Flex Work Research Centre

The author of this article argues that there is a need to rethink employment and learn to understand how to negotiate continuous changes in the work environment and in the workplace rather than focus primarily on work skills and practices within individual organizations. She suggests that the following areas are key in moving through unemployment to new jobs: combined previous job search experience, level of formal education, and evidence of lifelong learning; networking and interviewing skill development; coping skills; involvement with other people in various capacities; levels of self-efficacy; the ability to release the burden of negatively charged feelings. These elements are included in the development of a personal understanding of layoff and the job search process. They can be viewed as the building blocks of a personal layoff management model.