I had a client who hated his job.  It wasn’t a short term thing; he hated his job for a number of years.  The primary reason he stayed was that he felt “trapped” by the health care benefit.  He had a history of heart problems and his son was disabled and needed extra medical care.  He was a very talented person and could have helped a number of organizations.  He also had an itch to go out on his own.  Alas, he stayed with his hated job until at age 55 he was laid off.  Now he has the worst of both worlds.  He does not have a job and the related health insurance, and he has missed the window for following his dream.

 The reason a person stays with a company or won’t take the risk to follow his heart into a more fulfilling career should not be health insurance. 

 Regardless of your politics, working within a system that allows talent to be wasted or sub-optimized because of a health insurance issue is not in the best interest of any of us.

A small  business owner who should know better – he survived  a layoff in a large company himself – expressed frustration with his sales manager’s post-layoff attitude.  The business went through a 20 % layoff and the owner expected everyone who remained to work harder because they were “lucky” to keep their job.  His sales manager didn’t get the message!

“He is surly, pouts a lot, and I think he is looking for another job,”  the owner complained.  “Not only is he not grateful for keeping his job, he’s disloyal,” he continued.

This small business owner articulated a very common misunderstanding  of the impact of layoffs on survivors and the new reality concept of loyalty. Layoff survivors are not automatically grateful that they kept their jobs.  In fact, they are usually angry, fearful, and anxious. 

Sometimes the “lucky” ones are those who leave.   Even though they often face trying financial circumstances, they can re-frame their experience as a wake-up call.  I think that people who stay for the wrong reasons – because they feel trapped in an unfuffiling  job and don’t have the skills or confidence to leave – are much more un-lucky than those who leave.