Layoffs are a very scary thing, whether you are a young single person or a married parent of five, a general manager or a brand new hourly employee. There are many things that people have to worry about when it comes to the potential layoff. For starters, yes, there are other jobs out there. But depending on where you are from and how large of a city you are near, there may not be a lot of options and the options that are there may be limited, especially if there are five hundred other people who just got laid off suddenly looking for work. You could lose your home, your car and find yourself bankrupt, all because of a layoff. If this doesn't sound like a fun time to you, then you are going to want to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to survive a layoff. Remember, unless a company is completely closing their doors, there are still going to be people left working for them. It is your job to make sure that you are one of those people.

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you are not panicking. When people panic, they loose sight of what is really happening and they generally end up digging their own grave. You will end up being a part of the office gossip as more fear and speculation is spread around like wildfire. These are things that the company does not appreciate happening. If you are caught being a part of it, you will most likely not make it to the top of their list of the people that get to survive the layoff. Also, when people start to panic, they spend a lot less time concentrating on their actual job, which leads to mistakes and oversights, which could cost them their job. You do not want this to happen to you.


Now, even though you want to concentrate on your work and stay positive, you also want to prepare for the worst, since you cannot predict what is going to happen. When you hear rumor of potential layoffs, whether it comes from the general manager or someone else, it is time to review your finances and get everything in order. Even if the rumor proves false, getting all of your finances in order has its own benefits. Make sure that you are saving what money you can, cut back on the extra expenses and look over your insurance benefits to see how long you will be able to keep them active after a layoff.

This might now be the time to continue to work on the development of your job skills. This way, you will either show your current employer that you are dedicated to your work and that you are going to be a very valuable asset or you will be ready to start the job interview process after a layoff. Sure, you could always get called back, but sometimes you can't wait that long and some layoffs are permanent.

Make use of recruiters and make sure that you are networking. This way, you are getting your name out there, you are learning about your various options and you are setting yourself up in the best possible position should a layoff actually take place. The more proactive you are, the more you will show the general manager that you are worth keeping. If you know your value, so will the company you work for.