Layoff fear self-fulfilling

By David P. Willis • Business Writer • The Asbury Park Press • April 8, 2009

Middletown resident Scott Feinman worried the writing was on the wall.

Layoffs had hit the apparel company where he worked in New York City, and Feinman figured his name was bound to come up eventually, whether it be by losing his job or some other action. His company, a family business, had been sold to a Chinese firm in 2005.

"It was sort of a toxic environment," said Feinman, who left the company in January to start a franchise with direct-mail marketer Money Mailer. "It had become sort of infected with this constant paranoia of 'Am I going to be next or is the person that's sitting next to me going to be next?"

There's plenty of stress and worry out there on the job. In a survey last fall, nearly half of the employees served by Workplace Options were worried that their jobs were at risk. Nearly a third said they were working more hours or taking less time off.

And those on-the-job fears have worsened, said Rita Piper, vice president of wellness services at Workplace Options, a provider of work-life balance employee benefit plans.

"They are just very, very anxious, very scared," Piper said. People are worried about whether their jobs, or hours, will be cut.

They say, "Even if my job is cut down by 10 or 20 percent, I'm so financially strapped that even without my cutback, I don't know what I'm going to do," Piper said. "If my hours are cut down, I might not have medical benefits."

The stress can impact your life at work by cutting productivity.

"As soon as somebody watches the news at night and sees a program about somebody who was gainfully employed, they lose their job and now they're in a homeless shelter, it kicks into 'Is this going to be me?'" Piper said.

It also may hurt your behavior at work.

"You are not taking chances. You are not being bold," said Roberta Chinsky Matuson, job search mentor and president of Human Resource Solution in Northampton, Mass. "They are going to keep the people who are making more of a contribution."

There are some ways to lessen the stress at work.

For starters, avoid talking about the bad situation around the water cooler, said Barbara Davis, owner of Barbara Davis Associates in Middletown.

"You are just kind of making it worse," Davis said. "Everyone feeds on each other, and that's all you worry about."

Try approaching your boss to ask about the situation, said Stephen Viscusi, founder of BulletProofYourResume.com. "You have to really not be afraid to confront your boss and say 'What is going on?'"

It's good if your boss is willing to open up, Davis said. "You are going to know whether your boss is an open person to begin with."

Still not feeling better?

Try to calm down, Piper said. "Do deep breathing and basically say, 'If it's not in my control, I can't do anything about it, so I am going to do my best job.'"

Making sure you stay healthy is also a way to deal with stress. Davis suggested exercise, meditation - such as yoga - and making sure you get enough sleep and watch your nutrition.

"Basic good health, that helps with stress," Davis said.

If needed, talk to a counselor or find out if your company has an employee assistance benefit, Piper said. "What you don't want to do is turn anxiety into a detriment. Worrying is going to make it worse."

Especially when times are slow and business is difficult, employees should be thinking about work, Davis said.

"You should be thinking about, while you are on the job, what you can do to bring more business into the office and being a real value," Davis said.

Now's not the time to surf the Web or check Facebook at work, she said.

"You might have taken a longer lunch," Matuson said. "You might have demanded a better office or come in late every now and again. You need to be razor focused on doing your job and doing it very, very well."

David P. Willis: (732) 643-4039, or at dwillis@app.com.