Anyone else live in fear of losing their job?

[JukeboxJive2]

I am coming up to the one year mark since something happened that completely knocked me off my feet… I was taken into a room without warning by my line manager and offered a protected conversation. No signs. No build up. No honest chats. Just blindsided out of a senior management role I had worked hard for and successfully progressed in for years.

The fallout was rough. I had never experienced anything like it. I went from a strong track record and steady momentum to months of gardening leave, panic, rumination and feeling like the ground had gone from under me. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to the edge. I somehow landed some lucrative contracting work as a stop gap, and I am now (thankfully!) in a new role that is well paid, although the company is pretty unstable. Huge transformation ongoing, lots of legacy underperformance issues and currently running a skeleton staff, meaning a need for me to pitch in with operational tasks I moved on from nearly a decade ago.

None of that is a real issue. What I am struggling with is the constant feeling that it could all happen again. It is like my brain is always preparing for the worst. I had never been a worrier before this. I feel this sense of impending doom and I do not know how to switch it off.

Has anyone else been through something similar after a sudden exit? How did you stop waiting for the next rug pull? I’m only 36 so I still have a long working existence to tackle. I would really appreciate hearing how other people got through this or what helped level things out.

I understand the feeling, I've been in a role for a year, the company has done two rounds of redundancy, the sector is notoriously shaky.

In 2026 I'm going to focus on savings, and I'm researching income protection insurance.

Redundant 2017 after 9.5 years in the job, then 2019, then 2021, then 2024, and redundancy again in September 2025.

So got used to it. Jobs these days may be 18 months, 2 years, but the days of being in a job for a decade are long gone as far as I can see.

Have a large emergency fund, then financially it does not matter. Have multiple streams of income so if you lose one you still have another.

I feel this way all the time. Partly I’m a natural worrier - and the sole earner for my family with really no financial buffer, so very aware of the consequences of any loss of income - but also partly I think some trauma related to seeing my boss suddenly got rid of, which is what gave me the opportunity to move up to my current role in the first place. Constant feeling of it could happen to me too.

Sometimes talking myself through the differences between my performance and his - for you the differences between your current role / company / work and before? - helps, but tbh there’s just a low level anxiety all the time. Perhaps just natural after your experiences and will take time to soften? Perhaps some therapy / coaching would help? Maybe it is a feeling we can use to motivate us!

I’ve been made redundant 3 times, failed probation once, and have made it through 2 rounds of redundancy in my current role. I’m in my 50s. I don’t spend loads of time thinking about it, I accepted a long time ago that there is virtually no job security to be had, at least in the private sector. I’ve concentrated on saving so that I have security that way, though I know saving is not an option for everyone.

I think PP is right, job security is much rarer these days.
Its helps a bit to be proactive, so financially, save a decent cushion, maybe look into income replacement insurance.
skills wise, take every opportunity to enhance your skill base (training, projects, etc) - think about how you would describe these at interview or on your cv, make sure there are milestones and measurable targets ( so “ I led an initiative that saved x% of costs, rather than, “ I was part of a cost-saving initiative “

there is a thing called “making your boss look good”, mostly good practice anyway, make sure you have clearly defined and measurable targets and goals, understand what your bosses goals are and the company’s and how yours fit into those. If you have targets that don’t feed into the higher level ones, question them

and keep up your network within the wider industry

I was sacked (technically compromise agreement) from a CFO job this year. Now working at a much lower level, but with an ok salary in a small pleasant office.

I leave on the dot at 430 and sleep like a baby.

I do have the "benefit" of being 54 with no mortgage and grown up DD.

Still, confidence took a massive knock and I wonder who I am sometimes.

On an abstract level I don't see the point of work anymore other than salary

Similar to you I had an unblemished record until a manager came in who didn’t understand what I did told me I was underperforming and put me in the wringer with PIP etc before making me redundant at 54! So I didn’t have pension payments to fall on. I got a new job quickly and they get my experience and expertise and told I’m exceeding expectations so go figure. However someone told me in the 3.6 years she’d been in the job there had been about 9-9 people come and go and left due to “health reasons” including someone since I’ve been there so it is there in the back of my mind! Luckily I’m contracted out for a year so I think therell
be stability but I don’t think anywhere is stable right now! I would have been ok if they hadn’t got PIP tastic and just said business is bad so you have to go! They got PIP tastic with others but a real head fuck and I’d still like to tell them what for! You can only deal with what is in front of you! It all works out eventually!

Yes, in a similar situation right now. Have been blindsided by feedback from managers, which I am still vainly processing as only a couple of months ago.

Transitioned to a new role (same business area) but my team is under-performing/ non existent, requiring me to lean in on things I don't normally do, revealing weaknesses to new managers. There feels like very little space for me to add value, using my particular skill set.

Am basically on a downward trajectory and scrambling to get out of it by trying to steady things at work, and job hunt.

The only comfort is that I have managed sticky situations before, and will manage this too.

How are you feeling now, OP?

A few years ago I didn't have job security but there was market security, a sense that if the worst happened I'd find something else before too long. Unfortunately due to the current jobs/ economy clusterfuck there is no longer market security. I dont fear losing my job so much as losing my job and not being able to get another one

I get where you are coming from completely OP.

I came back to this thread to recommend the classic “Feel the fear and do it anyway” by Susan Jeffers. The audiobook is an easy listen (albeit the author has a slightly annoying voice) or you should be able to get a paperback copy for a couple of quid as it’s a pretty old book.

it helps you to get out of the place of fear - yes there will be life events that you cannot control which wreck or disrupt your plans - but you WILL cope

Constantly. I work for a job where I used to have a good deal of autonomy, when suddenly the owner decided to take a more active role and I now need to ask for permission for literally anything I do. This has has eroded my self-confidence and motivation.

I tried applying for other roles but the job market is rubbish at the moment. I think I sent out 50 applications and got 1 interview (which wasn't a brilliant match, to say the least).

I feel stuck and scared, and I long for job security more than anything. I have a mortgage and young children. I always thought I'd be earning more by now, and life would be easier, but instead I'm still on the same salary I was on 5 years ago but with much higher costs and less job security.

My coping mechanism is to picture the worst that could happen - having to sell the house, living on my husband's meagre income, travelling to get to the children's school, selling off my belongings as they wouldn't fit in a much smaller home. In a weird way, it would possibly be a relief.

I was told on Tuesday I’m being made redundant. I’ve only ever had massively long service roles.

There is nothing out there at the moment to apply for but I do have a decent cushion of savings.

This has never happened to me, I have no idea what the future holds. Do I feel horrendous? Yes I do. Will this knock me for a long time? Maybe. I saw it coming but it’s still a shock.

However, I have kids and bills so let’s see what happens.

Am used to 15 years as a contractor so zero job security except your last contract/reputation. Been a challenge but the last 2 years has been impossible to get decent roles - never seen a job market like it! (Work in finance). Have massively stepped down the skills ladder as have relocated, no mortgage or kids and still struggling. Am doing basic work I've not done in 10 plus years and thankful for it. I had a contract role that started in Sept and was going really well...until the boss called me and told me I was being let go. Glowing feedback but they just don't need me anymore! His plan is to take over the finance function which will end in disaster but oh well. On to the next. But you are always looking over your shoulder....

I’m 20 years younger than you and have never seen the point of work other than to pay for the things I want in life. Don’t get me wrong I have a career I enjoy and want to progress in but ultimately work is a transactional and often exploitative exchange and we should all treat it with healthy suspicion. I’m freelance which is both more and less secure than full time work - more in that I’m not relying on one job and one job only, I have multiple clients and the concept of loyalty isn’t there in the same way as a full time job, but less in that it’s unpredictable and you don’t always know where the next paycheck is coming from. I agree with others the ideas of loyalty and job security in general are not the same today as they were even 10/20 years ago. The answer for me is just not to buy into them in the first place.

Yes, constantly live in fear, past redundancy and menopause has totally eroded my self confidence. Also, experiencing poverty and home insecurity as a child, and constantly having to move, and bring up children with disabilities, constant background anxiety. There’s no such thing as job security or employment for life anymore - they can get rid of you whenever they like!

I could have written this.
Constant financial and job security anxiety after a terrible experience at my last company.

Love my newish job (18 months in) but the company is on shaky ground, full of incompetent company lifers and everything needs to change from the ground up.

Because of my role I see huge issues facing the company every day and I have to constantly deliver bad news. I’m loving my responsibilities though and my boss is the best manager I’ve worked for.

A similar role, although less appealing in terms of scope, but in a bigger and more successful company has been advertised and I find myself constantly checking that it’s not been filled.

Other than that jobs are scarce due to the specialist role (currently 4 roles worldwide advertised!). Really torn as to what to do.

I’ve found myself obsessively hoarding money in case of disaster!

Yes, and the march of AI and the possible negative implications add to the fear. I’m about to deplete my savings to single handedly take on a small mortgage at age 50, with no family support and on a modest salary, no inheritance imminent, so if I lose my job I’m screwed.

Waiting now to see if im going to be redundant. I just need to know! Everyone is applying for other roles but not much out there. I have found support here (under a different name).

yes feel like that every day. I feel like u am watching myself working every day with the fear of being pulled in to hr. I gave been made redundant twice, forced out of my role but manged a payout twice. have dealt with toxic managers and many mergers and takeovers aswell as short term contracts. now on my role 7 years get good praise full bonus etc but I want move up or leave. have autinomony can do it with my eyes closed etc. but live in fear of rocking that boat and it crashing down. so stay put plus now have a long term chronic pain condition so this allows me flexibility for that which am thankfull for. just need to get mortgage paid off savings increase then can retire and breath

Yes, permanently.

I’m on a visa that is tied to my specific job and if I lost my job I would have just 60 days to find another one or leave the country (a country I love and want to build a life in). I’m also in a market where redundancies are common, every 1-3 years.

So yeah, I’m in a constant state of anxiety that my whole world could be ripped apart at any moment.

That happened to my friend about a year ago and she lost her job a month later, she's been unable to find work since