Embracing the ‘beautiful chaos’: Life after redundancy

After Molly* was let go from her corporate job, it took six months before feelings of wild panic enveloped her. Yet, it was all part of her plan.

It was early 2022 when she was among a raft of high-level redundancies that rocked the company where she worked. Faced with the sudden loss of income, she chose to invest in herself and ultimately aligned with a jobs skills program that helped her regain her purpose and flourish at work.

For Molly, her memories of silently watching on as a form of corporate chaos played out around her remain vivid.

“Everybody got a little bit more nervous. I was watching almost all of the managers resign or become redundant,” the South Australian professional told FW.

“It’s very awkward because you still feel a loyalty to your job and what you do, but you also want to look after yourself. Then you have hope and faith that the new CEO will look after you.”

In an attempt to safeguard herself financially, Molly – who is in her forties – approached the company’s chair to ask if members of the company board would vouch for her in finding work if she or her role were among the cuts to headcount.

“He said, ‘Yes, we will help you move’. He didn’t, he made me redundant,” she recalled. 

“I had taken leave in December – I went away for a week – and when I came back, access and permissions to the CEO had changed. I could still log in, I just couldn’t access the CEO details to do my job. I didn’t think anything of it and then about four weeks later, after COVID went through one of our facilities, I was then told I was redundant.”

She experienced a myriad of emotions after being let go. There were tears and feelings of anger towards the world, before poise and grace took hold. 

“I didn’t go back into the office because of COVID shutdown, so I used that to my advantage and I said, ‘Okay, what do you need? I will give you everything you need,’” she said. 

“I provided a 40-page manual on how to do my job and I provided that to the CEO and asked them to ship [my personal belongings] back to me.”

“There was not one [FW Jobs Academy] person who made me feel like it was too hard to answer my random thought bubble questions or to help me out.”

The timing of her unemployment also proved a double blow. Her personal life was in a state of flux. She had moved back in with her parents after the owners of her rental property wanted to sell. It was all encompassing. 

“You’re not living where you want to, friends’ lives are continuing beautifully, they’re having their families, they’re getting married or having kids, they’re earning money. From the outside, they’ve got everything,” Molly said, reflectively. 

“So you have to live within that space and that’s challenging. Then having to be positive and hopeful and applying for jobs and meeting people going, ‘So hey, I promise I’m a good person, I promise you I’m a shining light of happiness but right now there’s nothing to hold on to’”.

Yet, despite her situation, Molly counted herself among the fortunate ones. She had been let go with a redundancy package which she carefully divided to keep herself financially afloat and embrace self-care. 

“I gave myself a six month break before I started to panic,” she said.

“I treated unemployment as a job. So rather than spending all my day on the computer and getting disheartened, I treated it like a job and my job searching was a job. So, I’d say, ‘Today I’m going to do a couple of hours (on the computer)’ and that’s okay. That’s enough.’”

She laughed when asked if the panic-point ever arrived. After her planned six months, Molly hadn’t found the right full-time position. The career she had spent decades in was “a dying breed”.

She turned to temp office jobs to help her get by, while she considered her next steps. A career change was among her options.

During this time, Molly also undertook a number of courses, including FW’s Jobs Academy program. She said it was invaluable.

“I would highly recommend it. All of the staff that I engaged with, there was not one person who made me feel like it was too hard to answer my random thought bubble questions or to help me out,” she said. 

“I have felt valued every step of the way. I have a couple of the developers at work with wives looking for work. And I said, ‘You need to get on to Future Women, you need to get into the Jobs Academy program.”

Since graduating from the program, Molly has embraced what she dubbed “the beautiful chaos” of her experience. She has found work in a new role and a new industry. 

For more information about FW’s Jobs Academy Program, click here.

*Name changed for privacy.