Society makes us afraid. Fear permeates different areas of life - we are afraid of losing our health, getting into an accident, saying something wrong to our boss or during a business meeting... And, of course, one of the most common fears is the fear of losing our job and being left without a piece of bread
But this phobia, like many others, can be effectively combated. Let's look at 6 reasons why you shouldn't waste precious energy on such fears.
Not final yet
The results of these surveys provide a more detailed understanding of the official data published by Rosstat, notes Konstantin Ordov, head of the department of corporate finance and corporate governance at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. According to department estimates, the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in May. In June, according to preliminary estimates, it increased to 6.3%. The last time this figure rose above 6% was in March 2012. In March of this year, by the time the pandemic arrived in Russia, unemployment was at 4.7%, in April - 5.8%.
The coronavirus crisis has led to a decrease in economic activity in Russia by at least 20-30%. According to statistics, in the second quarter of 2020, the country's economy collapsed by 10%. And all this suggests that, most likely, the peak of bankruptcies and layoffs is still ahead, the expert believes.
In his opinion, the fears of Russians reflect the uncertainty in which both employees and the business itself find themselves as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market. The current crisis has once again highlighted the problem of choosing between employment and labor productivity. Many companies have discovered that they can safely send two-thirds of the office home without much loss of control or cash flow generation. For those who lose their jobs now, this creates the risk of not being able to find one in the future, even when the economy recovers, the analyst warns.
The remote form of work has turned into a kind of gray field where a person must work almost around the clock. But even if the employee himself is ready for this, the employer does not have a clear idea of whether he really needs as many people as before. It is obvious that the crisis does not have any clearly defined sectoral character. In fact, entire professions are closer than ever to the brink of extinction,” Ordov emphasizes.
Almost the entire commercial sector has suffered greatly from the crisis, and recovery is still extremely difficult, he recalls.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug: resignations of vice-governors
Ugra resident's holiday 2020
The political establishment of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is preparing to hold early elections to the regional parliament and local dumas in the winter. However, by December the district political elite will have been significantly renewed. Personnel changes will affect the entire district government, right down to the vice-governors of Ugra. And first we need to survive the elections scheduled for this fall. Ugra mayors are so afraid of them that they have already begun to appoint well-known political strategists to carry them out.
"Insides" are information from our sources that we cannot confirm. But, taking care of the awareness of its readers, URA.RU publishes this unverified information: do not be afraid of rumors - the truth is often worse.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is preparing for large-scale elections in winter
There are rumors that if the elections to the State Duma are postponed to December of this year, then at the same time in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug there will be elections to the regional parliament and local representative bodies, where deputies were planned to be elected in 2021. The most significant of them are the elections to the Surgut Duma of the seventh convocation. “The decisions ahead are difficult. And they need to be announced so that candidates can start election campaigns. There’s no time at all,” district officials whisper.
The chairs under the vice-governors of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug began to shake...
Photo: Alexey Andronov © URA.RU
Insiders from the district government are discussing possible personnel changes in the camp of vice-governors after the autumn reappointment of Natalya Komarova as head of the region. In addition to Yuri Yuzhakov, Nikolai Milkis may also leave his post - he will go back to Moscow. Changes are expected in the fate of another deputy governor, Alexander Tirtoki. “He was invited to the district government as a deputy responsible for the implementation of national projects and the Chess Olympiad, but the coronavirus epidemic made adjustments to the plans of the Ugra authorities. So Tirtok will be burdened with additional tasks. Perhaps he will inherit the areas that Yuzhakov currently oversees - culture and sports,” gossipers discuss options.
…lower-ranking officials are afraid of losing their jobs
However, clouds hang over not only the vice-governors, but also the heads of government departments and services. District officials are combing through the lists of instructions from the head of the region for the last five years. Important tasks that are never completed can cost them their jobs. “Not everyone will find a seat in the new government. So civil servants are intensely thinking about how they can report on the completion of tasks for the remaining month and a half before the single voting day,” they exchange on the sidelines of the White House.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug authorities do not want to tell how much they earned
Photo: Ekaterina Sychkova © URA.RU
Rumor makers are whispering that the income statements of officials, which will be published next week, on August 1, may spoil the mood of the officials themselves. “The point is that for the first time the data of officials who were hired in 2020 and who negotiated a higher salary from the Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Natalya Komarova will be published, compared with those department directors who have been working for several years. Such inequality can lead to internal rebellion and conflicts based on envy and misunderstanding,” the rumor maker predicts.
Surrounded by the governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug were dozens of coronavirus patients
Insiders in the KhMAO government say that since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic in the Ugra White House, COVID-19 has been diagnosed in more than fifty officials at various levels. “Almost every division, department and department had patients. For the most part, the disease was tolerated in a mild form, at home; few people took sick leave while working remotely. But there are also those who suffer from coronavirus with complications; people are in the hospital,” says the insider. He adds that in fact, the epidemic had little effect on the work of the government, but the governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Natalya Komarova had personal contact with some of those who fell ill with COVID-19.
In Khanty-Mansiysk they are talking about brown and golden bears again
Photo: Alexander Elizarov © URA.RU
On the sidelines of the government, a decision is being prepared on the new coat of arms of Ugra. They say that while the focus is on Covid events and the election of the governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, there is an opportunity to “quietly” make a decision about which bears will still be on the coat of arms: brown or gold? “The discussion about the color of the bears on the new coat of arms has been a long-running story since last fall. The sketch before last (with “a man in shorts”), for which the artist was paid about 300 thousand rubles, was considered unsuccessful. A new version was developed by another group of authors, but even there a debate began about what kind of bears should be - golden or brown. They never came to a decision,” the gossips whisper, hinting that it is generally unclear who now even cares about the coat of arms of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
Ugra mayors warily greet auditors from the district government
They say that Ugra mayors are not very friendly to the landing of district officials who come to municipalities to check the effectiveness of the fight against coronavirus. The heads of cities and districts understand that as a result of the audit, the report will be sent personally to the governor and everything that is happening will be described there without any cuts. “Branches of operational headquarters are being created where the situation with COVID-19 is difficult. This means that complaints against local authorities can always be found. The heads of Pyt-Yakh, Nefteyugansk district, and Kogalym have already suffered. And the audits continue. So other territories need to give up COVID dissidence as soon as possible and make every effort to fight the virus. And this is true - otherwise Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug will continue to break records for new cases,” rumors whisper.
A businessman from the 90s is trying to get back on the agenda through a federal project
Photo: Alexander Kulakovsky © URA.RU
Rumor has it that the president of the Slavtek corporation from Nizhnevartovsk, Alexander Peterman, plans to attract the attention of the media and authorities through participation in the federal project “Lisa Alert” (the organization searches for people, including children, throughout the country). Already, says the agency’s source, a program has been developed for the implementation and entry of Lisa Alert into the region. “Peterman has a dysfunctional background from the 90s, he has open conflicts with the police, and it is not clear how Lisa Alert will be able to work under his auspices. Perhaps, formally, Peterman will not have anything to do with the branch of search engines in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, but will support it through affiliated companies,” the source adds.
A slander against a United Russia deputy will result in problems for the complainant himself
They say that United Russia has sorted out the scandal between Nefteyugansk deputy Sergei Andreev and businessman Pavel Kagakov. The people's choice was accused of attempting to raid a parking lot. However, no facts were ever presented to prove this. As a result, questions may arise to the complainant himself. “Kagakov sent out his appeals to various authorities, to the central office of United Russia, and the prosecutor’s office got involved in the story. But all the loud statements turned out to be nothing. Andreev intends to sue Kagakov because he believes that his reputation has been damaged by the hype around all these accusations,” they are discussing in party circles.
The head of the Surgut region is afraid of losing the elections
Photo: Alexey Andronov © URA.RU
They say that the head of the Surgut region, Andrei Trubetskoy, again invited the famous Ural political strategist, Evgeny Chernetsov, along with his team to conduct an election campaign in the municipality. In the fall, heads of the villages of Lyamina and Sytomino are re-elected.
“The funny thing is that these are small settlements where a thousand people live. In order to win there, you don’t need to hire specialists. But Trubetskoy had already lost once in Sytomino; the communist mayor Vyacheslav Parnachev won. So control over the course of the election campaign is now entrusted only to a professional. Where the administration gets the money to pay for their services is a big question. Some extra-budgetary funds are clearly being used here,” the spiteful critics discuss.
Insides represent value judgments, opinions, beliefs, and assumptions of readers on issues of general interest. We do not publish or edit inside information that is offensive.
What to do with obsessive fear
The fear of losing or changing jobs can become obsessive and haunt a person every day. This condition leads to moral and physical exhaustion, and this affects the quality of work. For this reason, the employee may be fired subsequently.
You need to reconsider your attitude towards work. Everyone experiences professional burnout, regardless of their type of activity or position.
Many psychotherapists advise changing jobs every 5-7 years. This does not mean that the profession must change; a change in organization and team is sufficient. In the USA, this system is actively practiced and has considerable success.
When an employee has crossed the line of professional burnout, but is very afraid to look for a new job or is afraid to try his hand at an interview, he may develop phobias or depression against the background of emotional stress.
Drug treatment
If fear interferes not only with normal work, but also with life, then it is worth making more radical decisions. In these cases, consult a psychotherapist for advice. Depending on the patient's condition, he may prescribe medication.
For annoying fears, take:
- tranquilizers that have a powerful sedative effect,
- antipsychotics that have a rapid relaxing effect,
- antidepressants that improve the patient’s psychophysical condition.
These drugs are available in pharmacies only with a prescription. It is necessary to follow the dosage and method of taking medications to avoid health problems.
How to overcome the fear of losing your job - searching for the cause of obsessive behavior
- Fear of losing financial well-being. The most common reason that can unsettle even the most persistent person. During periods of crisis in a country or company, it is especially acute, affecting a large part of the population.
- Lack of self-confidence, which is a consequence of low qualifications. Occurs in people without the education or skills necessary for their position.
- Fear of potentially having to look for a new job. A common reason for the development of phobias in withdrawn people who find it difficult to make contact, make new acquaintances, and leave their comfort zone.
- Fear resulting from the constant dissatisfaction of a strict boss. One of the most unpleasant scenarios that can turn even a cheerful and self-confident person into a paranoid person.
LiveInternetLiveInternet
home-maker.org/?p=1013
It seems that nothing threatens you, but you have become afraid of being fired... This interferes with your work.
How to overcome this fear in yourself? Television and the press say that the wave of the crisis has passed and one can feel calm. But your brother’s job continues to be cut, and the company where your friend works has declared bankruptcy... It’s not surprising that many people are now looking to the future with caution. According to the results of a public opinion survey, currently only one third of working Russians are confident that they will not lose their jobs in the near future.
Your fear of losing your job is fueled by rumors and gossip that your colleagues exchange. Over your morning coffee, you find out that just the other day the secretary from the fourth floor lost her job, there will be a reduction in rates in the management department and you probably won’t have to wait for a salary increase or bonuses this year...
It's hard not to succumb to general panic. It would seem that you are confident that nothing threatens you: the company does not plan to carry out additional layoffs, and your position is not so easy to reduce. And the secretary from the fourth floor, it turns out, left on her own. Why is your fear only growing every day?
What is most terrifying is the fact that the family may be left without a livelihood. After all, your salary is a tangible contribution to your household budget. If you lose your job, it will be hard for everyone. Just the thought of this makes you break out in a cold sweat.
Such fears are completely normal. The current situation makes us feel insecure, regardless of the position we hold and the work we do. It may be hard for you to believe this, but just like you, your immediate boss and even the director of your entire company are afraid of being fired.
UNCERTAINTY CAN HURT YOU A LOT!
When you have negative thoughts, you lose self-confidence. What was previously simple suddenly becomes a problem. Previously, decisions regarding job responsibilities were made automatically. After all, you've been doing this for so many years... Now you're starting to wonder if you're making any mistakes? You begin to look at your daily routine duties as challenges. You look through documents ten times, think about every nonsense. Even the slightest mistake causes terrible stress. Previously, you thought: everyone can make a mistake. Now you are afraid that even a small mistake could become a pretext for dismissal.
Diligence and scrupulousness are welcome in work, but if you overdo it, you can fall into paranoia. Anxious and inhibited, you become the worst type of employee possible. Instead of performing your responsibilities better, you become less and less effective. Stress can cause you to become distracted, slow, and make more and more mistakes.
It's time to pull yourself together! Think about it: can you blame yourself for something? Does the boss have a reason? Has he seemed unhappy with you lately? Or maybe quite the opposite: he praised you in front of the whole team?
THE DEVIL IS NOT SO SCARY IF YOU GET USED TO IT
What really scares you so much? The fact that you will lose a good position, or the fact that chaos will begin in your life? Most of us don't really like our jobs that much. We engage in it because it gives us a sense of security and a predictable scenario for tomorrow. We feel confident because we know what will happen. What we fear most in life is change - the new, the unknown, the different...
Every fear, not just related to job loss, can be overcome by sorting it out and getting used to it.
Therefore, stop hiding from yourself and conquer your phobias. Although it is difficult to do, the results are worth your effort. Sit quietly in the evening, close your eyes and imagine that you have just been fired. Draw in detail in your imagination how you leave the office for the last time. How will you feel? What will you do after you get over the initial shock?
Having imagined this picture, begin to develop an “emergency plan”. Take it seriously, as if your imagined scenario is true. Take a piece of paper and write down all your professional abilities and strengths. Honestly answer yourself the question: what are you missing and what can you do to improve your qualifications (foreign languages, courses, perhaps some textbooks on the profession). Create a good business resume that allows you to understand your current accomplishments.
Pick up a newspaper and look for vacancies. Choose the ones that suit you and prepare for the interview. Just in case, decide what kind of work you could do if the need arose. Also think about which of your friends or loved ones you could ask for help.
Although all of these steps will require a lot of effort and may be stressful, you will feel more confident if you know that if something happens, you are ready for anything.
THINK ABOUT SAVINGS, DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN
Are you afraid that you will be left without a livelihood? Try now to save at least small amounts for a rainy day. If your fears do not come true, you can always spend your “strategic reserves” on something nice.
Analyze your family expenses. If everyone in your family gives up one of their whims, you will feel much less of a “belt-tightening” experience. Carefully prepare your loved ones for a “what would happen if…” situation. During a period of general panic, it will be better if everyone gets used to the idea of a possible negative development of events. Together you will be safer! In addition, you will not be left alone with your fears, and the sober look of someone close will help you cope with irrational phobias and allow you to return to reality. And you won't lose your job because of your fears!
PS This will sound strange, but you can use difficult times to... strengthen your position at work! Every rationally thinking boss will try to retain the good employees on whom the company rests. You need him to perceive you this way. Think that the boss is no less afraid than you, but at the same time he is in a more difficult situation than his subordinates, since it is he who is required to save money and skillfully manage in a difficult situation. So demonstrate that you are a good "investment": instead of increasing your department's costs, figure out how to reduce them. Present to your boss a plan regarding your area of responsibility and the entire team. What if you manage to find a way to save money for the entire company? Your initiative to do something faster, easier and cheaper will add points to you in the eyes of your boss. However, before taking any initiative, discuss it with your colleagues. If you go to your boss without consulting them, you will be perceived as a suck-up, and no one likes that.
The risk of losing your job - how to stop being afraid of losing your job
How to cope with the threat of losing your value in the labor market? The answer is simple - increase it! One of our students knows this firsthand, who has already talked about his experience of introducing Advance technologies into his life and the life of his family.
Now, so that others know and do not give in to difficulties, Vasily Svanov shares the continuation of his story.
For more than 15 years I have been working in the commercial service of the Elamed company (engaged in the production of medical equipment) in the Ryazan region. As we work, we frequently evaluate employees. I assessed myself 5 years ago and saw that my career was going down, not up. I decided to act, to urgently take measures so as not to be left without work in the province.
Having identified the problems, I realized that they needed to be solved through teaching memorization techniques. I started training on my own - it lasted 1.5 years, but it did not bring the result I was striving for.
In April 2020, I learned about Advance and decided to give it a try. The online course became the basis and system, and free materials from the newsletter helped to train. I managed to change the organization of work. Now I use numerical coding techniques every day at work and at home. I have all the passwords and phone numbers in my head, and I also reproduce bank card and passport data from memory. Every day I set aside time to study a new specialty that I am mastering in a related industry.
Most importantly, my self-confidence returned. Now I know exactly how long it will take to master new material and am confident that I will study the specialty I have chosen.
In the meantime, my concerns about the work were confirmed; in 2017, optimization began at the enterprise. Management cut “overheated salaries” by 15-20%. Among other things, the terms of my contract were changed and my salary was reduced. In addition, 10% of the staff were fired.
All this time I was studying using Advance methods. At one point, I realized that the best training is right at the workplace, and I prepared the idea for a new project. My new competencies and perseverance worked! I spent most of 2020 working on a new project that interested me. The result is an increase in salaries by 16% by 2020, contrary to the general pattern (see table No. 1).
I went ahead and uploaded my income data into Excel and noticed a downward trend. Table No. 2 (predicting how my salary would move without the project) shows that each year would be characterized by a decrease in income compared to the past. In other words, if I had left everything as is, I would have received less than 198 thousand rubles in 2018. Thus, subtracting the cost of the “Become a Genius” course, from which it all began (14,900 rubles), we get an income of 183 thousand rubles.
Monitoring hh.ru also showed a disappointing picture. We, people over 40, are not needed by the labor market. Our experience is not adapted to other organizations, therefore, it is not clear how to get a higher salary. However, there is a clear confidence in my head that I will work for a very long time, constantly learning new material. At the same time, I will choose my own job. This is the asset I still have after implementing Advance technologies.
How to deal with the fear of losing your job
If you cannot avoid this fear, then you need to learn to cope with it and prevent it from developing into an obsessive anxiety-phobic disorder. Phobias are much more difficult to deal with, and only a psychotherapist can cope with this.
Increased self-esteem
Most often, fear is associated with low self-esteem. A person does not see extraordinary abilities in himself.
Dealing with this feeling is quite simple if you approach the issue responsibly. You need to learn to love yourself and respect your work. Most people with low self-esteem try to take on as much work as possible in order to compensate for quality with quantity. It is not right.
There are several ways to combat low self-esteem and the associated fear of job loss:
- Silence your inner critic. This is nothing more than an inner voice that constantly tells a person “you are lazy”, “you cannot do your job”, “you are a loser”. It is necessary to identify these thoughts in time and replace them with positive ones. It is known that thoughts are material, so you need to get rid of negativity.
- Finding your advantages allows you to find your best sides. Every person is good at something. This predisposition to some activity must be found and developed in oneself. In this a person can find his calling.
- Gratitude to yourself. During your working day, you can take just two minutes to thank yourself for your achievements. Gratitude and praise motivate and give strength for new achievements.
- Record your achievements for the day. In the evening, you can take a notebook and write down 3-4 things in which you won.
These simple techniques can increase self-esteem and help the applicant present himself well at an interview. A person who adequately evaluates himself will not be afraid of losing his job, and if this happens, he will regard it as an opportunity to find a more suitable and interesting place.
The devil is not as scary as he is painted
The fear of being fired often stems from fear of change and the unknown ahead. The person worries that he will not be able to get a job again and will be left without a livelihood. Getting fired is not the worst thing that can happen in life. This fear can be overcome if you weigh the pros and cons of your current job.
You need to take a piece of paper and write down the positive and negative aspects of your position. When the list is completed, you will be able to see what prevails.
If there are more disadvantages, then this place of work is not optimal for you. If an employee is fired, he will have a chance to get rid of the old one and find better working conditions, to prove himself in another type of activity.
Escape routes
To overcome the fear of being fired, you need to prepare escape routes for yourself. If a person is fired, he will have a backup plan of action. You need to work out this scheme in advance: It’s worth starting with something simple:
- call for vacancies that interest you and find out about working conditions and wages,
- prepare a resume and send it to potential employers,
- Prepare a speech to feel more comfortable at the interview.
If at this stage of preparation a suitable option is found, then you can safely go to a new job. This will not only help you avoid stress, but will also significantly improve your self-esteem.
To get rid of fear, you should call for interesting vacancies
Preparing escape routes will help you mentally prepare for a possible job change. Even if a suitable option is not found, the person will already be familiar with the labor market offers and the average salary in his sector.
Causes of fear
When a company goes through a wave of layoffs, each employee wonders: will I be next? This obsessive thought haunts and greatly depresses a person. There can be a lot of reasons, they are individual for each person. Fear may arise due to:
- self-doubt,
- low self-esteem,
- understanding that the level of professionalism in this area is low,
- previous errors in work,
- constant rivalry in the team.
The human nervous system is subjected to severe pressure, which can over time develop into prolonged stress. Men are often susceptible to this, since they are most often the main breadwinners in the family. The fear of losing their job also appears among women during maternity leave. The law prohibits dismissing such employees, but they themselves begin to doubt their professionalism due to a long break in work. They are afraid that they will not be able to cope with their job responsibilities after returning from maternity leave.
