COVID-19 Crisis: Coping With Job Loss During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 global pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to the global economy at large already impacting livelihoods in Africa while increasing poverty and general hardships. It is affecting humankind in so many ways and among them is emotional stress due to job losses. The pandemic has changed the way people work and live especially those in informal sectors. Some people are going to work, some are working from home, while some have completely lost their jobs.

Across the world, scores of people have lost their jobs, companies have slowed down on production while some have even closed. Some companies are already finding their balance sheets stretched, resources thin, margins squeezed, and profits probably wiped out while costs remain unchanged.

With the ongoing lockdown, some workers, especially those in the informal sector, are already feeling the pinch. The livelihoods of thousands of people employed in the informal sectors are hanging in the balance due to the continued decline in working hours brought about by the lockdown as governments seek to curb the spread of Corona Virus (COVID-19).

COVID-19 has already shuttered factories, disrupted global supply and value chains, plunged global markets into turmoil and is sure to send the vast majority of world economies into recessions never seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

According to the International Labour Organization, the world lost nearly 400 million full-time jobs due to the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and losing a job is one of the most stressful experiences that people go through in their lives.

However, it is common to experience high levels of stress, depression and anxiety during such peril times, but one has to be patient with themselves as they grieve the loss. It is painful to lose a job, and one needs to be compassionate with themselves because being hard on one’s self only makes things worse than before.

Also, a person should focus on their future and identify various possible next step options and look at other things to occupy themselves, such as volunteering in their communities development. One should be open to new roles and career paths while networking.

This type of flexibility and adaptability may be one’s key to determine their way forward after a job loss. When it comes to self-worth, only one opinion truly matters which is one’s self and Also, you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option you have. Stay future-focused as it is easy to get stuck in the past that you can no longer change.

Roy T. Bennett once said,

“challenge and adversity are meant to help you know who you are. Storms hit your weakness, but unlock your true strength.”