How to face job losses and handle the situation

For an Indian ‘Naukri’ is one of the greatest gifts in life! If we have a job our siblings start seeing us as their own personal ATM. And we finally have that long awaited respect from our friends whose constant job has been to embarrass us in public!

Seriously, the moment you land a job in India it’s nothing short of a dream come true! Not only do you get a fixed income but also status and respect like never before! But sometimes, this dream run does not last for long. Looking at the current state of corona virus crisis in the country and how companies may be cutting down their workforce in future, jobs are in danger. What happens then? How do you manage your expenses when you lose your job?

Let’s find out things to do while you are on the job & after job loss.

While you are on the job:

1. Stay healthy and calm

Maintaining physical health is of paramount importance now. Take sufficent care to maintain good health and keep body fit. Maintain the routine exercise which keeps you fit. Keep your mind also active and healthy. You can practice yoga, meditation and the like as you like it. Use this time to connect with your friends and relatives and nurture relationships – of course over phone.

2. Be a team player and be an essential person for your team and organization

If there are 10 members in your team and if your boss has to downsize the team, see where you stand? You should be an important and essential person for the team. It is not the time to do the 10-5 routine job. Try to contribute more than what is expected to the team and the organization. Work for 300/- if you are drawing 100/-. Don’t underestimate your boss’s capacity to review your performance while both of you are working from home. You should be the last person in the team to get a pink slip.

3. Acquire extra skill sets – be employable always

This is the need of the hour. There are lots of materials available online to sharpen your skill. Explore online courses in your domain and beyond. COVID 19 is going to create a new work culture in near future. See how you can contribute to the team and organization even while working from home. See how you can contribute to the cost cutting exercise of your organization. Also find ways to help your organization to manage COVID 20 and beyond. It is going to be the survival of the fittest.

4. Nurture your entrepreneurial skills – Be your own Boss.

Think of becoming an entrepreneur in the long term. Like Y2K created many opportunities, COVID 19 will create many opportunities for those who are keeping your eyes and ears open. Many traditional organizations can go out of business and new technologies will emerge. We will modify our way of going out for movie, eating out and vacation. Education system can undergo lots of changes. Health care will create more opportunities. Entrepreneurs can visualize changes and explore these opportunities. If out of 100 employees in an organization, 10 can become entrepreneur and if each of them can employ 2 persons atleast, this creates opportunity for another 30 people in the organization. Try to spot opportunities and experiment it. Avoid opportunities with huge capital commitment.

After the job loss:

1. Make changes in monthly budget

Losing a job is hard on a person’s morale and additional financial pressure only adds to it. You need to take a hard look at the state of your finances and evaluate where exactly you can make changes and cut down costs. An updated list of priorities is the need of the hour! Basic household expenses, EMI. Electricity bills, medicine, water bills etc.should top our budget.

2. Let impulsive buying take a backseat

When you no longer have a job, it is a sin to look at carts on Amazon and the likes! Not only will they make you take impulsive decisions that you are bound to regret in the future, it will also lead to paucity of funds at the end of the month.

3. Make major lifestyle changes

When it comes to keeping track of where our money goes, we mostly find it spent on our lifestyle! Eating out, movies, vacation etc. These can wait till you are back on job.

4. Cut down that show – off streak

We spend a lot on show -off. For the time being, let Sharmaji take the top position at showing off! When you are out of a job, showing off how rich you are should be the least of your concerns!

5. Evaluate loans and debts

No matter how sweet that operator tries to sound by calling us a million times and selling you another loan scheme, loans and debt is never a sweet thing in the long run. Try to avoid loans unless it is on a medical emergency.

6. Dig into your Emergency Funds

We create our emergency fund for rainy days like this. If you have been smart with your money and have created emergency fund, then you can use emergency fund for quite some time provided you have a solid financial plan and are looking for a new job.

This is also where our investments come into play. If you have invested in any other business venture or any other source of passive income, this allows you to have additional income and you can run your home smoothly for the next few months at least, even without a job!

7. Don’t take rash decisions for easy money

Yes, you are out of a job and Indian parents will behave like it’s the end of the world for you. You will feel helpless and if you have a family to take care of, you will be desperate to make a quick buck somehow to compensate for a lack of income. Try to rethink this! Any desperate move could backfire.

We believe in superstitions more than the rest of the world but no, the wheel of destiny won’t suddenly turn your way! Your destiny won’t change overnight and you don’t win a crore by wasting money on lottery tickets or trading in stock market and any other quick money making hacks you apply during this time!

8. Look for your next job

Even with all these necessary changes to our budget and overall financial plan, we need a new naukri to sustain. Most of the time, to better our chances at getting a new job, we need to upgrade our skill levels too. If this requires money, we need to set aside a fund for it! If there are better opportunities in other cities, travel and lodging too needs to be taken care of. In all, you must plan your finances in such a way that you not only have enough for everyday expenses but also for helping you attain our next pay cheque!

Extra tip – In the meantime when you are searching for your next job, you can try your hand at some freelancing jobs on portals like freelancer, upwork etc.

Final Thoughts:

In India, a job is a lot more than just employment. Naukri lag gayi- that’s the Indian dream! But ups and downs are part of life. So losing a job is not the end of the world. If it happens, we need to take it in our stride, keep our morale high and plan our finances meticulously for both physical and mental well being. The most important part is always moving forward and trying to find the next Naukri!

All the best.

7 thoughts on “How to face job losses and handle the situation”

  1. Very informative and well thought. Indeed it is true that when you prepare for an emergency, it ceases to exist.

  2. That goes beyond financial advise! The significance and interplay of family, relationships, health, career in the journey of wealth creation is clearly outlined. A perfect, timely piece of financial wisdom and common sense.

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