So you’ve just been let go – unemployed in times of global pandemic

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Hands up if you’ve been laid off, let go, stood down, furloughed, or just plain old fired since the coronavirus pandemic started. It seems like overnight, all of my friends either got the boot or are about to get the boot from their work.

You know what? You are not alone. I’m right there with you! We’re all in this together. We’re all in the gutter! Embrace it!

Yesterday, one of my last reliable jobs was canceled, and guess what? I’m freaking out yet oddly zen at the same time. Let me explain.

With a mountain of debt, no solid work for the foreseeable future, the travel industry up in flames, my passive income all but evaporated overnight with bills still coming in hot hot hot, to say I’m shitting my pants is a bit of an understatement.

I never saw this coming, even a month ago, and also, if I did, I’m not sure how proactively I would have saved. I’m a bit of a hot mess when it comes to preparation and tidy finances.

Globally, we are collectively fucked. Wahoo!

The economic fallout from COVID-19 will be nothing short of catastrophic, at least in my particular area of work. Do you want to travel? Well, be sure to add in an extra 14 days of quarantine before and after your holiday to ensure freedom from a life-threating virus.

Hard pass.

The scale and scope of COVID-19 are unprecedented, yet the future is far from clear. Companies and businesses are facing the ramifications of shut borders, forced quarantines, and a very unlucky choice of name – I’m looking at you Corona beer.

The new normal hasn’t even been imagined yet – no one is even talking about what the world will look like six months from now.

It breaks my heart to see friends of mine who have poured their lives into their jobs only to be let go without a second thought. Hell, it’s even happening to me. But in that darkness and fear, I’ve found comfort in knowing I’m not alone in this.

It doesn’t help to be American, where our future is so uncertain and with a nutjob president whose blatant disregard for the health of his citizens or the advice of experts is nothing short of unbelievable. Will the government even deliver on a stimulus package that has any real meaning to people like me? I bloody doubt it.

It sucks to be in a place where your government doesn’t have your back. That’s messed up.

With millions of Americans already filing for unemployment, I count myself exceptionally lucky living in New Zealand as a resident. Extremely lucky. I hope this is a massive wake-up call to my fellow brethren – the rest of the civilized world doesn’t live like this or treat people that way.

Throughout the rest of the world, governments are protecting employment.

Workers keep their jobs, even in industries that are shut down. Even self-employed people like me are counted for. For example, the government here covers most of the wages through direct payments. It’s like our wages are socialized for the duration of the crisis.

We also have fair and public healthcare too. Sure, I pay high taxes, but guess what? I see the benefit from it, so I don’t mind. I love living in a place where I feel cared for and protected, especially in a time of crisis. The US has a lot to learn from a place like New Zealand.

It’s also never been more apparent to me to learn just to let go of things I can’t control. This wild situation is global and so far beyond anything I could ever change. In some ways, I find solace in that too. (I’m only able to do this through all of the incredible coaching work I’ve done with Kait Rich).

While it’s still very raw and real for me (and I imagine for many of you too), take heart that so many of us, me included, are also wondering how we will pay rent or buy groceries next month.

It takes nothing to be kind

Now is the time to look to each other for support and guidance.

Instead of crawling up each other and kicking others down to reach success (or the last 18 pack of toilet roll), why don’t we use this forced time to work on what matters, like family, food, love, health, and joy.

If we forget how to be human now, we have no chance of recovery.

I’ve got my good days and bad days, which are all meshing together now that time seems irrelevant. That being said, I’m incredibly determined to look on the bright side. It’s time to get creative again, especially now that I’m a free woman!

There always a lesson in suffering, I suppose. Time to let go of what we can’t control and not let it devour us.

Hopefully, we will come out on the other side and create a system that looks after each other instead of who can profit off of who the most. Be kind and kia kaha, as we say in New Zealand (stay strong).

Have you just lost your job, too, or are you afraid of losing your job? How are you coping? Where are you in the world? Share!