It's less stressful to be fired than to stay hired

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http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,200646,00.html?

WHEN JOB CUTS LOOM, SOMETIMES...
It's less stressful to be fired than to stay hired
May 02, 2009

CAUSE FOR JOY: Many of the 220 workers retrenched from the Delphi Automotive Systems plant in March openly celebrated getting their 'golden handshakes'. --TNP PICTURE: NG XI JIE

FIRST the financial crisis. Now, the swine flu.

In such worrisome times, who has it worse? Those with jobs or those who have been retrenched?

If you think that's a no-brainer, you'd be surprised.

Earlier this week, Labour chief Lim Swee Say, in his May Day message, told workers to expect more job cuts. The job losses earlier this year, he said, will not be the only ones.

But those who have lost their jobs may not necessarily be facing more stress compared to those who are still employed.

In a quick poll of 20 people, 17 told The New Paper that they felt the survivors were likely to be more stressed than those who were retrenched. This is because they continue to labour under the threat of being laid off.

Their sentiments reflect a recent UK study claiming that those who keep their jobs - but who fear being told to go - wind up more stressed than those laid off.

Singaporean workers, it seems, aren't so different from their British counterparts.

This study was presented by Dr Brendan Burchell from the University of Cambridge's sociology department on 6Mar.

It found that employed people who fear losing their jobs become as stressed as those who were unemployed.

But while the unemployed start to recover from their anxiety after six months, said Dr Burchell, the mental health of those who keep their job 'worsens for at least one or two years' after hearing about impending job cuts.

Dr Burchell's study was based on his observations of about 300 British workers, various European workforce studies and the British Household Survey of about 5,000 people, which tracked their mental health since 1991.

S'poreans say...

One might think that without Europe's generous unemployment benefits, Singaporeans would be more glum about being out of work.

But, as Madam Tengku Fadhlina, 25, a kindergarten teacher reasoned: 'The employed have it worse because they don't know if they'll be the next to go.'

Madam Norainee Shafiei, 48, a former security guard, felt the same way. 'At my old workplace,' she said, 'those who didn't get fired became more withdrawn. You could tell that they were stressed.'

Senior therapist at Daybreak Family Service Centre Alvin Goh said that stress can be caused by uncertainty.

People also tend to overestimate how strongly they will react to emotional events.

Said Dr Adrian Wang from Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, Gleneagles Medical Centre: 'People tend to overestimate the negative impact of retrenchment and underestimate their ability to cope with it.'

For those who still have jobs, there's a mountain of work to contend with.

Said Mr Brent Ruge, head of Employee Surveys for Towers Perrin Singapore, a human resources consultancy: 'All that extra work does make lay-off survivors more stressed.'

But not everyone we spoke to was convinced.

Member of parliament Halimah Yacob, deputy secretary-general of the NTUC, cautioned against generalising the issue.

'Whether people get stressed depends on many things, including how companies explain the process to their employees. Good communication is key,' she said.

'If companies show workers that the retrenchment exercises are fair, then workers will trust in the system and won't be so stressed.

'Some firms have also assured their workers that after a certain number of lay-offs, they will stop slashing jobs. This would of course improve morale among the workers.'

Counselling helps

She added: 'About 20 per cent of retrenching firms also have counsellors on hand to help both lay-off survivors and those laid off. Such systems lower stress. More companies should do the same.'

GMP Group corporate services senior manager Josh Goh also expressed reservations about the findings.

'I've seen people who don't dare to take leave or medical leave for fear of being fired,' he said.

'But given how it's so hard to find a job, those who get retrenched also face a lot of pressure from mounting bills.'

Indeed, one of those grappling with financial problems now is Mr Rahmat Talib, 43, who was laid off from his warehouse assistant job in February.

He said: 'I'm more stressed now because no one wants to hire me, and I've a wife and two kids to support.

'I just hope I can find a job soon.'

- By Han Yongming, newsroom intern

 

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Lay-off fears hit men harder
May 02, 2009

DO men get more stressed than women about losing their jobs?

Yes, going by what Dr Burchell found in his research.

Men who think that they may get sacked, he said, get more stressed and depressed than women.

And 18 out of the 20 people The New Paper spoke to agreed.

This is because men are often the breadwinners, said the 18 respondents.

The pressure of being the primary breadwinner can be intense, said Mr Alvin Goh, senior therapist at the Daybreak Family Service Centre.

'Men have been brought up to think of themselves as the breadwinners. Their sense of self-worth is tied to their work.'

To a man, a job is part of his very self.

Some of his male clients, said Mr Goh, have remarked that they feel 'useless' after losing their job.

He said: 'Women, on the other hand, tend to identify more strongly with family than with their work.'

And as many wives know, men simply aren't that good at getting things off their chest.

Men tend to suppress their emotions, noted MrGoh. He has seen men who say that they're suffering inside from job insecurity, but feel that they can't talk to their wives about it.

Seeking help

Dr Adrian Wang from Dr Adrian Wang Psychiatric & Counselling Care, Gleneagles Medical Centre, agreed.

He said: 'Men tend to cope with stress by drinking or smoking. Women, on the other hand, tend to talk their problems through with their friends. They're also more willing to seek help than men.

'The men who see me only do it when it's really serious.'

Both experts felt that pent-up emotions in men can lead to tension in the family. When the man suffers, his family suffers too.

Said Madam Roslinah Salimin, 46, whose husband was let off from his security officer job in February: 'Sometimes I get frustrated. When he doesn't want to talk, it's hard to work things out.'

Madam Halimah Yacob, unionist and MP for Jurong GRC, recounted an incident last month when the mother of a primary-school girl who had missed school for three weeks came to her for help.

Because her husband had been laid off, they could not afford the school transport fees for their daughter.

Said Madam Halimah: 'The wife was the one who came to see me, not the husband. He was too ashamed to ask for aid at first.

'We need to tell men that it's not totally their fault that they lost their job, that job cuts are inevitable in a downturn.

'Men should talk about their problems more, and seek help when they need it.'