Essay on Survivor Sickness

Survivor sickness is a combination of different psychological and emotional disorders such as anxiety, stress, depression, fear of uncertain future and other similar conditions that people experience once they have survived one or more company lay offs.

When businesses struggle, unfortunately layoffs may be necessary in order to help the company turn a profit and promote healthier re-growth of the organization. In this case employers must regain full employee commitment for those who have survived these layoffs.

The surviving employees will most likely wonder if there will be anymore job cuts in the future. A great way to ease any feelings of stress, anxiety, and sense of wonder is for employers to communicate with their employees by answering any questions, quickly, honestly and openly.

Listening to how employees feel about what has happened and allowing them to vent their thoughts will help diminish any emotional distress; it shows that the employer is empathetic about what has happened.

A major way to help the surviving employees gain confidence is for employers to organize career development programs, which will help focus on the needs of not only the employees but the organization as well. This will allow employees to focus on continuous learning.

Even though those who have survived company lay offs may be relieved they still have a job, they may still go through emotional distress. In order to deal with negative thoughts and emotions, there are a number of ways in which employees can help themselves cope.

Expressing feelings of sadness, loss, and anxiety about the future to the employer is important in order to help ease negative feelings. This way you can get answers to any questions and/or thoughts that may be bothering you.

Moving forward and not dwelling on what has happened can help you to think more positively. Employees can do this by concentrating on increasing their skill and education levels, and also reassessing certain goals.