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Original poster

Tell me your positive redundancy stories!

37 replies

Bluesky5512 · 08/08/2023 06:36

I found out yesterday that I was being made redundant. My position is being eliminated. I’ve been with this company (tech) for over 3yrs. Gave it my everything, incl frequent international travel and late night US calls. They have me enormous flexibility in return, that I’m really grateful for.

If you were made redundant before and it ended well for you, pls could you share your stories? I have a long road ahead of me, but feeling really down and demotivated.

OP posts:
JobChangeSoonPlease · 08/08/2023 06:42

Same boat.

Applied for other jobs. Landed a superb role with 40% more pay. Also got my enhanced redundancy pay so had an expensive holiday between jobs.

Toooldtoworry · 08/08/2023 06:42

I've worked in financial services for over 20 years. Been made redundant multiple times. Every single time I've walked into a higher paid, better role for me even if its taken me initially into a slightly different direction.

My most recent redundancy (2019) was brilliant because it forced me out of my comfort zone and I excelled in my new role, in a new company (to me) and I've subsequently been promoted.

Money is much better.

Hours much better.

Now @Bluesky5512 take a deep breath, dust off the CV, get on LinkedIn and look for that job you want to do. Only question I have is can you afford to wait for the perfect job, or do you need to be working immediately? If you need immediate try and find a 'fill-in' job.

Original poster
Bluesky5512 · 08/08/2023 06:53

@Toooldtoworry luckily I have savings. I am more worried about the stress and impact on mental health.

OP posts:
ellesbellesxxx · 08/08/2023 06:54

Sorry to hear this x

my husband got made redundant just before lockdown. He was put on gardening leave for three months and used that time to look for jobs. He got offered three jobs in total and the one he took is his dream job! He also now happens to earn more which was also good 😊
good luck x

Eminybob · 08/08/2023 06:55

I got my dream job after being made redundant! Best thing that ever happened to me.

My circumstances were different to yours though.
I'd worked in the same job for 18 year, hated it, so as soon as VR came up I jumped on it. Was able to take a good payout and take a pay cut to do something I really wanted to do. I interviewed for my current employer before I'd formally been served notice and then had to wait out 3 months of notice before I could leave (bastards wouldn't give me garden leave or release me early)

Almost 2 years and 2 promotions later, here I am in a much better position in a much better company, living life!

Toooldtoworry · 08/08/2023 07:02

Bluesky5512 · 08/08/2023 06:53

@Toooldtoworry luckily I have savings. I am more worried about the stress and impact on mental health.

It is one of the scariest things that can happen to you. I know it isn't easy but try and see it as an opportunity.

I don't know if this is the first time you've been made redundant, but that was the worst one for me. Once I knew I'd still be able to find work after the first one I felt more confident when it happened again.

ohsoso · 08/08/2023 07:13

Same boat OP. Really sorry you’re going this. Gave the company my all and just felt utterly let down and upset to be let go. I veered between angry and bewildered and was all over the place.

Anyway, I used my redundancy pay for a lovely house and holiday which was a bonus.

I’ll be honest - I jumped into the first better paid job I saw going which was the wrong move for me. I needed time out to relax after an intense few years and consider my options as I was really stressed by the whole redundancy process and shock of it. But I was really nervous about being out of the workforce too long. In retrospect, I had savings and my payout and should have just taken a little time out.

I’ve now changed job - actually changed entire sector! - and love it! Better pay and benefits. Better flexibility. Better career prospects.

Good luck!

CheshireDing · 08/08/2023 07:18

I have been made redundant twice, even though I had a good idea it was coming the second time (so was ahead in terms of job searching) it’s still a weird shock. I think it’s mostly because it’s not your choice

Definitely better off now though !

you will be fine OP

endoflevelbaddy · 08/08/2023 07:23

You might just find it's just the motivation you need to find your dream job.

I was made redundant last Monday, started my new exciting role on Tuesday. I'm back working with my favourite colleague / friend who was made redundant in an earlier round a couple of years ago, got a 20% pay rise, I've had a nice boost to my savings and booked a dream holiday to surprise the kids with.

I honestly can't believe my luck.

Whatafustercluck · 08/08/2023 07:24

This happened to me in 2015. I too walked into a much better paid job, with a huge amount of flexibility. It worked really well for 6 years.

Sadly I'm just about to leave that job following a restructure. I chose not to take a role in the newly restructured team because it stunts my progression significantly and comes with a big pay decrease. So I'm effectively redundant again. Weirdly though I'm finding it hugely liberating and feel quite positive as I think I've got stuck in a rut and this is forcing me to think differently. It helps having a lump sum though to ease the pressure.

A very wise friend of mine, whose judgement I trust implicitly, said to me recently that out of life's biggest challenges come the greatest opportunities. New doors open.

You'll be fine op, we both will be. 🙂

LadyAsnowt · 08/08/2023 07:56

Made redundant at 52 in late 2020 - the small business I worked for didn't survive covid (or, more precisely, lockdown). Picked up bits of temp work for six months then started a business with a former colleague. It's been hard work and long hours, but we're doing OK, and I've never enjoyed work more.

DinoDaddy · 08/08/2023 07:59

My husband just lost his job in tech. He was still on his probation period so when they made loads of cuts he was the first to go. He was on 90k and didn't really love the job. Almost immediately got contacted on LinkedIn by another company and they offered him a job at 150k and he loves his new role compared to his old one.

Tulipblank · 08/08/2023 08:05

I was made redundant as a result of the 2007/7 financial crash. Redundancy payment covered 6 months off work, and I managed to get a much better job, in an area I wanted to go into (but hasn't quite dared to previously) with a 60% pay increase. Never looked back.

There were a few low moments, and it was quite difficult job searching, and getting rejected, but in hindsight it was the best thing to happen to me career wise.

gettingolderbutcooler · 08/08/2023 08:07

Got a more local job (no more commuting!) and a promotion!

BatsHaveButtcheeks · 08/08/2023 08:11

Redundant, after furlough for 5 months, from a job I'd been in for just over 2 years, so hardly any payout. We'd just moved (a do er upper), and my business I'd been building, was decimated due to covid. I was in a bad place mentally.

I didn't have the amazing luck other PPs had, with huge salary increases/dream jobs etc - but I rebuilt my business (now beginning to thrive again), and I started my allied health professional degree, that's going well.

Now I can look back and say it was the best thing to happen. I'm genuinely happy with my life, doing what I love, studying what I love. I sleep, I'm calm, I'm not chasing my tail, and burnt out, like I was in my corporate job. It took a long time, but it's where I'm meant to be, and sometimes, the ride there is fucking awful.

Ginmonkeyagain · 08/08/2023 08:11

Got made redundant in 2015, wasn't too sad as I had grown to hate the job (TUPE'd to an organisation that wasn't a good fit).

I had a decent payout and three months PILON so I volunteered and got a fixed term contract within six weeks of being made redundant.

That fixed contract led to me getting a permanent job in area I had been trying to get in to previously but lacked relevant experience - it is a better paid area with better conditions.

I used the payout to redo our bathroom and overpay our mortgage. So all in all it was a good thing!

MintJulia · 08/08/2023 08:21

I worked for a small tech co before Covid. Been there four years, through the last four years of ds being at primary school. All good except one sales person who made my life a misery, lying and mis-briefing behind my back etc.

Then Covid, company had to curtail operations and I was furloughed, then made redundant.

It was fab not to have to put up with that arse of a salesperson anymore. I hadn't realised how stressed I was. Despite being 58 I moved to a better job, wfh 4 days a week, better money, better team. Such a relief.

Now three years down the line, I see they were useful as an employer because they were close to the primary school, they allowed certain flexibility when ASC was cancelled on Fridays and I had to take late lunches to collect ds at 3pm, drop him at home and go back to work for a couple of hours. So they served a purpose. But they were sexist & racist (long story) and I'm glad I don't work there any more. Redundancy was a good thing in the end because I would have been tempted to hang on.

Ariela · 08/08/2023 08:21

My bestie's hubby was made redundant after 23 years, around 12 years ago. Used his pay off to set himself up self employed doing the same sort of work. Now works a max 2-3 days per week and earns about 4 x as much. At the time he was very bitter and depressed about it - the company he thinks only got rid because as the most senior he was paid slightly more - but now realises it was the best thing & they did him a favour, he has the time at home & a heck of a lot more money.

GloryBees · 08/08/2023 08:25

Made redundant 4 months after returning from maternity leave. They took all my clients and didn’t give them back to me.

It took a few months but landed a great new job in a different industry. Took a punt as it was a fixed term contract. Ten years and 4 promotions later I’m head of department and doing a job I could only dream of. Building a new team from scratch.

Back yourself. Redundancy in the tech sector is more common than ever. I escaped a very toxic work environment and found a really great company.

juicelooseabootthishoose · 08/08/2023 08:44

Im in Tech. Happened to me late last year. I was treat as well as they could (it wasn't a rich company) so ended ok. Three months gardening leave and small amount of redundancy pay Took a month off to detox and then spent 2 months looking for work. The job market was quiet and i was a bit nervous. It was purely economics and it really was not personal so I left with my head held high.

But in the end. I only had one month on no pay. And that was waiting to start a job i had found. I got a job via my network in the end as oppose to linkedin etc. Just passed my probation there and i love it. It all worked out ok.

You are in a good industry to find something else. It will be fine!

EATmum · 08/08/2023 09:18

When I was in your situation it really shook me. I spent several months applying for jobs and working out what I wanted to do. One thing I found to be true is that businesses like you to be working - it was when I took a temp role (something nothing at all to do with my profession or at my skill level) that I suddenly got several offers. It also was great for my mental health to be working again and feeling valued, so I'd advocate getting a temp role if the right job isn't immediately available. Good luck.

Roundtheworldin7days · 08/08/2023 09:24

I was made redundant after 20+ years from a tech job
Unemployed for approx 6 weeks
My contacts enabled me to find a new job & I moved to a new location

Use your transferable skills & contacts

Good luck

echt · 08/08/2023 09:30

I took redundancy when my HOD position was combined with another (think Science + Arts) and both HODs invited to apply for the shitshow. I took redundancy and spent one year as HOD in a horrible school before resigning and getting another in a better place. Better money and holidays than my first job.

Yes, the combining of roles was to get me out, and the role was readvertised as two separate ones year later. Twats.

All round better and I never looked back.

Lovegossip · 08/08/2023 09:36

Mine is a bit of good luck

Company announced restructuring and several teams were being moved to other locations (overseas) with a small support team in the uk (not in home town but up north)

I helped to train both teams and was eventually given my redundancy notice, the day afterwards one of the support team members announced they were leaving, I was asked to stay on as a temp as they couldn't reverse the redundancy once it was on place then 3 months later got taken back permanently wfh with occasional visits to up north office

Weirdly my previous job I was at for 11 years got made redundant and immediately started panicking, hadn't been out of work for 15 years and the job market had changed so much, I was given a good package which allowed me to stop panicking and take my time finding something suitable which I did 6 months later and met dh on 1st day of the job

MissAmbrosia · 08/08/2023 09:38

I was made redundant (quite unexpectedly) after 14 years, aged 51. I updated my linkedin profile, got some references, and started looking. The first company I applied to (was a really good fit) offered me a job with more money and better car allowance. I left old job on a Fri and started new one on Mon with a large 5 figure payout. New job is much better/nicer company culture so it was definitely a win/win scenario.