An Introduction into Dealing with Redundancy

Being made redundant is not part of anyone's ideal career path! It is however something that will happen to many people over the course of their working lives. Unfortunately the current economic circumstances mean that many more Australian workers are experiencing the dislocation, uncertainty and confusion that come with losing your job.

There is obviously no right response to dealing with redundancy. However, what is clear is that the period after being made redundant should be characterised by confident and level-headed decision making.

If you can manage to make the right financial and professional decisions, redundancy can be successfully turned from bust to boom! To do this you will have to analyse:

 

• Your current financial position
• The main questions and issues that you are faced with (especially those related to payments, superannuation, possible government assistance and insurance)
• Possible strategies for moving beyond redundancy to a secure financial future

Your first step in designing your redundancy strategy should be to get the fullest possible picture of your current financial position. Having ready access to this information will greatly assist you in making solid financial decisions. Some of the questions that you should ask yourself are:

• How much money do I need to cover my basic living expenses?
• Have I committed myself to major expenses over the next year?
• How much debt (e.g. home loans, credit card debt) do I have and what does it cost me to service this on a monthly basis?
• How much money do I need to put aside in order to fund a comfortable retirement?
• Am I properly insured?

After you have written down your answer to these questions, you should prioritise your spending commitments (You could perhaps rank them as: Vital, Important and Temporarily Optional). Doing this will help you to develop the best possible coping strategy until you can move back into full time employment.