Careers: Redundancy... how I survived

After a tough couple of years for the corporate world, the axe is now falling on the public sector. The Government's Comprehensive Spending Review outlined the depth of cuts to public services and the news that 192 quangos are to be chopped.

The cuts are set to have a major impact on public sector PROs and the agencies with which they work.

JFL Search & Selection MD Ros Kindersley says her recruitment firm has already seen numerous public sector workers who had been made redundant, while Vicki Jay, VMA Group head of interim comms practice, says she expects the main bulk of public sector candidates to flood the market during January.

But the private sector is not immune to cuts either. Band & Brown made 12 staff redundant in August, Channel Five's 11-strong press office took voluntary redundancy at the end of September and TUI's head of public relations Emma Waddell and senior PR manager Ian Benjafield opted for redundancy in October.

It is a horrible cliche, but while redundancy is a difficult experience, it can also be an opportunity. Over the next four pages, three PR professionals tell PRWeek their stories of being made redundant and how they came through it. We also get advice from three senior recruitment consultants, a lawyer and a clinical psychologist to help you cope should the axe fall on you.

 

Helen Beckett: ‘Hold your head high’

Dave Barton: ‘I needed focus’

Joy Stefanicki: ‘Gain some perspective’

Redundancy: legal guide to knowing your rights

Redundancy: coping after being made redundant

Redundancy: what recruitment agency consultants suggest