Redundancy is a decision about a role. It rarely feels that way to the person in it.
This page offers routes to support. It cannot tell you what to do next.
Why does this feel like more than a job?
A job carries your routine, your income and a large part of how you see yourself. Losing it takes all three at once.
You may want to talk about the work itself, or about what the work was holding up. Both belong in the same conversation.
I have not told anyone yet
You do not have to tell anyone before you talk to a professional. It can be the first place you say it out loud.
Shame often arrives with redundancy, even when the decision had nothing to do with you. You can bring that too.
Where do I check what I am owed?
Acas gives free advice on redundancy pay, notice periods and consultation. Its advisers know the law. We do not give that advice.
England 
Scotland 
Wales Free advice on redundancy pay, notice periods and consultation, by phone and online.
Northern Ireland Free workplace advice for Northern Ireland, which has its own employment law.
Northern Ireland has its own service and its own employment law.
The rules on redundancy are also set out on GOV.UK.
Knowing where you stand can quieten one part of the worry. It rarely quietens all of it.
Sources: Acas: advice, LRA: workplace information, HM Government: redundancy rights
Why can I not stop going over the meeting?
A short meeting can keep replaying for weeks afterwards. Your mind may be looking for the moment it could have gone differently.
That search rarely ends on its own. A professional can help you put it down.
I am angry and nobody wants to hear it
Anger is a reasonable response to losing work you did well. You may be keeping it down to stay employable, or to protect people at home.
A private conversation is somewhere it can be said without cost. Nothing there goes on a reference.
The money worry has taken over
Money worry and job loss usually arrive together. Each makes the other louder.
Free debt advice handles the money side. Our money worries page lists who gives that advice free. Talking support is for what the worry is doing to you.
I was already exhausted before this
Redundancy often lands on someone who was already running on empty. A long stretch of overwork does not end when the job does.
Our page on burnout at work covers that exhaustion. You can talk about both.
What do I say when people ask what I do?
You can decide what to say before you are asked. Practising the sentence with someone can take the dread out of it.
You do not owe anyone the full story. A short answer is a complete answer.
Everyone says it is an opportunity
You do not have to call this an opportunity while it still feels like a loss. People say it kindly. It can still land badly.
A conversation can start with how it truly feels. The hopeful part can come later, or not yet.
Is it too soon to talk to someone?
You can ask for support in the first week or a year later. There is no point at which this becomes the wrong thing to raise.
A professional can explain how they work and what they charge. You can then decide whether to book.
If this has you thinking about ending your life, our crisis page lists who to talk to now.
Thanks for your interest. We're not taking on new clients at the moment.
Want to talk about the loss, not just the next job?
We ask what matters to you, then find professionals who fit.
- I have been put at risk and I cannot think straight
- I lost the job and I have not told anyone yet
- Without the work I do not know who I am
- I am angry and I am supposed to be professional about it
