Gails Blog

The unemployment rate in Canada hit 6.2% in July, despite record high employment rates in Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. With all the crap happening south of the border, unemployment is likely headed up in the short term as we deal with the credit crisis. Often, when we find ourselves out of work, we duck and hide, embarrassed at our change in circumstances. And we spend. Unwilling to admit that things have changed, and with time on our hands, we spend and spend and spend. Well, if you’ve seen my show, you know where that leads.

In my last blog, I talk about the unemployment rate in Canada and the potential downturn we may experience. I thought I should give you some world figures to put things in perspective.

The credit crisis is causing rising unemployment in the UK, with official unemployment figures for last month the worst since 1992.  The UK unemployment rate is 5.2%.

In the U.S. people are cheering because their unemployment figures seem great compared to elsewhere, but July’s rise in unemployment was the seventh straight; the current 5.7% is the highest rate since March 2004.

According to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, unemployment sat at 7.3% in the euro area in June 2008.The lowest unemployment levels were recorded in Denmark (2.7%) and in the Netherlands (2.9%); the highest were in Slovakia (10.5%) and in Spain (10.7%). Poland sits at 7.3%, Bulgaria and Ireland are at 5.7%.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is made up of 23 European countries and Australia, Turkey, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Japan and South Korea, is predicting an average rise in unemployment in 2008 and 2009.

So what do you do if you find yourself out of work?  Here are 9 Things to Do if You Lose Your Job:

1. Tell your family not to panic. Yes, things are going to be different for the short- or medium-term, but you’ll weather this together. You need to have a clear sense of what your priorities are so that you can work together to get through this without fighting, bitching, snarking, crying, or being a’feard.

2. Tell everyone you know that you need a job. Many jobs never make it to the advertisement pages since people in a company will be asked if they want the job, or if they know of anyone they could recommend for the job. The more people you tell the better your chances are that someone will put forward your name. Be clear about what kind of job you are seeking and what your skills are, and someone may be able to help you get a new job. But also be open to experiencing something new, and using your skills in different ways. If you hated your last job, don’t get another one just like it.

3. Apply for employment insurance benefits. While this is usually barely enough to keep body and soul together, it’s still better than a kick in the teeth. If you find employment before your benefits begin you can always cancel the claim.

4. Start looking for a job. Dust off your resume. Hit the web. Some part-time work that supplements your income while you’re looking for a full-time job will help to keep you busy and focused on making things happen. One of the biggest problems with unemployment isn’t just the lack of money, it’s the abundance of time and the sense that this will never end. Get busy.

5.  Cut your expenses. First, you need to cut back to the bare minimum so that you can make your emergency fund (you have one of these, right?) last as long as possible. Ditto your employment insurance benefits, your severance, your partner’s income or whatever else you may have that you can use.  Cancel the cable, decide between the home telephone and the cell phone, don’t buy anything that isn’t food, and consider your quarters your entertainment budget. Second, since you may not find a job paying the same money, you need to decide what your Basic Costs of a Good Life are so you know how much salary you can live without.

6. Talk to your creditors. Don’t ignore your bills. Contact your creditors and explain your problem. Offer to make regular smaller payments that you can afford for a short period of time. Ask for an interest rate concession. Get those credit payments in line with your new income.

7. Embrace change.  In all likelihood if your industry is in retreat you’re not going to find a similar job for similar money easily.  Two part-time jobs may be as good as one full-time. Contract work may be a good option for rebalancing your life. Business opportunities may present themselves and you’ll have to have your eyes open to take advantage of them. Don’t be closed to a relocation if that’s what it takes to get you back on track.

8. Take care of yourself.  Don’t climb on the couch and hide. Don’t dig into a big tub of cookie-dough ice-cream. Don’t stop exercising, socializing, empathizing. If you find yourself becoming really sad about your situation, find someone to talk to about it. Don’t let yourself go into a nose-dive. Keep to a schedule and keep your focus. Volunteer so that you can keep meeting new people, widening your network, and putting more people into the job-hunt on your behalf. Take a course to update your skills or learn new ones.

9. Keep your sense of humour. When things get tough, our funny bone is the first to go. Don’t let it. You can do so much when you’re smiling. Your interviewers will see you differently. Your family will be reassured. Your friends won’t run and hide when you call. Hang on to that funny bone!

There’s no longer such a thing as a Job for Life. Gone are the days when you retired from the first company that hired you. The new reality is that you can expect to have up to eight – count ‘em EIGHT – careers over your working life.

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Tags: economics, job loss, unemployment

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 9:02 am and is filed under Economics 101, Take Control, When Ca-Ca Happens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.