SURVIVAL Part 4: The "Terminated" Phase

by Jim Davis (Print complete Job Loss Survival Guide)

The "Terminated" Phase

Stage One: Numbness
Whether you have gone through a "pre-termination" phase or not, you still experience some degree of numbness and disbelief that you have actually lost your job. This may explain why some people at first act as if they think they can continue their same lifestyle on unemployment benefits.

Stage Two: Yearning
Once a person has gone through the numbness stage, they often get "homesick" for the old job. Even if they didn't like their job, they may still miss the people, the routine, etc. This stage will also usually include anger toward the company or specific people, particularly if there was little or no transition period.

Stage Three: Disorganization and Despair
The person comes to terms with the job loss, but cannot seem to get on with life. They procrastinate about trying to find another job, partly out of fear of failure and partly out of embarrassment from being jobless. When they do begin, it is often a haphazard effort. They often become depressed.

Stage Four: Reorganization of Behavior
The person finally realizes that in order to possibly return to the quality of life they had before, they must make some changes in their life. They no longer blame anyone for the past. Instead, they focus on the future and its possibilities. They begin to plan rather than daydream. Then they act based on the plan. They develop a support network which includes family, friends, mentors, and job contacts. When they become discouraged, they then can avoid reverting back to stage three.

If a person has been able to go through an adequate and effective "pre-termination" phase, they can often minimize stages two and three of the "terminated" phase. This is particularly the case when they have been able to take advantage of support services or develop their own support group during the earlier phase.

Just as with other types of grief, a person with job-loss grief has three basic choices. They can stay at the same point and fixate, they can regress, or they can progress and go on to the next stage of living. Understanding the job-loss grief process can help them to get on to that next stage in a healthy and productive way.

End of Part 4