Resilience in the recession

Precarious work has been around for so long in this country that the last time I used the term “permanent work” in conversation, I was sprayed with coffee as the person I was talking to sputtered that it was preposterous to expect any guarantee of work. I had to explain the difference between having a permanent contract and a lifetime guarantee of work. The delusion of safety of employment has truly been bred out of us, along with expectations of social and employment protections, pensions, training or career progression. This de-regulation of working life is directly linked to a de-regulation of our internal lives. With the loss of work security, we are likely to experience an internal insecurity, and along with it fear, anger and a recurring sense of uselessness. This is hard to manage at the best of times, but in the face of unemployment it is hard to self-regulate. Under enough pressure we lose our perspective and capacity to think past these overwhelming feelings.

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