‘People kept disappearing’: Should you take a redundancy?
By Emily Chantiri
At the start of 2024, Caroline Szellemes noticed staff at her workplace were suddenly missing.
Working remotely, Szellemes didn’t think too much about it, as it was often hard to gauge who was in the office or working from home.
Caroline Szellemes was given just 24 hours’ notice before being made redundant.Credit: Jamila Toderas
“It’s not a huge company, but it was big enough to not notice. It was weird, people kept disappearing and no one talked about it. It wasn’t until I was made redundant that I realised how many they’d let go within the space of a couple of months,” she says.
“I had a feeling that redundancy was possible, but honestly, I didn’t think I was in the firing line. I understood over the past few years that it’s been difficult in the tech space with automation and redundancies.”
Szellemes worked as a content marketing strategist. The reason behind her redundancy was a company restructure.
“I was only given 24 hours’ notice that my role was being made redundant. Before this job, I’d been working in the contract space for many years and felt a full-time job would be more stable, as I have a mortgage. Ironically, it’s not the case anymore, I was in this role for only nine months,” she says.
‘Redundancy can be an opportunity to try something new, reskill, start a business or even take a career break.’
Jo Jakobs
Initially, the 52-year-old began applying for full-time roles, but decided to go back to contracting. Since then, she has enrolled in a counselling degree and founded a startup, 180Selfcare.
“The redundancy gave me the opportunity to change my career path. I’m less stressed and have time to work on my wellbeing and start-up. This, along with short-term contracts, is more stimulating to me.”
Her advice to anyone going through redundancy is don’t blame yourself.
“Most people go into survival mode and don’t necessarily process what’s happened. It’s something I’ve had to learn over many years. Look after yourself first, create the space so you can make the right decision going forward.”
Middle management cuts
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations reports that between January 1, 2023 and March 22, 2024, 33,925 redundant positions were reported to Services Australia by 554 businesses.
This figure isn’t surprising given the number of retrenchments in large corporations over the past year. KPMG announced 200 job cuts in February, Australia Post 400 job cuts and recently PwC cut around 300 jobs.
According to a data analysis by Live Data Technologies for USA Bloomberg, job cuts for middle managers – those below the executive ranks who still have direct reporting – increased to 31.5 per cent of total layoffs in 2023, up from a little under 20 per cent in 2018.
Should you take a redundancy?
Over the last 12 months the number of redundancies is on the rise, says Michael Berger, a director from recruitment agency Talent Blueprint.
“It started with a sprinkling of non-management employees and in 2024 we are seeing first-hand more middle management being let go,” he adds.
For anyone deciding to take a redundancy or move to another role within the company, Berger says, it’s crucial to weigh up factors like the current job market, skills, experience and long-term career goals.
“If the job market is tight and the company offers a role that aligns with one’s skills and career aspirations, transitioning within the company could be beneficial. However, if financial stability or work-life balance is a priority and the redundancy package offers relief, accepting it might be the preferred option.”
Jo Jakobs, director of Professional Talent at Randstad, said being made redundant can be a shock and is never a pleasant experience.
“Redundancy doesn’t have to turn into a career crisis. Of course there will be immediate financial pressures to consider, but a redundancy can also be an opportunity to try something new, reskill, start a business or even take a career break.”
Transitioning to a new role within the company can provide short-term job security and the chance to retrain with the company.
“While this option may seem like a no-brainer, you have to also ask yourself – how does this align with my long-term career aspirations? Will this offer me the same level of job satisfaction as I had before?” says Jakobs.
“We have seen that people redeployed into different roles in an organisation will sometimes then leave of their own volition due to these considerations, particularly if they aren’t fully supported by the organisation.”
Berger describes the current job market as a pre-pandemic state of play.
“I don’t see any change this year, but like any market, there are some shining lights of opportunity, such as health care, renewables, engineering and construction.”
Finally, Jakobs adds that jobs advertised are slowing down according to the latest available online job vacancy index. But the unemployment rate has remained steady for the past two quarters and job vacancies remain at record highs compared with a pre-COVID environment.
- Advice given in this article is general in nature and not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.
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