Introduction

Anyone who has been retrenched will know it’s far from being a pleasant experience. Retrenchment is not only the loss of a job you may have enjoyed and found meaningful it also can mean the loss of friendships you have built up over years while facing the insecurity of an unknown future.

Retrenchment is the termination of employment when a worker’s position is no longer needed by the organisation not because of the employee’s poor performance but because of operational changes such as restructuring or technological developments. In Australia approximately 222,900 workers were retrenched in the twelve months leading up to February 2024.

I know from my own personal experience being retrenched can generate a variety of emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger. For me it happened when I was almost two years short of my expected retirement age from a job that I loved. At that age would I find another suitable and meaningful position? But being retrenched would undoubtedly be so much worse for workers of a much younger age with dependent children and mortgage commitments.

As I’m writing this article there’s news of further retrenchments in the mining industry and from one of our big four Australian banks. And with the rapid advancement of AI technology in the workplace the chances are it won’t be long before most families will be impacted by retrenchment.

Steps to Recovery

From my own experience of going, surviving and then thriving through retrenchment here are some suggestions:

1. Don’t Repress Your Emotional Reactions

Feel the emotional pain – don’t repress it. Being retrenched can cause us to question our self-worth and as suggested in my Introduction generate a range of emotional reactions. For myself, apart from my initial anger my chief struggle was with depression. I felt so depressed that I needed psychological therapy. Whatever emotional reactions you might face my strong suggestion is to work through them and get whatever professional support you need. Experiencing retrenchment can be quite traumatic and there’s no shame in seeking help.

2. Explore Your Options

In addition to step 1 reframe your retrenchment as an opportunity to explore other options. For me this could have included early retirement (but I wasn’t ready to stop work), or return to a former role with another employer. However neither of these possibilities was attractive. Another option I began to consider was to the possibility of launching my own leadership coaching and organisational consulting practice. (As you will see this was an option I later picked up and further developed in ‘retirement’.)

3. Be Open to the Unexpected

Experiencing retrenchment puts a person into a liminal space, a threshold – on the edge between the known past and an unknown future. It is a space where the unexpected can happen. While dealing with my feelings of depression I was also suffering from insomnia. For several weeks following the news I would be losing my job, I would wake up after about 5 hours sleep, worrying and praying about what had happened.

One night I experienced a powerful mental vision. Lying awake in my mind I saw my hand firmly gripping one end of a mooring rope with the other end attached to the prow of a small boat. Then I heard in my mind a voice saying to me, “It’s alright Graham to let go.” But I was still strongly gripping the rope when I felt a hand taking my hand and gently prising my fingers, one by one, from the rope. In my mind’s eye I looked down and saw the rope lying loose in the palm of my open hand. Immediately I felt totally relaxed and fell back asleep. Six hours later after breakfast I received a phone call from a colleague who held a senior position in another but related major community service organisation. He asked me whether I would be open to a change management role in his organisation. Immediately, I said yes!

After completing the formal application process I was appointed to the position where I worked full time for the following five years. In that role I established and co-led an executive coaching accreditation program and developed the networks and experience to build my own coaching and consulting business in retirement.

Conclusion

Being retrenched is usually a traumatic experience both for workers themselves as well as their families and often their wider communities, especially in remote and regional areas. As a result it’s important that those affected seek professional support to be able to process their feelings and explore alternative possibilities. Although traumatic, experiencing retrenchment can also be a time to become open to unexpected opportunities that you may not have otherwise considered.

Graham Beattie

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