In today’s economy, job loss has become everyday business, ranging from individuals losing their entire firms due to bankruptcy, to losing their jobs because of layoffs, technological disruptions, mergers, and other types of reorganizations. Hundreds of thousands of organizations, ranging in size from small businesses to large firms, file for bankruptcy every year. According to a 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, between 2015 and 2017, three million workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least three years. To thrive in their careers, professionals need to learn how to bounce back from these devastating losses.
How People Redirect Their Careers After Getting Laid Off
In today’s economy, job loss has become everyday business, ranging from individuals losing their entire firms due to bankruptcy, to losing their jobs because of layoffs, technological disruptions, mergers, and other types of reorganizations. To thrive in their careers, professionals need to learn how to bounce back from these devastating losses. The authors’ research on the career trajectories and mourning patterns of former Lehman Brothers employees indicates that those responding to job loss tend to follow one of two paths as they re-enter the job market: recreating the experience they had at a new firm, and repurposing the skills they had gained to find new types of roles. Which direction they take hinges primarily on what they want to salvage from their experiences at their old firm, and has implications for the breadth of their opportunities going forward.