Job Losses

This week at work was out of the ordinary typical Health & Safety scope. For 53 employees , it was a stream of sudden emotions stemming from the announcement of a soon to be closure of a department in my building. I asked my boss if he would of preferred to have called in a professional trauma specialist...he said no, he wanted me to deal with the employees and their emotions as I had the experience.

Job losses ...how can we draw the analogy to death.....one thing in common there is a mourning period. I looked at this week's announcement as someone being told that they have cancer...you know.... the commercial on TV where the doctor tells the patient that she has cancer and she falls backwards. The employees were told that their job would end in a couple of months. It's really the same...one learns of their disease as the other learns of an eventual job loss....the cancer patient has a choice...face it and deal with trying to be cured or dealing of the reality of dying from it...the employees also have choices.....prepare to move forward to seach for another job or give up.

On the brighter side of the picture...loosing a job is like a door closing and another one opening. For me, it would mean an opportunity to move forward, meet new people, learn something new, but for most it is the fear of the unknown, the fear of survival, the fear of not being able to feed their families.

I was encouraged this week as I heard the new President elect of the United States speak. President Obama understands and knows what poverty and adversity is all about. When I look at his life and see where he has come from and where he is now, I believe that anything is possible. I hope his words this week, not only encouraged those in my work place to move forward, but the many people across the globe who are unemployed, ill, or face adversity. We have to believe in ourselves that we all can overcome.

My thoughts and prayers are with my colleagues who are now faced with choices and decisions which are ahead of them.