What did you do when you were made redundant?

[BridgertonToBe]

Did you take the first job offered, or wait until something appropriate came up? If the latter, how long did it take?

My first redundancy, I because quite ill with worry but I found a job quickly. I wouldn’t have taken it if I had a choice but I was terrified about being unemployed. It was a bad decision, the job really affected me and I got out after a year.

I now spend my life looking over my shoulder thinking it’s going to happen again. There is a chance it could happen in the next year.

I would hope to be able to get a job that suited me but the thought is terrifying. I’m worried my age will go against me as I’m at an age where I should be more senior but I’m not. I would be competing against people a fair bit younger than me. I know to my can’t discriminate but I’m wary.

I've only had it happen once and was gutted because it paid well, was 10mins walk from home and generally very good.

I grew up abroad and spent a few months there after the redundancy. I re-joined a temp agency I'd been with about 15yrs beforehand- much less pay, but thought its better to have something. My old boss contacted me about another job role with a company she knew. I got the job, but I hated it. Micro management, my boss and owner had absolutely no experience in the sector, expected us to work 10hr+ days and only paid for 8. I got out after 8mths.

I do think about whether my role will be redundant again but only in fleeting thoughts, but to worry all the time would gnaw away at you. I'd ensure your CV is up to date and if you do think redundancy might happen again or you just want out, then put your feelers out, update linkedin and start looking elsewhere.

Incredible really, how shocking this government has been. The word “redundancy” is so common at the moment.

I was made redundant albeit with a generous package. Looking for something now (after a year off) but bring mid 50s it’s not easy. I don’t blame the government @hulkincredible, I think it’s a combination of problems including AI and (in my line of work - compliance) Trump is having a very negative impact.

I will keep plugging away. More interest in the past month than there’s been for a while so fingers crossed.

I fully expect to be made redundant in the next round of redundancies because I’m an easy target (mid-30s woman, getting married soon, want to have a baby / need Mat leave). But we’ve had high churn so I think we’re 18 months - 2 years away from the next round. I just hope I can get pregnant in that time…

Edit to add: I would probably take a short career break, especially if DP can negotiate a short sabbatical at the same time, then come back and look for a filler job while I look for the right role / wait for the market to pick up.

I’ve been made redundant twice. The first time it was a fairly positive experience as I was younger and had no commitments (pre kids) and I got a decent amount of money. I got a job on a similar salary after about 2 months, which was the first one offered. But it’s probably no coincidence that that job turned out to be wrong for me and I left it after only 18 months having had a really stressful time.
The 2nd time was last year and was much harder (now mid 40s with 2 kids). Payoff was only 3 months pay or so. I was out of work for 4 months, had one job offer that I had to turn down due to a lack of flexible working, and ended up taking a job that was a massive pay cut and I was overqualified for. Have since left it for something a bit better, but my pay is still 25% down on what it was at the beginning of 2025 so it’s been a hard pill to swallow.

That sounds tough - may I ask which industry? I do think finding a job in 2-4 months is good going though, especially as redundancies tend to happen when the market is soft. I’m in finance and when we’re cutting jobs, other similar companies are also cutting jobs…

I've had two experiences of redundancy.

First time round it was at the end of mat leave (nothing dodgy, there were genuinely redundancies, not just me) and I started looking as soon as DS was a year old... I didn't hurry massively because I had an older child who wasn't in school yet and I couldn't have earned enough to cover x2 full time childcare, so in fact the redundancy, as I got a decent payout for long service, wasn't that badly timed. Turned out I needed the payout though as it took me 6 months to find something. It wasn't an especially awful market I was just at an awkward career stage in a small field (specialist non-fiction editorial) and there weren't many roles at my level.

I did take the first job offered because it had been 6 months, my oldest was at school by then and as it happened, it was a really nice job that I loved and stayed in for 9 years. Despite gritting my teeth and fearing I'd had to take the same or less money than before in the months leading up to it, I asked for, and got, a few K more than my previous role.

Second time I was only out for a month - I pivoted to an adjacent technical writing area where my skills were in demand and got offered something quite fast. I was a bit worried about whether ageism would creep in, as I'm 46, but didn't seem to be an issue. It's a higher pressure more demanding job, but now my kids are older I can cope with that.

The first time (mid 1990s) I went for the first job in a related field and hated it and lasted 3 months, then a second in a similar field and hated it and failedmy probationperiod. Then went and joined a temp agency. I went on my first assignment and got taken on. Stayed 7 years.
The second time (2022) I was already on sick leave. I was still not recovered when my notice period was up so claimed ESA. When I failed the phone interview (to give her her due the assessor says its difficult to get when you have a broken bone as the expectation is that you get better). Then spent 3 months with no income until I got my current job. It doesn't set my world on fire but pays the bills.

First time was in 2003. I did some temp work, a day or two a week via an agency. Took about 6 months to get permanent work, which ended up lasting 5 months as I realised that working in an office was not for me.

Then went on to do a job I liked, less hours so suplemented with some temp agency work. Job ended after a year, so redundancy without any redundancy pay. Took a couple of months to find another job, which I was then in for over 9 years.

Redundancy can give you the chance to try other things.

I got a small redundancy pay out of about £4.5k. I went through bank statements with fine toothcomb and got rid of any subscriptions I could make do without. I stopped all non essential spending, nights out, takeaways etc. I polished up my CV and luckily got another job in same sector about 9 weeks later. Unemployment was about 3 percent at the time. Now it's 5.2 and rising especially it's much higher among entry level jobs. In these circumstances I'd take whatever was on offer and if it paid a lot less or I was not keen on it I'd stick it out but look for an alternative job.

6 weeks after being made redundant I took a temporary 6 month backfill position in a FMCG company to get experience as my previous manufacturing experience was very different. It was a basic supply chain role, with a much lower wage, bloody hard work firefighting problems, but it was temporary and fine for the experience I wanted of FMCG.

The temporary contract was extended twice to a year as the role holders secondment was extended. Then a perfect internal vacancy in IT came up which was aligned with my skills and I’ve been there in various roles for 12 years now working on global projects. The temporary role gave me a great insight to the (broken) processes and systems and the impact something that seems insignificant to IT can have.

Cried. Went home. Printed off my CV. Walked into temp agency in town and spent afternoon doing tests.

Job next day - miles away though. Thankfully next one was nearer.

However... times have definitely changed.

Recently changed jobs and it's crazy out there - everything takes so much effort and so much time, even when you accept a job.

Took 48hrs to mope then started job hunting
started with
jobs I want, local through to jobs I want, further away and secured one in option 2
was made redundant from that one as well after 2 months
did the same again. Secured one I wanted, locally and was without a job for a total of 9 days

I got a decent pay off as I had been with same company for 10 years. I took a couple of months off then started a business with it. It was the right thing to do but covid was extremely tough and after 4 years I wound up and got a job (fairly easily, this was 5 years ago). I now fear redundancy again and worry a lot.

DH got made redundant a few years ago and had six months off but then found a job which was actually much better than the last one so he did well out of it. I worry a LOT about what would happen if he got made redundant again because my job is pretty precarious and his is very very niche. Or if both of us did, which def could happen.

I freelanced for nine months whilst I decided what I wanted to do/waited for the right opportunity to come along.

It was 2007, so recession, I had 6 months mortgage insurance cover and a 3 month non compete … started preparing to launch a new company the next day. The company will be 20 years old next year … offices in UK and USA, it has enabled a great life for me. often redundancy can drive positive change if you treat it as an opportunity

Following with interest as I’m about to get the chop at work. I’ve dreamed of being paid to do knitting and just seen a job doing exactly that- it’s much lower pay and fewer hours but I hope it’s the universe telling me to follow my dreams….

I'm being made redundant in a month or so. Well fixed term contract coming to an end so not officially redundant. I've saved a small amount of money and going to take the summer off to reset as feeling very burntout and stressed with it all. I'm 58 so worried about finding anything else.

Also likely to be made redundant this year. Will look for what I want but take something fixed term if needed. Last time moved into something temporary. Being flexible helps