Job hunting

[bakingmummy21]

DH got told yesterday he is being made redundant - but thankfully will be getting a fairly decent package as part of it which should cover him for at least 6 months. However I am absolutely terrified of the uncertainty of him not having a job. He was the main earner - but not by much thankfully and I am just about to go back to work after Mat leave but even so we need both salaries to pay the mortgage.

He has started looking for new roles but was saying today he doesn’t know if he should apply as technically he hasn’t signed all the termination paperwork. I’m worried he’s just going to take a back seat for a bit.

AIBU to expect him to search for a new job immediately even though he’s technically paid for 6 months?! I don’t want to be an annoying nag but the thought of him not getting a new job isn’t great and it impacts our ability to plan anything for this year like holidays etc. as we don’t know when he’ll be back in work.

I just know how long the hiring process can take and how hard the market might be. His old job wasn’t particularly taxing so it’s not as if he’s burnt out and needs a break…

YANBU some organisations hiring processes take forever.

Same thing happened to me. I guess it depends on when he can officially start a new job. He's allowed to attend interviews etc whilst he's still undergoing the consultation. So as long as potential new employers know his start date then it's probably wise to get out to market

However it can be mentally demoralising to be made redundant. So it's important to be as gently supportive and encouraging as you can. He might be thinking about using this six months to look at other options or a career change. Have the conversation with him

We are hiring for about 20 roles right now and not finding anyone! I'm sure he'll be absolutely fine.

Mine was made redundant similarly and didn't make any effort when he had the momentum of working his notice to 'take time to himself' to find what he wanted to do. Fine, initially. He rapidly shrank into depression once he'd left the job though, didn't apply for anything, and then it took over a year to find his feet again.

It's definitely easier to find a job when you're in a job (even if you're leaving it).

I voted YABU, not because I disagree with anything you’ve said about hiring cycles taking a long time etc BUT I do think you need to give him a bit of slack because being made redundant can be really impactful emotionally. By all means sit down with him and discuss a time line for him to be looking, discuss what fears he may have about looking for something else, how he feels about being made redundant. Write some budget plans to make that 6 months money stretch as far as possible. Air your concerns but also check in on him, it’s a lot to deal with.

Remember that redundancy payments are tax free up to £30k, so it might last you longer than you think.

what industry is DH in?

Thanks all really helpful comments. He is in programmatic advertising and there do seem to be roles out there, albeit some are a bit more junior. I think he’d be open to taking a pay cut and it’s a good time to potentially be moving sideways rather than upwards whilst our kids are so young. You’re right some of the payment is tax free so we’ll stretch it as far as we can.

Give him a minute