by Ashley
My job has been a bit rough lately. I’m in academia and the university I work for has recently handed down major budget cuts from central administration. The cuts are sweeping and are affecting every department, even those that had been doing well financially (like mine!). As part of the mandatory cuts, my Department Head recently had to let go of one staff member and one faculty member.
I’ve never worked anywhere before when layoffs like this have occurred. It’s just the worst. Many folks in the office have developed personal friendships with colleagues and losing a team member means more work for everyone else. It all begs the question..
How do you all handle super low morale in your workplace?
I have a leadership role within my unit and I know others will be looking to me in the wake of these layoffs. People want reassurance that their positions are safe and there’s a whole mix of emotions right now – sad, mad, scared, etc. And just on an interpersonal level, morale is in the gutter. I don’t want to be insensitive to the situation, but is there a way to help folks cope with the losses and to move toward a more positive work environment?
I’d love to hear about others’ thoughts or past experiences. Right now is such a tough time. Inflation means so many people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. And when you know people personally – know their kids names and sports and their hobbies and interests, etc. – it makes it that much harder to lose them during economic downturns.
And at the same time, everyone wants to enjoy their workplace. We spend so much of our lives at work – it’s terrible for it to feel like an icky place to go in the morning. We’ve historically had so much comradery and our teams are so close. I’d hate to see these losses cause permanent damage to the culture of the department.
Any sage advice from others who have walked this path before?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
I would never tell someone they didn’t have to worry that you won’t be let go. listen to them and try to be as upbeat as you can during this time. If you think your job is affected start looking now.
I have been there, in academia. You start looking for a new job, because it can take a very long time to find one. You also need to watch out for further signs of trouble like attrition, reducing salaries through neglecting to give raises for years on end, taking people on 12-month contracts and making them 9 month, retirement incentives, etc.
My first job out of grad school was 15-ish years ago. The people still working at my first workplace? Still making the same salary I was 15 years ago, which is now barely 10K above poverty thresh hold for the state, except the university is in a major metro area. The university engages in the above methods, and it’s always in drips so you don’t feel too much pain at once. Then one day you wake up and realize you’re in major debt just to meet your basic necessities. Don’t wait around hoping it will get better.
This is really good advice! Thank you!
My advice has always been simple. Job security only exists in the form of being able to quickly land another job if you lose yours. To obtain that, you need mad skills at what you do and a large network of people who are familiar with your top of breed skills. if you are an average performer then you will never have it, it’s always been that way. If you can’t be world class at what you are doing then you need to find what you can excel at. if you develop mastery of a skill set valued by the marketplace you will achieve job satisfaction and you’ll never fear unemployment. There will be people lined up waiting to pay you more money.
I have a unique (and in-demand) skillset and have often had people tell me it’d be easy to find another job as a result. I don’t know if it’s really that easy though. I think I could definitely work on the “forming a large network” part of your advice!
I have been a higher education budget cut and it is no fun. This was after 17 years, three promotions, and consistently above average performance evaluations. There’s no way to assure someone they won’t lose their job at this point. Things change so quickly. I would focus on skills. Any type of skill building that you can find (for you or for them), you should be doing. LinkedIn Learning has a great selection of online courses to help improve marketability.
I probably read this on a clickbait article somewhere but some of the concepts ring true if you can execute carefully/in a positive way: work with staff on ensuring their resumes/CVs are current. Review each other’s—what are you underestimating or not including? Who are your references? What skills should you be beefing up now? How can you help each other get these skills? Practice interviews?