Let's talk about the unspoken consequences of unemployment

When we hear about unemployment in the mainstream media we generally only hear about the number of people who are out of work. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported in October 2025 that unemployment was sitting at 4.4%. That number only gives us information about the percentage of people who don’t have any type of employment. It doesn’t however give us any details about the consequences of being out of work.

Today that’s what I intend to do. I will talk about what to do when you lose your job and then I’ll go into the effects of unemployment on a person’s life and here’s a hint. They aren’t just financial. The consequences extend far beyond that.

No matter what the reason for the job loss whether it’s due to downsizing, restructuring, redundancy or something else, losing a job will absolutely suck. Most people actually go through some or all of the stages of grief when they lose their job. They may be angry, or in denial, shocked, become withdrawn, lose their confidence or ask “why me?” The latter is most common when there was no indication that they were going to lose their job. 

These reactions are not gender specific, with anyone who has lost their job experiencing them. Even if there were signs you were going to lose your job you may still exhibit them, however the good news is that they are temporary, so they won’t last forever.

It’s even possible that losing a job could bring up other losses that you haven’t dealt with, for example you may have lost a friend or family member several years ago and the job loss brings it to the surface, which leads to compounding emotions.

 
The severity of how you react after losing your job will depend on if you’ve experienced job loss before, how you deal with general crises, whether or not you have support from friends or family and if you have someone to talk to.

Those are the common immediate emotional reactions to job loss but of course there are also financial implications to losing your job. If you do not have savings or unemployment insurance then you may struggle more than someone who is prepared. That means that you will not be able to meet your everyday expenses or if you can you will only be able to pay for your accommodation and will have absolutely no money left over. Worst case scenario you will be forced into homelessness and will either literally live on the street, or if you’re lucky then you’ll have friends or family you can stay with. The other possibility is that if you have a vehicle you’ll have to start living in your vehicle. Although the circumstances that may have forced you into living in your vehicle aren’t great there is actually an upside to what’s known as “Vanlife” and you can actually convert your van into a proper home on wheels, though you may not be able to make any modifications or upgrades until you have a new job.

Not having enough money can cause a person all sorts of problems outside of not being able to meet their basic living expenses. There is the stress that goes with having no money. Let’s look at a hypothetical person. When they were working they would go to the pub once a week with their friends, but now that they’re out of work they can’t do that so aside from having the hassle of trying to find a new job they now have the added pressure of being isolated and not being able to see their friends.

Basically in the worst case scenario they will be stuck at home in front of the TV or radio; or if they’re lucky then they’ll have access to a computer or mobile phone. While that sounds like it could be fun, it actually comes with risks. Sitting in front of a screen for any extended period of time is not healthy and has been linked to a number of conditions including depression, anxiety and overeating which can in turn lead to obesity. They are likely to watch TV because they simply don’t have anything else to do. It’s not like they have a job to go to and because they do not have enough money they can’t go out and see their friends or do other things either. The other negative to sitting in front of a screen is that people tend to eat more because they are distracted and less inclined to notice if they are full. They are also more likely to make poor eating choices when they are eating.  We'll chat about the importance of exercise in another blog.

While a person is unemployed in addition to not having funds and watching more TV (or a screen on another device) they are also at a greater risk of gaining weight due to poorer habits and not being able to participate in physical activity. This is a huge risk for someone who normally goes to a gym. When they have a significantly lower income they won’t be able to afford the gym and may gain weight and subsequently be at a greater risk of other health problems. Essentially, losing a job does not just affect a person’s financial health. It can also affect a person’s mental and physical health and that can take months, if not years to repair.

This is why sacking someone is actually one of the lowest things a person or a company can do. Unless a person has stolen from you or broken the law there is actually no reason to sack them. People can always improve and do better in a job but unfortunately a lot of managers are impatient and don’t consider the consequences that sacking someone can have on their life, either that or they simply don’t care. Whatever the answer is it’s a pretty low thing to do. There are companies in Australia who will literally sack a person just because they do not like them. Unfortunately Australian law allows this to happen but again, it’s unjustified and a really nasty thing to do because doing so doesn’t just affect a person’s finances. It also affects every other area of their life by isolating them from their friends, preventing them from exercising and harming their mental and physical health as a result of each of those things.

So now that you’ve heard about what the consequences of unemployment actually are, let’s talk about what you can do to minimise the impact.

1 - Maintain a daily routine. That may be that you get up every day at a certain time and then do your daily activities on a schedule. Doing so will help you maintain some sense of normality. Ensure you still get up at a regular time so that you can easily get back into a routine when you have a job again.

2 - Apply for jobs. When you’re unemployed it is much easier to feel in control of the situation when you’re actively trying to improve it rather than just waiting around for things to improve, and let’s be honest. Things won’t improve unless you work towards it.

3 - Don’t take it personally. Losing a job absolutely sucks but it is never personal, though in some ways that actually makes it worse because it’s just a matter of circumstance. In some cases it may feel personal but often it isn’t and often it’s a result of issues within a particular company. The most important thing to know is that Australian companies actually have a very high rate of sacking staff. Although it is impossible to find exact figures on the number of companies who have sacked staff, several articles published in various Australian mainstream media like The Australian and news.com.au show that around a third of them plan to lay off staff. 

There is also a huge loophole in Australian employment law that allows companies to do this but we’ll get into that in another blog.