Table of contents:
- Explain the mentality of employees who were laid off due to COVID-19
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- Employees laid off due to COVID-19 have an impact on emotional problems
- Maintain the mental health of employees when they are laid off
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia has recently caused millions of employees to be terminated or laid off. Losing their job suddenly can be mentally disturbing and have the potential to cause problems for their mental health.
Explain the mentality of employees who were laid off due to COVID-19
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many sectors, including the business and economic sectors. Many businesses choose to temporarily close their operations.
This makes their business lose money and eventually they are forced to lay off employees without pay or even layoffs.
Sudden layoffs due to COVID-19 are a financial and psychological challenge in themselves. Especially for those who rely on salary as their only income.
Not to mention thoughts about debt repayments, credit cards, and other financial obligations that are borne every month. Some are threatened with losing their homes, being evicted from their rented houses. There are many worrying financial reasons.
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DeathDistribution MapStudies show that people suffering from financial hardship, losing their homes, or losing their jobs are more prone to mental and physical health problems.
Among other things, increasing the risk of anxiety disorders, depression, use of anti-depressants, increased somatic symptoms such as fatigue or headaches.
The financial problems of the employee's family who got laid off can also spread to household problems.
Couples may blame each other, for not being good at saving expenses, for not immediately looking for alternative income, or blame each other for not anticipating this situation in advance.
Employees laid off due to COVID-19 have an impact on emotional problems
Being laid off suddenly, especially because COVID-19 involves many changes at once. Apart from loss of income, job loss is also accompanied by other major losses.
Psychologists note that losing a job is often tantamount to the sadness of a broken heart over the loss of a loved one.
This mental health emotional trajectory of job loss can include stages of grief that range from shock and rejection to anger, acceptance, and hope.
Dawn Norris, a psychologist who focuses on self-identity issues, said that losing a job, especially for an employee who was laid off, can also be felt as a loss of identity.
He explained that most people's lives are driven by money, profit and income power. This makes the profession a major part of how to identify someone.
"So, if you lose your job, you can easily lose your identity too," explains Norris, who is also the author of the book Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health.
Although it is true that money is often the main problem as long as someone is unemployed. But for some, the problem of identity is even more disappointing than their problem with money.
In her research which focused on middle-class people who lost their jobs, Norris found that two-thirds of them experienced psychological problems related to identity.
"They say that their problems with identity make them feel depressed, anxious and angry," says Norris.
The research explains the emotional problems that occur in employees who are laid off suddenly, especially during COVID-19.
Maintain the mental health of employees when they are laid off
There are many things you can do to take control of the situation, keep your spirits up, and find new goals.
New York psychologist Adam Benson says people should recognize the factors of their situation that they can and cannot control.
After identifying it, focus on things that can be controlled, namely identifying problems, such as reducing household expenses in a certain period.
What is different for employees who have been laid off and in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic is the belief that this is only a temporary situation. Believing that after the pandemic is over, everything will be under control and they can bounce back
In addition, there is evidence that the collective nature of these experiences leads one to the feeling that he and others are going through this problem together.
Many groups have organized campaigns and fundraising to support employees who were laid off or those who lost their jobs.
This collective state of affairs, according to Benson, may help that employees receive layoffs that are not his fault as an individual.
"This supports the idea that when their mental health falters, feeling sad and angry about losing their job, this excuses can reduce those feelings of sadness," says Benson.
