61% of Millennials Are Worried About Job Loss. Do These 4 Things if You Are, Too

All of these could help you ride out a period of unemployment. 

For months now, financial experts have been sounding warnings about an upcoming recession. And not surprisingly, that has a lot of people worried about the possibility of being unemployed. 

A recent Personal Capital report reveals that 61% of millennials are concerned about job loss and its potential impact on their finances. If you have similar concerns, it pays to make these important moves.

1. Boost your cash reserves

Many jobless workers learn the hard way that unemployment benefits don't replace their paychecks in full. And if you earn a decent salary, you may find that jobless benefits in your state only replace a small chunk of your income. 

That's why it's so important to have adequate cash reserves. The more money you have in savings, the easier it will be to keep up with your expenses if you end up out of work for a period of time.

As a general rule, it's a good idea to have enough money in an emergency fund to cover three to six months of essential bills. If you haven't yet reached the lower end of that range, aim to pump as much money as you can into savings before economic conditions worsen.

2. Trim your expenses

Dumping nonessential expenses won't just make it easier to build up your savings. It could also make it easier to keep up with your bills if you lose your job.

Take a look at your current expenses and aim to identify at least a couple that you can trim or even eliminate. If you spend $40 a month on a subscription box, for example, you may want to cancel it temporarily. Or, you may want to stop spending $150 a month on takeout when cooking those meals at home will only cost you $50.

3. Pick up a side hustle

Right now, the gig economy is booming. It's hard to say if that will remain the case if economic conditions worsen. But since side hustles are pretty easy to come by these days, you may want to take one on -- especially if your savings could use a boost.

Plus, if you establish yourself at a side hustle and a recession hits, you might have the option to continue at that second gig at a time when many people are losing work. And if you're laid off from your full-time job, your side hustle could serve as a backup income source.

4. Grow your core job skills

The more valuable an employee you are, the harder it will be to let you go. Now's a good time to work on boosting the skills that are essential to your job, whether it's reading up on tax code changes or learning the latest design software.

If a recession does hit within the next year, we can expect jobless numbers to climb. Granted, our next recession could also be fairly mild and short lived. But it's important to protect yourself in the face of potential job loss -- just in case.