Hey friend,

Remember being told to "just move on" after losing your job? Or maybe someone suggested you "look on the bright side" because you now have "more time to find something better"?

Here's what they don't understand: Losing a job is more than just a professional setback; it can shake the very foundation of your life (CAPC Law, 2024). When that termination email hits your inbox or you're called into HR, you're not just losing a paycheck. You're losing structure, direction, identity, and a version of yourself you were growing into.

The brutal truth? You're grieving. And that's not weakness—it's human.

I read about a female President of a subsidiary at a well-known publicly traded company who called her employment attorney after being terminated (CAPC Law, 2024). The conversation started normally, discussing legal details, but then she broke down completely.

What she tried:
✔️ Staying professional during the initial call
✔️ Focusing on the legal aspects first
✔️ Processing the "business decision" rationally
✔️ Maintaining composure while discussing next steps

But reality hit hard. She burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably for ten minutes, saying this job "was her complete identity" and that she had "worked her ass off to get to the C-Suite over a long career." She felt stunned, completely dazed, and believed her career—her identity as a high-powered executive—was over.

Her story isn't unique. As a society, we treat job loss and the grieving of job loss as a taboo subject (CAPC Law, 2024). But the numbers tell a different story.

The scope of job loss right now is staggering:

But here's the psychological reality: Dismissal from work belongs to the top-5 most stressful life events (CAPC Law, 2024). Research shows that mounting evidence demonstrates job loss can lead to symptoms of complicated grief (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2022).

The grief process is real, and it encompasses a wide array of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors, with high levels of emotional distress that can persist for extended periods (CAPC Law, 2024).

The Cleveland Clinic identifies five classic stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (Cleveland Clinic, 2024). But job loss grief has its own distinct pattern:

1. Initial Shock/Denial

2. Anger

3. Bargaining/Resistance

4. Sadness/Depression

5. Acceptance

Remember: These stages don't always happen in order, and you may move in and out of different stages (Cleveland Clinic, 2024).

Time Investment: 30 minutes

Your Grief Check-In Exercise:

The goal isn't to "get over it" faster—it's to understand where you are so you can navigate more compassionately.

"It's important to remember that losing a job is a significant part of many people's lives, and you are not alone in facing these challenges." - CAPC Law Employment Attorneys

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Here's the truth they don't want you to know: Your grief over losing your job is valid, necessary, and actually a sign that you deeply cared about your work. Don't let anyone rush you through these stages.

Some people get sucked into the false belief that their jobs are who they are as a person and then get completely derailed when they lose their employment (CAPC Law, 2024). But you are not your job. Your identity is entirely different and separate from what you do for work.

The goal isn't to skip the grief—it's to move through it with intention and self-compassion. You're not broken for feeling this deeply. You're human.

We got you,

Keep going,

Win 💚
Fellow layoff survivor, creator of Let Go Weekly