"The Only Thing That Remains Constant is Change"

So, I am at my current job for a year and a few months, and I've now received news that there is going to be a 5% reduction in force.  Needless to say, there are a lot of "non-value added" discussions taking place around the office.  Everyone is wondering if they'll get the call.

The first thing I tell people when they hear this news is that no amount of worrying, scheming, nail biting, trash talking, etc. is going to change what's going to happen.  HR folks are looking at workforce and numbers, and in a large company, they surely do not know who they are cutting by recommending that Dept X cut heads by 10% vs. Dept. Y who is told to cut by 5%.  That's when I tell people to remember that God is in control of the company as well as our lives.

Even with that being the case, it is prudent to get your job search "machine" in motion.  Since you've kept your resume up to date (HAHAHAHA), you're at least 2 weeks ahead of everyone else.  Make sure you begin contacting your professional acquaintances (hopefully, you've never let those relationships slide) and let them know what's going down, and that you'd appreciate any input they have on the job market.  Also, now is the time to locate a few of the key job sites for your profession, and use an RSS reader to subscribe to job listings in your field and area so that you can review the jobs pulled to your reader quickly without having to wade through the muck of a gazillion job listings.  Get your resume out on a few job boards, into professional associations' job banks, and most of all---NETWORK with others in your profession to learn of opportunities and what has been happening in your field, since you most likely got lazy/busy for all the time you've been gainfully employed.

But first of all.....deal with your feelings.  I've talked to a couple at my company that have been with the company for a long time (20+ years) who think it may be "their time" to go.   If that is you, you'll have more emotions to deal with that many of the others, but it isn't the end of the world, just the end of the world as you've come to know it.  It may be that you are about to embark on a new chapter of your life, even if you thought the book of your life had been finished ages ago.  For most who fit that category, the timing stinks, as you are probably struggling with mid-life issues anyway, and now, your job, the thing you may have thought defined you, is going away.  Your life isn't going away, but you may feel like it is.

For the rest of us, it will be an emotional time until all of the layoffs happen, even if we don't think we have anything to worry about.  Of course, now is the time we start thinking about the Dave Ramseys of the world who try to get everyone to get out from under their debt.  Heavy consumer debt can make layoffs even seem more like the end of the world.  Get your spending under control, because you might need some cash for a rainy day very soon.

All-in-all, the emotional part of a layoff seems hardest to deal with for me.  I'd almost prefer for it to happen as it did for me a few years ago---rumors of layoffs were all around, but I didn't see it coming until the boss called me into his office one Friday morning.

Bottom line:  ALWAYS be ready to find a new job, and ALWAYS keep your networks warm.  In this or any economy, none of us know when/if the boss will insist that we come to his office on Friday morning.