Depressed

peterm41

I know a lot of people are in this position. I have been told I am being made redundant by my present employer.
I have been in employment for 40 years or so, continually.
I have been with my present company since 1988 and I am truly devastated and depressed by this news.
I have never faced this situation before and would like to ask for your advice and tips on coping, job hunting and anything else you may have learned if you have been through this process.

Thank you.
 

Thrugelmir

Treat this as a new beginning, a new chapter of your life. A good time to do a spring clean of financial affairs.  Be prepared to be humble. You may have to drop a few levels to find employment. Not everyone values years of experience. Network in whatever form you are able.  Do some voluntary work in your spare time. It's a good way of appreciating how lucky you are and is immensely rewarding in terms of self esteem.  Remain positive however challenging the world is. Wishing you good fortune. 

tacpot12

I would echo and endorse everything Thrugelmir has said, including the good wishes.
I would add; Don't take it personally; it's not you who are redundant, it's the role that is redundant. You are just unlucky that you happen to be the role-holder. Celebrate the fact that you have been employed continuously for 40 years; that is a great achievement!

Volunteering is a great idea, as you will also get the chance to see how many skills you have picked up over that time. You may have forgotten how little you knew when you started your working career; as a volunteer you are likely to see people who are struggling with basic stuff that you take for granted. You will have lots you can help others with. 

Have you reviewed your retirement plans? How close are you to being able to retire? 

Unfortunately, you are likely to encounter ageism. If you encounter ageism from anyone who isn't employed by the organisation you are applying to, e.g. an external recruiter, politely suggest that perhaps the employer might like to meet some older candidates to balance to inexperience of the younger candidates. At the end of the day, you should not worry about age-ism. You really don't want to work anywhere that doesn't want you, so if they don't want you for any invalid reason, count this as a blessing. You don't want to have to deal with idiots. 

I've been made redundant three times; the last time it happened I was a month away from resigning (so I could retire early) when they announced a round of redundancies and luckily I was selected, so they paid me to leave two months earlier than I was going to leave anyway! They wondered why I didn't need the tissues they thoughtfully provided in the meeting room when confirming that I was to be made redundant. The first time it happened I started job hunting two weeks before I was due to finish, found a job that paid better money than the job I was leaving, and I was able to start the Monday after I finished on the Friday with £12,000 of redundancy money in the bank! The second time it happened, the employer realised they have over-estimated the number of people they could do without, and rescinded my redundancy notice and that of three colleagues. So redundancy can be a very positive experience, but as with so much in life, it is what you make of it.

My experiences reinforce the notion that there is no stigma to being made redundant. If you apply for other jobs, your interviewer/recruiter will also being seeing many other candidates who have been made redundant. They won't care one iota. 

peterm41

Thank you for your replies, they are much appreciated.
I have no plans to retire and I will, most definitely, look on this as a new begining.

krusty101

Sorry to hear this. It can feel absolutely horrible and scary. I was made redundant about 7 years ago. I panicked and took a 12 month contract pretty much straight away. Although it was fine and was money of course, I wished I hadn’t rushed into it and had waited for the right role. On a practical note, it was hard to take time off for interviews for other jobs so I was having to fit this around my work and job hunting is time consuming when you have a full time, knackering job. So my advice is (if you can afford it) to take a break and think what you really want to do next and put your time and energies into that. I appreciate it’s challenging times out there so it might not be practical, but if you can, do. Good luck. 

MalMonroe

peterm41 said:

Thank you for your replies, they are much appreciated.
I have no plans to retire and I will, most definitely, look on this as a new begining.

Hello, yes I think this is the best idea. Take some time to gather your thoughts and see if you could even retrain. This could actually be a blessing in disguise. I know it's a shock at first but now, the world is your oyster. 

I actually have retired but have also registered as self employed and will be launching my online business next January. I've carried out comprehensive research and have discovered that, as one of my new contacts told me, I have eminently marketable skills. That keeps me going when I have a wobble or two. You are obviously younger than me, though and you have this second chance earlier than I did. Onwards and upwards!

All the very best to you.

peterm41

Thanks again for the comments and help, I really do appreciate your input. I will definitely take my time and not rush into anything.  I haven't seen the redundancy package as yet but as a minimum, without touching my savings, I should be ok for 6 to 8 months. I had my 1st consultation meeting today ( my birthday also) my last day of employment before notice period, as I understand it, is 11th December. 

daveyjp

Having experienced similar this year you are doing what I believe is the right thing.  Take your time, sort the redundancy process first,
You have funds to cover a few months (don't forget to apply for JSA as soon as possible), use that time to have a break and consider your options.  

We set aside 6 months, in the end it was only 2 as a job opportunity came up out of the blue.

BCH_2

Dear OP, 
I am going through the same process myself at the moment. On a positive note if your employer is not insolvent you are looking at getting a substantial redundancy payment which will take a little pressure off in the coming weeks and months. 
My advice, on a more practical note, would be to review every piece of information you can find in terms of "what constitutes a fair redundancy". There are hundreds of great articles out there. Make sure your employer follows the letter of the law and is open, honest and transparent in their dealings with you. They have to be fair and be able to prove it. They also have to be very careful with you being *ahem* older that they don't discriminate (purposefully or otherwise) against you. 

peterm41

I am grateful for your replies once again.
It has been 4 days since I was told and have already been offered a role/Job. 
So grateful for the offer but feel I should take some more time in deciding.
What I do for a living is highly specialised by which I mean not many do what I do in the UK and so the positions are limited.
It may be time to diversify.  

lincroft1710

peterm41 said:

I am grateful for your replies once again.
It has been 4 days since I was told and have already been offered a role/Job. 
So grateful for the offer but feel I should take some more time in deciding.
What I do for a living is highly specialised by which I mean not many do what I do in the UK and so the positions are limited.
It may be time to diversify.  

In your first post you state you have been working for 40 years which suggests you are in your late 50s. In some cases, diversifying at your age may not be so easy, so I would think very carefully before rejecting this offer.

Would it not be an idea to accept the offer, see how it goes then decide if you want to diversify?