In addition to organising lay-offs, HR staff may also lose their jobs when companies need to restructure or cut costs.

HRGateway, a UK-based publication, asked readers to share their lay-off, also called redundancy, stories: how it made them feel and whether it changed them as HR professionals. Here are a few responses they received. Anonymity was offered to all who took part for the sake of their careers and the companies for which they work and have worked.

A pregnant pause in a financial career

"In October 2000 I worked for a very large financial services organisation and had been there for just over 3 years when I informed my manager that I was pregnant. Within two weeks I was informed that the regional operation that I headed was to be moved into the London function. At the time I was told that another regional operation - headed by someone that had had a period of long illness - would also be moved to London. In reality, this second move did not take place.

"Whilst I was offered a role in London, the detail of the role — which only came to me within days of my due leaving date — established that they had squeezed the duties that myself and the four members of my team had previously done into one role. I did not feel that, three months before having a baby, I could travel into London and do this incredibly large and stressful role.

"The method of handling the situation left a lot to be desired and my personal experience of being made redundant was not a happy one. In terms of how it made me feel, it was so cut and dried in my mind that I was quite philosophical about it. Oddly! I did go through the classic disbelief/plateau/anger/etc. cycle.

"I still hold bitterness towards the particular person who made the redundancy decision, but I have no doubts about her lack of professionalism and integrity and she had no respect from her colleagues so that makes me feel not alone in my views. I considered an employment tribunal [ET] but a number of reasons put me off the idea.

"Firstly, I still held a lot of respect for the firm I worked for - I had not always worked for the manager who made the decision and I felt a great deal of loyalty to the people I had worked for previously. If I had made a case, it would have inevitably embroiled others into the proceedings and I had too much respect for them.

"I was also fearful of putting off potential future employers if they found out that I had taken a case to an ET - although it shouldn't make a difference if the case was credible, I think inevitably employers would think twice.

"There was also an integrity issue - I knew what happened was wrong and that was all that mattered. Yes, they should be prevented from doing something similar again - and yes the money would be nice - but other innocent people would have been affected.

"I really did enjoy the finance sector and although have since moved out, I would very much like to get back in. On the whole, my employers were good - I would work for them again - but their error was allowing my particular manager to do what she did. Even if what happened really was for legitimate reasons, it was handled in such an appalling way and the timing was such a risk for them that she could have caused them a lot of problems. As I say, she has moved on now so..."

Thrown a lifeline by a buoyant market

"I was a HR manager for a large cable company and a major redundancy programme took place over December and January; I left in mid-February. I was told on the Thursday that I was to be made redundant and I asked to leave same day.

"Initially I was quite thrown, but it didn't come as a major surprise after my team had made over 4,000 people redundant in the previous two months; it had to hit HR at some point. On the emotion front, bitterness only followed a few days later, but I guess after all the post-redundancy counselling I've undertook, I was focused on getting a new role within about three days.

"Thankfully I didn’t have to deal with my own redundancy, but I had appointed a team leader to handle all sensitive redundancies and she ended up taking care of mine, which was very odd for her, but I had full confidence it would go smoothly.

"In some ways, it affected my personal life. I became a little reflective and my family and friends got a few more phone calls than usual. Again, after a few weeks I was well on track and a week away with my wife and friends certainly helped.

"The experience has certainly changed the way I view redundancy as a HR professional. You don't appreciate the immediacy of losing contact with work colleagues and how little contact is made by them afterwards and whether you should make contact. Also, even though we make a big play for telling people that it is not seen in the same light as some years ago, there is still stigma attached to redundancy.

Have you been laid off? How do you see the job market for international HR and expatriate managers? Share your story and your views with the editor.

"These are things I've never told people going through redundancy that they may face, and I know from dealing with outplacement consultants that they do cover this, but only after the event has happened. I will certainly focus on it in future.

"My recommendation to others in HR facing redundancy is use it as an opportunity to look at what you would really like to do and play to your strengths. Don't go out to find a job in your first few weeks - I did make that mistake and was too 'raw' from the event to put myself across in a good light. Take the time to prepare your CV and do your research.

"You should only need a few weeks and then throw yourself into it, you must drive finding another role, regardless of what the various consultants and head-hunters may promise or say, very few follow-up or deliver.

"The market for HR is buoyant if you do your work thoroughly, I was interviewing three-four times per week and my research was presenting roles on an almost daily basis, but once again I must stress that it will only be successful if you drive it. The consultancies opened a few doors, but once cold, they would not contact you again.

"I now know who I would go back to and those I would not, it certainly opened my eyes and changed some opinions towards the dedicated HR consultancies. I did find a couple of outstanding consultants whose personal advice, support and time opened a few doors for me and made me recognise I was actually quite a good catch for an organisation. Also, I cannot stress the importance of a good email account and web access, life is a lot easier with the web when job hunting.

"I feel that the 'portability' of HR is one of its main attractions for me, I chose to change sectors because of the role I am now in. It has brought some major culture 'surprises', but I am certainly focused on what I need to achieve. I guess my final thoughts on this would be that I have chosen a fairly unexciting sector that is very well established, which must be a reflection on where my thoughts were when job hunting."

October 2002

HRGateway (www.hrgateway.com) publishes industry news and information with a UK and EU focus.