Feelings of the Men about Becoming Unemployed
| Pages | 3-7 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb054968 |
| Date | 01 March 1981 |
| Published date | 01 March 1981 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Unemployment in 1980 | 3
Feelings of the Men about Becoming
Unemployed
Initial Reactions
Few of the men in the sample had been unemployed long enough to trace the full sequence of feelings
previously described. The reported feelings, therefore, represented initial reactions and reactions in
the early months. They are summarised in the table below:
Reported feelings No. of times mentioned
Feelings of initial shock 10
Worry, fear, uncertainty about the future 7
Loss of sense of purpose 5
Anger, bitterness, resentment 4
Feelings of being unwanted, on the scrap heap 4
Feelings of shame 3
Loss of status 2
Loss of self respect 2
As the information was collected by depth interviews, the men, in discussing their feelings, were
free to choose whichever words seemed most appropriate to them. Hence, it need not mean that feel-
ings not mentioned by the men were not felt but this rank ordering probably did reflect their relative
importance.
By far the most frequently expressed reaction was the initial shock, this being expressed by 10/14
men who had no choice about their unemployment. Next were feelings of worry, uncertainty and fear
about the future. The depressed state of the job market was given by some as the reason for this as it
was seen as giving them less control over their future chances of employment. The second reason
mentioned was the fear of not knowing where to go, particularly when the industry of their specialis-
ed knowledge was contracting and in some cases, though less often, the fear or uncertainty of not be-
ing able to adjust to a new situation or new methods. Several commented on the shock of not being
able to just walk into another job as they had in the past.
Noticeably, the feelings of shame, loss of status and loss of self respect were less frequent than
have been reported previously. This supported the results of Hartley
[3],
who found also that reduced
self esteem was not a consistent reaction of managers to unemployment. However, it is to some ex-
tent counterbalanced by the observation that while it may not be the dominant feeling, few chose to
discuss their unemployment voluntarily with others and also, three of the wives were reported as feel-
ing a stigma where their husbands were not. However, the importance of loss of status and loss of self
respect did seem reduced. The depressed state of the job market was mentioned by some of the men
as the reason for this also, as the fault was seen as lying less with themselves. These comments sug-
gested that the changing nature of the job market and the fact that for most of the men unemploy-
ment followed a long period of stable employment, together contributed to the feelings of the men.
Individual Differences
The above observations focus on the frequency of particular responses and the more common
negative reactions to becoming unemployed. However, the intensity of the feelings varied con-
siderably and there was one quite relaxed reaction to redundancy. This variation is demonstrated by
the following quotations:
"The initial impact was absolute shock. A complete crushing of self respect and imagination.
It's not like losing a leg where it's obvious and you have a limp. Well, I feel I have a limp
—
like
a mental illness. It's as bad and has to be respected as much as someone who's lost a
leg.
But we
don't. You loose your self respect . . . I couldn't articulate the problem . . . I lived in a mental
shell, not talking about what the real problems are . . . The state of shock lasted from January
until July and is still very much in the foreground. I was totally crushed by the whole thing."
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