Unemployment during Coronavirus: The Psychology of Job Loss

Millions of people around the world have lost their jobs amid the current Covid-19 crisis. How should you handle your emotional reaction?

Earlier this week, unemployment insurance claims in the US soared past three million, a record-breaking number which far surpasses previous highs. To put it in context, this figure shatters the Great Recession crest of 665,000 of March 2009 and the previous record high of 695,000 in 1982, when the US Federal Reserve tried to tame inflation through its monetary policy. Even so, this number – a rise of 3,001,000 from the previous week’s level of 282,000 – understates the extent of the problem; it doesn’t include gig workers, the self-employed and other freelancers, who aren’t eligible for unemployment insurance in many states.

Around the world economies are all experiencing similar symptoms as millions of people are laid off because of Covid-19. “This is going to be a global pandemic of unemployment,” says David Blustein, a professor of counselling psychology at Boston College and the author of The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty: The Eroding Work Experience in America. “I call it a crisis within a crisis.”

Further compounding these dramatic figures is the speed at which many suddenly found themselves without work – either laid off with some form of termination payment, asked to take indefinite unpaid leave or outright fired. This is, of course, a financial challenge for many who have suddenly lost their income, but it also presents a psychological challenge. When you lose your job, how do you handle those feelings? Read More