Are You Afraid of Being Laid Off?

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For employees — if it happens to you

• What to do after a massive layoff: a guide for moving forward — Practical steps for the first days and weeks after a layoff, from understanding your rights to restarting your job search.
• Are you afraid of being laid off? — How to manage layoff anxiety and make constructive decisions when job security feels uncertain.
• Resume builder for laid-off workers: turning job loss into a fresh start — How to rebuild your resume quickly after a layoff and position your experience for the next role.
• How to upskill after a layoff — Targeted strategies for using the transition period to add skills that improve your next job search.
• Career transitions and digital restructuring — What digital transformation layoffs mean for workers and how to reframe your experience for new roles.

Layoffs by company and sector

• Layoffs 2026: industry job cuts — A running overview of major layoff announcements across sectors in 2026 and what they signal for the labor market.
• US jobless claims rising: HR outplacement strategy — How rising claims data is changing how organizations approach workforce reductions and outplacement.
• Ottawa federal job cuts — Coverage of federal public service reductions in Ottawa and what affected employees should know.
• Health Canada layoffs: workforce adjustment — What the Health Canada workforce adjustment process means for affected employees and next steps.
• HR and layoffs: lessons for leaders and tools for workers — A dual-perspective look at how layoffs affect both the people let go and the HR teams managing the process.

For HR leaders and employers

• How to announce layoffs to staff — Communication principles for delivering layoff news clearly, honestly, and with respect for affected employees.
• How to communicate layoffs to employees — Practical guidance on the messaging, timing, and tone of internal layoff communications.
• How to handle layoffs and support employees — What effective support looks like in practice, from the announcement through the transition period.
• Layoff checklist for employers — A structured checklist covering the legal, operational, and human elements of a workforce reduction.
• Reduction in force: checklist, selection, and documentation — How to run a legally sound and equitable RIF process, with documentation guidance for HR teams.

Outplacement and post-layoff support

• What is outplacement services: a guide for HR leaders — A clear explanation of what outplacement is, how it works, and why organizations offer it.
• Outplacement vs. severance: planning your layoff support strategy — How to evaluate the right combination of support to offer employees during a workforce reduction.
• How HR leaders use outplacement to protect employer brand during layoffs — The connection between how layoffs are handled and long-term employer reputation.
• How to introduce outplacement to employees after a layoff — When and how to present outplacement resources so affected employees actually use them.
• Layoffs create cybersecurity risk: why offboarding matters more than ever — The overlooked security risks that emerge when workforce reductions are not paired with thorough offboarding processes.

• American Psychological Association. (2025). Layoff anxiety is common: 54% of U.S. workers say job insecurity significantly impacts workplace stress. In Workplace mental health statistics 2026. Grow Therapy. https://growtherapy.com/blog/workplace-mental-health-statistics/
• Baynes, M. (2025, February 12). 1 in 3 Americans have layoff anxiety — here's how to combat it. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/12/1-in-3-americans-have-layoff-anxiety-heres-how-to-combat-it.html
• Clarify Capital. (2025). How layoff anxiety is reshaping job security in 2025 (Survey of 1,000 U.S. workers). Clarify Capital. https://clarifycapital.com/mass-layoffs
• MyPerfectResume. (2025, January). The great stay: 2025 state of the labor market report (Survey of 1,115 U.S. workers). MyPerfectResume. https://www.myperfectresume.com/career-center/careers/the-great-stay
• PwC. (2025). Global workforce hopes and fears survey 2025 (Nearly 50,000 respondents across 48 economies). PricewaterhouseCoopers. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html
• Schofield, P., Butterworth, P., & Leach, L. S. (2013). Mental health affects future employment as job loss affects mental health: Findings from a longitudinal population study. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 144. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-244X-13-144
• Wang, P., & Huang, C. (2024). Long-term effects of job displacement on earnings and mental health: Evidence from population-wide administrative data. Journal of Health Economics, 95. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016517652400171X
• World Economic Forum. (2025, January 8). The future of jobs report 2025. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/

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