as the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC) and the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS). If you'd like help with selecting someone suitable, WhatsApp us at +65 9831 0005 or email us at [email protected].

The Grieving Process of Retrenchment & Job Loss

Grief is both a noun (ie something tangible) and a verb (ie something in motion). We may hold grief in our hearts in all forms, from a job loss to the death of a loved one or a friendship breakup.  

Grief has no limits, no boundaries, and no limitations.  

Regardless of the reason for the loss, we may feel grief in stages: denial, shock, anger, resistance, sadness, and finally, acceptance.  

The first reaction, however, is disbelief or denial, especially if it was a job you loved or excelled at. 

It’s natural to think, ‘How could this possibly happen to me?’  

Other reactions, like anger and sadness, may eventually follow through. Not all of us may experience these stages in the same order. Some may even feel multiple emotions, like sadness and shock, at the same time.  

In most cases, anger is the stage we may struggle to control, understand, or let go of. You may think, ‘How could they do this to me when I’ve worked so hard for so long?’  

And finally, the slowest to arrive is acceptance. Learning to accept that you’ve lost the job and none of it was under your control comes with time, professional support like counselling, and love from your friends and family. But it will happen.  

The Emotional Impact of Retrenchment

Losing a job can cause several complex emotions.  

If a company has an employee assistance program for laid-off staff, it may be easier to process and regulate your feelings. At TYHO, our we offer professional retrenchment support to help employes navigate workplace transitions.

Below is a short list of emotional, psychological, and physical impacts that one may experience after retrenchment: 

• Chronic distress
• Generalised or specific anxiety
• Fear and shame
• Low self-esteem
• Fatigue and headaches
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Lack of joy and happiness in life
• Weight loss/gain
• Sleep deprivation
• Upset stomach
• Chronic muscle pain  

If you experience the above symptoms, know that you are not alone. In the next section, we’ll explore practical tips on how you can cope with these emotions and what you can do to deal with job loss anxiety, such as through anxiety therapy or individual counselling.  

5 Tips to Cope With Job Loss Stress

Tip 1: Separate Fact From Fiction

What stories are you telling about yourself after a job loss? What does your inner dialogue sound like?  

Take a minute to pause and reflect on the above question. For example, are you thinking along the lines of, ‘I am unworthy, and I was fired because of my lack of skills’? 

Do you often jump to conclusions? Texting, emails, and calls may become an easy avenue to doubt oneself or overthink. For example, as most of the communications happen online, you may look at the lack of emoji use in a text and assume a person dislikes you or that you are falling out of someone’s favour.  

When you notice this happening, we encourage you to question your assumptions. Are your assumptions based on reality or fact? Analyse what evidence you have to back up your thoughts.  

Consider the following questions:  

• Has your manager or colleagues openly shared that they dislike you?
• Has the company initiated a hiring freeze?
• Is your workload lighter?
• Are you treated differently by your colleagues than before?  

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, you probably have less reason for concern.  

Tip 2: Talk to Your Loved Ones

Job loss may affect all aspects of your life. Your relationship with friends may take a toll; you may become more irritable or upset at home, or avoid talking to your partner for a long time.  

If you notice your relationship being affected, you may also choose to explore couples counselling alongside your partner.

Work does not exist in isolation. As we spend the majority of our time at work, it is already part of our lives.  

Hence, you shouldn’t have to carry all the burdens and worries alone. Your loved ones’ support at this time can help you:  

• Recognise your strengths and values that you may have overlooked
• Find hope and joy in times of sorrow
• Cope with job loss anxiety
• Find positive aspects of the situation
• Come up with practical solutions to deal with any problem at work 

Tip 3: Find Yourself

Work is a part of our lives, so it can take up aspects of our identity. However, ensuring that it doesn’t become our entire purpose and sense of self is important.  

Research from the Journal Frontiers of Psychology and expert psychologists found that people who reduced their entire identity to their work feel dehumanised, depressed, and burned out.  

That’s why self-complexity is important. Self-complexity is the number of different traits and attributes that make up your sense of self.  

For example, ask yourself this question:  

Who am I outside of work?  

You could be an artist, a singer, a great friend, a loving daughter, a language learner, a tea enthusiast, and more. All of these qualities make up your sense of self. You are beyond your work.  

But often, you may end up spending the majority of your day working, and by the time you log off, all you want to do is doomscroll on social media.

The higher your self-complexity, the stronger you may become. And fret not; this is a habit you can develop.  

As you wake up daily, try to write down one thing you identify as that you’d never thought of before. The more you do this, the more you may broaden your perspective of yourself. 

By diversifying your sense of self, you may: 

• Become happier
• Learn more about yourself
• Notice, identify and accept anxiety symptoms
• Develop better relationships with other people
• Cope with burnout and stress in a practical way 
   

Tip 4: Find Evidence of Your Resilience

Here’s an activity for you:  

If you’ve come up with three things, aim to increase the list to 6. If you’ve done 6, bring it up to 10.  

As you keep writing about the things you’ve overcome, you may realise how resilient you’ve been in the past. The list is solid proof that you stood up every single time you faced a hurdle.  

Perhaps you already have the resources to recover from a job loss, but sometimes, being in the centre of a bad situation may compel you to engage in negative self-talk and criticism, so much so that you forget that you’re already resilient.  

Reminding yourself of how you’ve overcome past hurdles and developing your self-compassion can be the two most powerful tools to recover from the stress after a job loss.  

Studies also show that the more you can recall your resilience throughout life, the higher your levels of psychological well-being.  

Tip 5: Take Constructive Action

After trying the above steps to cope with your emotions, consider looking further.  

What’s the next step? 

Below are some things you can consider to take constructive action: 

• If you do sense a layoff, assess your situation. If you identify any gaps in the company where you can add value, bring them up to your manager.
• Identify all the things you can work on apart from your current job responsibilities. Write a detailed list of your skills and propose a plan of action that you’re willing to take at work. Be specific about the revenue generation and value of the project.
• If your workload is getting lighter, try to assess where you can offer your expertise and input to the team. Don’t hesitate to stretch beyond your current responsibilities. Show your boss that you’re willing to learn and explore other roles through proactive action.
• Outside work, reconnect with your old colleagues and managers. Look out for opportunities outside work and broaden your network. If a layoff is inevitable, you may feel calmer about the opportunities and support network you have built outside your current company.
• Finally, if your company provides EAP counselling services, we highly encourage you to speak to a counsellor for career transition counselling.

When to Seek Professional Help

Feeling anxious, troubled, stressed, or upset are normal emotions you may feel after a job loss.  

However, you may find it useful to seek professional help from TYHO Therapists if: 

• These feelings last more than a month
• Your emotions are preventing you from moving on or looking for other opportunities
• The job loss affects other aspects of your life (eg feeling too emotional or procrastinating on important tasks)
• The experience causes troubles or complex emotions in your family dynamics 

Talking to a TYHO Therapist or a psychologist can help you: 

• Overcome and cope with painful emotions, life, grief, and anger
• Move on and feel joy in life again
• Think of practical and constructive solutions
• Handle future hurdles more effectively 

You may also suggest using EAP services for your company. 

If your organisation already has employee assistance for laid-off staff, try booking a session with a professional.  TYHO’s Retrenchment Support service provides confidential counselling for affected employees.

If not, visit our anxiety therapy page to learn more about how professional support can help you overcome retrenchment and job loss.  

Key Takeaways

There’s so much to unpack around layoffs. You may feel stressed, anxious, and depressed.

But first, take a deep breath. You are okay, and the situation you’re in is not permanent. Change will happen.

When you’re ready and have accepted the loss of your job, you can work on regulating your emotions and using effective tools to focus on the next steps.

To cope with retrenchment:

• Separate fact from fiction and question your assumptions based on any previous or current evidence

• Talk to your loved ones and seek out their support in looking for other opportunities or coping with the emotional impacts of job loss

• Try to increase your self-complexities and find new ways to define yourself

• Rely on your past evidence of how you’ve overcome hurdles

• Take constructive steps to be proactive at work and build an external network to rely on when things get hard

If all the above doesn’t seem to be helping as much, you may benefit from professional support.

Talk to a TYHO Therapist today if you are frustrated, anxious, or stressed about your work.