impact of job loss on professional and managerial employees and their families, The

Straussner, Shulamith Lala Ashenberg

Abstract

Despite the recent economic boom, layoffs of professional and managerial employees in the United States continue to affect millions of Individuals and their family members. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of the Impact of unemployment on ten displaced professionals and managers and their families. A seven-stage typology describing reactions of the unemployed and their families to long-term unemployment is presented. Impact on the family, differences In reactions to loss of employment based on gender and on age, and information regarding re-employment status of these individuals are discussed. Implications for work-based programs, dinical services, and policy are provided.

THE RECENT DOWNSIZING OF MAJOR corporations and the layoffs in health care, government, and finance (see King, 1998; Truell, 1998), have resulted in unemployment among professional and managerial employees to a degree unprecedented since the Depression of the 1930s (Church, 1993; Johnson, 1996). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), "a total of 3.6 million workers were displaced between January 1995 and December 1997 from jobs they had held for at least 3 years" (BLS, August 19, 1998, p. 1). Among these displaced workers, over a quarter (28%) were those classified within the "managerial and professional" occupational category (BLS, August 19, 1998, p. 8).

While there is extensive social work literature on the impact of unemployment and social work interventions with unemployed low-income and blue-collar individuals and their families (Briar, 1983; 1988; Donovan, Jaffe, & Pirie, 1987; Drennan, 1988; Hoffman, Carpentier-Alting, Thomas, Hamilton, & Broman, 1991; Jones, 1990; Keefe, 1984; Madonia, 1983), social work literature specific to job loss by professional and managerial employees is almost non-existent (Foster & Shore, 1990). Even outside social work publications, the focus on such population in professional literature is minimal (Fineman 1983; Kates, Grieff, & Hagen, 1990; Newman, 1988).

This paper explores the impact of unemployment on managerial and professional employees and examines the consequences of unemployment for their family members. Moreover, since for the first time in the history of the United States, this group of unemployed also includes a large number of women, special attention is paid to gender differences. Implications for clinical intervention and policy recommendations are provided.

Methodology and Sample

The findings are based on exploratory, open-ended discussions with a convenience sample of ten newly unemployed professional and managerial individuals and their families. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, no research instruments were used. Rather, the conceptualization of the stages described below is based on content analysis of the self-reports of the respondents. The content of the interviews focused on four areas: current employment status of all immediate family members; previous and current psychological and social functioning of both adults and children; current relationship between partners; and reactions to the unemployed individual by immediate and extended family members. The respondents were also asked to provide any other information that they felt was relevant to this study.

The unemployed individuals and adult family members in the household were interviewed approximately every four months during a two-and-a-half year period beginning fall 1994. Depending on the family, the participants were seen either individually or conjointly with their partner or other family member. Interviews ranged between one and two hours. A follow-up phone interview was conducted with each of the ten unemployed individuals during fall 1997.

Among the ten individuals experiencing job loss were: a female social work supervisor living with her boyfriend; a divorced female attorney with one young child who moved in with her parents after losing her job; a married male comptroller with two young children; a married female financial executive in the process of adopting a child; a married male college professor with three elementaryschool-age children; a female publishing executive in a long-term lesbian relationship; a married male psychologist with one young child and two older children from a previous marriage; a married female magazine editor with two adolescent children; a married male bank executive with two college-age children; and a married male hospital administrator with three grown children. The unemployed individuals' ages ranged from thirty-two to sixty, with a mean of forty-six years.

Seven of the unemployed individuals were Americanborn whites, while three were foreign-born - including one white from Eastern Europe, one individual of mixed race from the Caribbean, and one Hispanic born in South America. All the unemployed individuals had been educated in the United States; two had baccalaureate degrees, five had masters degrees, and three had doctoral degrees. All had made significant emotional and time commitments to their jobs and careers; their tenure at the job they lost ranged from two to twenty-eight years, with a mean of ten years. Many expected to remain at their jobs for the rest of their professional careers. Their base salary prior to job loss ranged from $35,000 to around $200,000. In all cases, they were the major wage earners in their families.

Reactions to Job Loss

While the individuals and families in this study did not exhibit a uniform reaction to job loss, a number of common dynamics and patterns of reactions to their unemployment were noted. In line with previous findings (Bakke, 1940; Briar, 1978; Eisenberg & Lazarsfeld 1938, Hayes & Nutman, 1981; Kates et. al., 1990; Keefe, 1984), the reactions of these unemployed individuals, as well as that of their family members, occurred in progressive stages. Such stage response to unemployment can be viewed as analogous to grief reactions that have been noted in relations to terminal illness or loss of a significant other (Kubler-Ross, 1969; Keefe, 1984, Stearns, 1995).

Seven stages of reaction were identified. They include:

Stage 1: Shock, Anger, and Betrayal

Stage 2: Hopeful Expectancy

Stage 3: Role Changes

Stage 4: Compensatory Employment

Stage 5: Increasing Social Isolation and Resentment

Stage 6: Emotional Upheaval

Stage 7: Physical and Mental Decompensation and Break-Down of the Family Unit.

The unemployed and their families remained in the stages for varying lengths of time - some lasting weeks, while other lasted months and longer. The majority went through a progression that included the first six of the following stages:

Stage 1. Shock, anger and betrayal. This stage began immediately upon job loss and was usually time limited, ranging from one week to three months. In several of the families, it was the spouse, or other adult relatives, who experienced the greater degree of shock and subsequent anger than the employee him/herself. Many of the employees had been told or read about the possibility of job loss or had seen fellow workers lose their jobs prior to their own job termination. Nonetheless, comments such as "I knew it was coming, but I contributed so much to the company I didn't think they would really let me go" revealed a profound sense of betrayal by the employer or work organization; this sense of betrayal was shared by the partners. Despite the strong emotions experienced by the adults, all the families with young children attempted to protect them by limiting any job-related discussion in their presence and by attempting to maintain the existing life style, such as keeping the children in expensive private schools.

Stage 2. Hopeful expectancy. Once the period of shock passed, most of the recently unemployed individuals went through a hopeful period, expecting that an equal or even better employment situation would be found within a reasonable period of time. This stage ranged from two to nine months. During this time, all the unemployed individual participated in outplacement services or actively sought employment leads through headhunters, specialized employment agencies, newspaper ads, university placement offices, and networking.

All of the individuals in the study received severance pay (ranging from one month to a year's salary) and all of them had maintained some health insurance coverage. The severance pay combined with the availability of unemployment benefits limited the immediate severity of negative financial impact on the families, although planned major expenses, such as buying a house, a new car, or even adopting a baby, were put on hold.

Nonetheless, four out of the ten families went on longdelayed vacations, expecting to find employment upon return. By and large, during this stage, immediate and extended family members were supportive, although some gender differences were noted and will be discussed later.

Stage 3. Role changes. While the timing of this stage varied, at some point, all of the couples in this sample experienced some role changes and even role reversal. While still trying to seek employment, all of the unemployed women returned to, or assumed for the first time, the stereotypical role of the housewife. Almost all of the unemployed men assumed greater, or different, responsibilities in the home, such as cooking, shopping, or caring for the children. This was true even for men who had never done so before. For example, an unemployed executive married to an employed professional woman began to shop and prepare dinner nightly for the first time in their thirty-two years of married life.

Despite the role flexibility, during this stage most of the families experienced increasing friction with less support offered to each other. Children who lived at home became acutely aware of the changes in the family; some became extremely helpful, assuming more of a parentified role, while others began to act out in various ways. Older children, whether at home or away, began to exhibit more anxiety regarding their parents and concern regarding continuity of their life style. Extended family members, such as parents, siblings, and in-laws, become more involved, leading, in some cases, to increased stress in the nuclear family.

Stage 4. Compensatory employment. During this stage, which varied depending on the availability of financial resources, family members started to supplement the family income with additional employment. In one family, the heretofore home-based wife went to work, while in four other families the employed spouses/partners increased their workloads through overtime or additional part-time jobs. As an extreme example, in one family, the wife of an unemployed man added four additional parttime jobs to her full-time professional work. Teenage and college-aged children obtained part-time jobs after school. In one case, the mother of an unemployed married man postponed her planned retirement in order to financially help her unemployed son and his family.

While bringing more income, such additional work activities also added to the familial stress as well as guilt on the part of the unemployed individual. Concerns about present and future finances, as well as general levels of anxiety and stress, increased for all family members. Symptoms such as sleep disorders and physical complaints were more common.

Stage 5. Increasing social isolation and resentment. As the unemployment continued past six months, so did the emotional toll on individuals and family members. Most of the unemployed individuals and their family members experienced growing social isolation as less and less money was available for recreational and social activities enjoyed previously. As one family member stated: "We're having less fun together, and no fun separately. What kind of a life is this?"

As family members became more isolated, resentment toward the unemployed individual increased. Spouses, older children, and extended family members grew less sympathetic toward the unemployed individual. In cases of unemployed men, some of their wives' parents and siblings became more critical of the husbands. Such criticism increased the wives' own conflict between their own resentments toward their husbands and their loyalties to them.

Stage 6. Emotional upheaval. With the passage of time, the unemployed individual experienced an ever-increasing sense of depression, hopelessness, and despair. Some began to overeat or drink more than previously; others withdrew and spent hours watching television, listening to music, using the Internet, or sleeping; while still others sought escape outside the home. For the employed spouse/partner, an ever-increasing spiral of anger, resentment, and guilt developed. Difficulties in dealing with an emotionally stressed, as well as an unemployed spouse/partner compounded their own feelings of being over-extended and over-burdened. Children were reported to exhibit increasing signs of depression, withdrawal, or acting-out behavior at home and/or school.

As the malfunctioning of the family became more overt, some sought, or were referred for, professional help for the first time - although the availability of insurance benefits for mental health treatment played a crucial role in seeking help.

Stage 7. Physical and mental decompensation and breakdown of the family unit. Long-term negative effects were seen in all of the five cases where the unemployment lasted more than one year. Two of the unemployed men suffered chronic disabilities - one developed physical problems severe enough to be classified as permanently disabled, while another became psychologically unable to cope with job rejections to such a degree that he stopped looking for any job and became basically homebound spending time exploring the Internet.

Unable to handle the increasing financial and emotional stress, two of the wives of unemployed husbands considered separation and/or divorce, while the partner of an unemployed woman began an affair. However, even the ability to pursue separation or divorce was influenced by the unemployment and the resulting concerns regarding the cost of maintaining two households. This dynamic further increased the resentment and affected the functioning of all family members.

Resumption of Employment

Eight out of the ten unemployed men and women had resumed full-time employment by end of 1997. However, an exploration of their current positions revealed an interesting dichotomy, with half having resumed their careers while the rest changed theirs. As discussed below, the impact on their families also differed.

Readjustment of professional expectations. Four of the ten unemployed individuals readjusted their professional career expectations within seven to eighteen months following their job loss. Rather than continuing their search for a position similar to the one they lost, these individuals decided to refocus their career goals. Three became independent consultants or self-employed professionals, and one changed careers and became a high school teacher. All four experienced some loss of income and benefits. Three of the four expressed great satisfaction with their new careers, although the lack of comparable insurance and other benefits appeared to be their greatest concern. Family life for three of the four improved, returning to the level of satisfaction that existed before their job loss.

Resumption of previous careers. The remaining four individuals obtained jobs in their field with salaries similar or even higher than those held previously. Despite their new jobs, all expressed high levels of anxiety and uncertainty about their professional future fearing another job loss. That uncertainty about the future, combined with the stress of adjusting to a new, highly demanding position, continued to impact negatively on their relationship with their spouses or partners, and, to a lesser degree, with their children. Relationship with their extended families improved.

Gender Differences in Reaction to Job Loss

Historically, professional and managerial jobs had been disproportionately held, and lost, by men rather than by women. Currently, even though 48% of managerial and professional positions are held by women (a figure that has risen from 36% in 1976) (Catalyst, 1997), the literature on the impact of job loss on such women is limited (Jones, 1989) and found mainly in the popular press (Mahoney, 1994). Based on this small sample, some differences in adaptations to unemployment based on gender were identified.

Emphasis on status and salary. Issues of status and salary appeared to be dealt with differently by men and women. Men were less likely to accept a lower-paying or lower-status position, and they maintained the stage of "hopeful expectancy" longer than was true for women. The unemployed women generally showed less concern about the status and salary of new job offers. They were more willing than the men to accept whatever positions they were offered. The wives, as well as extended female family members, were also more eager for the unemployed men to accept lower status and/or salary than was true for the men themselves.

This dynamic may indicate that the relative "newness" of women in the workplace makes them more insecure and more pessimistic about future employment opportunities, both for themselves as well as for their husbands. It may also reflect the men's realistic assessment of the job market: According to a national survey of displaced workers during the mid-1990s, "(m)ore of the displaced were men than women; however, men were more likely to be reemployed at the time of the survey. Seventyeight percent of men were working in a new job, compared with 68 percent of women" (BLS, October 25, 1996, p. 2). These national findings may, in part, reflect the conflict between work and family life experienced by many women with young children who then chose not to return to the workplace (Schwartz, 1992).

Psychological reactions. In general, women expressed greater anxiety about their future than men, while the men appeared to be more traumatized by long-term job loss. Psychosomatic symptoms, increased cigarette smoking, social withdrawal, increased fixation on the Internet, and greater use (not necessarily abuse)of alcohol, were more common reactions to job loss among men than women.

Familial impact and support. Unlike the findings in studies of low-income and blue collar men (Hoffman, et al. 1991; Jones, 1990; Krugman, et al, 1986), there were no indications of increase in physical abuse of wives or children by any of the unemployed men in this study. On the other hand, verbal abuse by employed wives toward their unemployed husbands appeared to increase.

Although both the unemployed men and women received extensive emotional, and some even financial, support from their extended families, such support was maintained longer for the unemployed women than men. It appears that, regardless of their professional level, it is still more acceptable for women than for men to be unemployed.

Age Related Differences

Given the existing ageism in the society (Connor, 1992), it was not surprising to find that age was an important factor for both women and men. Despite the fact that the majority of the sample were highly educated individuals whose skills did not decrease with age, those over the age of forty-five were more concerned about the future - this was particularly true for the three individuals over fifty. Interestingly, all four of the individuals who chose to change careers and readjust their professional expectations were among the "older" (i.e., over forty-four) individuals in this sample. It is unclear to what degree this was a reflection of their age, of their greater sense of professional knowledge and competency, or even of "professional burnout."

Implications of Findings for Intervention

Based on discussions with the unemployed individuals and their families, a number of implications for clinical interventions as well as for advocacy and policy issues can be identify.

Need for Peer Support Groups

The value of self-help and educational groups for the unemployed has been noted by numerous researchers and clinicians (Bakke, 1940; Briar, 1988; Drennan, 1988; Madonia, 1983). As stated by Drennan: "Education groups provide a non-threatening way for the unemployed to receive valuable information, to understand what they are experiencing, and to support one another. This can build esprit de corps and raise self-esteem, which are vital for the unemployed" (p. 50). While most of the literature cited above focused on lower-income and non-professional individuals, it was evident that peer-support groups also played a significant supportive role for unemployed professionals and managers. The establishment and utilization of such groups should be advocated by clinicians and work-based programs.

Need for Help for Family Members

As seen in this study, job loss creates a severe crisis not only for the unemployed individual, but also for the family as a unit and for each family member. Therefore, it is important that help be offered not only to those who are unemployed, but also to the employed family members including spouses, partners, parents, and siblings. The most efficient services for such individuals would be through the workplace, such as brown bag lunch discussions and lectures offered by human resources departments or employee assistance programs (EAPs) (Straussner, 1990). Educating family members, including older children, about the various stages and reactions experienced by unemployed individuals and by their families can be helpful in their own coping efforts and may improve family functioning.

Sensity to Age and Gender Issues

Service providers working with the unemployed and their families need to recognize and address age and gender differences. It is useful to note the gender differences in the length of the "hopeful expectancy" stage regarding future employment and the implications that such difference may hold for couple relationship and familial stress. Moreover, when helping unemployed professionals and managers explore new employment options, it is important to be cognizant of any gender differences regarding their emphasis on salary levels and the status of new positions.

Encouraging Hope and Flexible Responses

Given the basically positive employment outcome for 80% of this small sample, it is important that currently unemployed managerial and professional employees be helped to recognize that their unemployment is likely to be temporary. While not everyone can return to the same high level of employment status and salary, options such as selfemployment or new career directions have proven to be successful to others and should be explored.

Encouraging Realistic Expectatons of New Position

Individuals who do return to the workplace, and especially their family members, need to be prepared for the possibility of on-going stress resulting from the new position. Moreover, given the current marketplace, it is not unusual for professionals and managers to obtain new positions only to be threatened with job loss soon afterward. Thus, it is important to have employees and their families recognize that the possibility of another job loss is not a reflection on the individual, but an indication of the existing market economy where life-long job security is rapidly evaporating.

Implications for Policy and Advocacy

In addition to workplace and clinical interventions, the study findings also point to the need for policy changes. The lack of universal health care exacerbates the stress for individuals and families experiencing extended periods of unemployment. The availability of universal long-term health insurance coverage that is affordable to everyone and that includes mandatory mental health and substance abuse benefits would eliminate a major concern among unemployed and self-employed individuals. Thus it is crucial that social workers advocate for universal health insurance for all adults and children, as well as for the inclusion of partner coverage for those in an ongoing same sex relationship.

Extension of unemployment insurance benefits would provide additional relief for unemployed individuals and their families who have been unable to find employment after six months. Moreover, social workers need to advocate for the provision of free employer, union, and/or government sponsored training programs for unemployed managers and professionals wishing to start their own businesses. Specialized training in consultation and adaptation of skills to the changing environment should be included. Finally, employer provisions of low-interest loans for those unable to find employment or wishing to start their own businesses would be one way of compensating former employees for the financial success of many major companies at the expense of displaced workers.

Study Limitations and Conclusions

The findings of this small, non-representative sample cannot be generalized beyond this exploratory study. The seven stages identified as reactions to job loss need to be validated through a more comprehensive research study that includes a larger and more representative sample with a more structured methodology.

In spite of its limitation, this study presents a beginning conceptualization of the impact of unemployment on the heretofore ignored population of managerial and professional men and women and their families. While longterm unemployment is traumatizing regardless of oneis socio-economic and educational level, this study found that the loss of employment among this group is not necessarily a permanent stage. Those willing to continue their search for employment, and those flexible enough to readjust their professional goals and expectations and apply their skills in a different capacity, can expect to resume a rewarding professional life. However, it is important to recognize that as in every major trauma, some people, regardless of their educational and professional level, are not able to adjust to change. Such individuals and their families require outreach and long-term supportive services.

Given the continued trend towards globalization and the persistence of corporate downsizing in the United States and abroad, and given the serious impact that this has on the unemployed and their families, it is important to advocate that employers and the government do not lose sight of the needs of the millions of displaced managers and professionals and their families.

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Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner is professor, New York University Ehrenkranz School of Social Work I Washington Square North, New York NY 10003. E-mail: lalastraussner@nyu.edu. Norma Kolko Phillips is associate professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work Lehman College, City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West Bronx, NY 10468.

Original manuscript received: December 1998

Manuscript accepted: April 1999

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