What’s the best way to help a friend who has been laid off?
Right now, it’s more than likely you have a friend or loved one who has been laid off over the past few months.
You’ve probably already done the things most of us immediately think of, like texting and FaceTiming with them to make sure they’re okay, checking in on them every few days to see how they’re holding up.
Depending on the personalities involved and the type of friendship you have with this person, in your rush of concern, you might feel pressured to immediately rattle off solutions. Don’t do that; they’re still processing what happened. Instead, consider providing one of these random acts of kindness:
Acknowledge their pain and just listen, at first
Your first step is to just listen to your friend and acknowledge how they’re feeling by simply saying something like, “I’m so sorry this happened. I hate it that you’re going through this.”
All too often, people want to rush into prescriptive fix-it mode when someone they care about is in pain, such as frantically offering advice right after they’ve told you what happened. There’s nothing wrong with providing some suggestions and resources — eventually. There’s just a certain timing and tact to it. Don’t do it at first. Wait a week or so, when they’re feeling more ready to take on the world again.
Definitely don’t chirpily throw “You got this!” out there during the first chat or two with your friend about their layoff situation. A lot of people love this expression, but there’s a one-size-fits-all, no-big-deal aspect of it that makes it come across as emotionally tone deaf, even if it’s not meant that way. It also flies in the face of the daunting uncertainties we all know are gripping our global economy and upending everything, especially the job market. No one would ever say “You got this!” to someone who just lost their parent to cancer. Losing your job in many ways feels like a type of death — the same rules apply.
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