| Executives
now believe there is life after job loss
Support at home and in career transition, as well as recovering
economies, is making the life of the laid-off executive easier, says
survey
By R. SENTHILNATHAN IN GENEVA
THE average executive today is confident that there is life beyond job
loss.
Not only can he get a new job pretty fast, but he can also count on
family support, according to a global study.
While there is a degree of stress and uncertainty related to job-loss,
gone are the days when the executive lives in dread of a broken family,
long-term unemployment and societal stigma.
On the contrary, support at home and in career transition, coupled with
booming or recovering economies in many parts of the world, are making the
life of the laid-off executive easier, say officials at Drake Beam Morin
Inc, a Boston-based international firm specialising in assisting managers
in career transition.
The company interviewed more than 3,000 executives, all of whom had
received career transition support, in 18 of the 43 countries where DBM
operates.
In the Asian region, more than 800 executives from Australia, China
(including Hongkong), New Zealand and Singapore were interviewed.
The rest were from Europe, Latin America and North America.
The study's results have not yet been released in the Asia-Pacific
region.
The study has helped to debunk some commonly held beliefs, according to
DBM officials.
For instance, about 42 per cent of the interviewees said they had
reduced household expenditure after losing their job, but two thirds of
the executives said they were not extremely concerned about their
finances.
Similarly, even though they were stressed about losing their jobs, the
executives were not unduly worried about the possibility of long-term
unemployment.
Certainly, one of the crucial factors that encouraged optimism in the
executives, most of whom were aged between 30 and 50, was the robust North
American economy and the Asian recovery, Mr Denis St-Amour, president of
DBM-Canada, said.
Another encouraging factor was falling unemployment in the European
Union.
And in almost all cases, the respondents said their loss of job had no
impact on their family lives.
In fact, family support plays a crucial role in maintaining the
confidence levels of the executive who has lost the job, according to the
study.
Four out of five executives said their families were very supportive
during the transition period.
Even though the executive feels close to family, he or she is also
willing to relocate within national borders to pursue a new career.
But the Asian executive may be less inclined to relocate than the
European executive.
According to Fryer, only 13 per cent of the Asian executives were
willing to relocate, against 23 per cent of European executives.
Officials at DBM also maintain that ""while career transition
is clearly becoming a more commonplace occurrence in today's world of
work, 96 per cent of respondents globally attest to the benefits of career
transition services,'' Mr St-Amour told a Canadian news service.
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