56% of Workers Say Layoff Fears Are Harming Their Mental Health. Here's What to Do if You're Worried About Your Job

We're getting a lot of conflicting information about the economy these days. On the one hand, today's job market is seemingly quite strong. In April, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, and more than 250,000 jobs were added to the economy. But on the other hand, many financial experts are still warning that a near-term recession is likely. The Federal Reserve itself has even told consumers to gear up for a recession, albeit a mild recession, in 2023.

It's therefore not surprising to learn that a large number of workers are worried about the possibility of losing their jobs. And in a recent Monster survey, 56% of respondents said that fears about job loss are negatively impacting their mental health.

If the idea of losing your job has been keeping you from feeling your best, there are steps you can take to try to alleviate those concerns. Here are a few worth focusing on.

1. Figure out what skills you lack -- and work on them

The more confident you are as an employee, the better you might feel about your job security. So think about your role and the skills needed to be great at it. If you feel you lack any, work on boosting them. That could mean asking to shadow a more seasoned employee on your team or spending some time outside of work doing research and even taking classes.

2. Network internally

The more relationships you're able to build within your company, the more staying power you might have if your employer is forced to downsize. After all, the more you interact with other teams, the more vital you might become to the broad operation. Also, if your department happens to be targeted for layoffs before another department and you lose your job, the relationships you have with other managers might prompt one of them to offer you a spot on their team.

3. Network externally

It's also important to establish professional connections and relationships outside of your company. Sign up for industry events in your area and push to attend conferences so you can branch out and meet new people. It also wouldn't hurt to explore mutual connections on LinkedIn to meet more people in your field.

4. Boost your emergency fund

Getting laid off could mean having to resort to credit card debt to pay your bills in the absence of a paycheck. That's far from ideal. But if you boost your savings account balance so you have a nice emergency fund to fall back on, the idea of losing a job may not seem as scary. At a minimum, you should aim to sock away enough cash in your emergency fund to cover three months of essential bills. But if you're able to save beyond that point so you have, say, six months' worth of bills covered, it might significantly lower your stress level.

READ MORE: Emergency Fund Calculator

The idea of losing a job can be scary and upsetting. And it's easy to see why layoff-related worries might be harming your mental health. But if you tackle these key items, you may find that your outlook slowly but surely improves despite all the uncertainty that abounds.