Americans are struggling with layoff anxiety: It's causing workers to 'burn out faster,' experts say

CNBC

02-07-2025

In the wake of high-profile layoffs, many workers are feeling anxious about job security.
U.S. employers reported nearly 700,000 job cuts in the first five months of 2025, according to outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, an 80% increase compared to job cuts in the first five months of 2024.
It's little wonder, then, that 46% of Americans report feeling "concerned" about layoffs in the next year, according to a recent Indeed survey.
The fear of losing your job can be all-consuming, affecting everything from your productivity to your personal relationships.
According to executive coach and licensed social worker Melody Wilding, layoff anxiety can create a "vicious cycle" of overwork for employees.
Concern for their jobs is "causing people to work much more, maybe in areas that are not productive, and burn out faster," she says.
Below, experts share tips to keep layoff anxiety from affecting your well-being, both at work and at home.
Layoff anxiety can make it difficult to stay focused, even on tasks you usually handle with ease, Wilding says.
"It's always in the back of your head, so you're not really bringing your best to anything you're doing," she says. "There's just a hum of anxiety in the background."
According to career and leadership coach Phoebe Gavin, constantly thinking or talking about your job is another red flag.
"If it's something that is just popping into your mind, even at unrelated times, and you're having a hard time distracting yourself or redirecting yourself from that thought, that is definitely a telltale sign that you should probably do something about that anxiety," she says.
On a larger scale, layoff anxiety can create a negative environment at work. According to Wilding, when people are on edge, they're more likely to be "reactive and maybe even defensive or snippy" with their co-workers, which creates an atmosphere of "tension and fear."
Equally, Gavin says, it can strain your personal relationships: if you're constantly "stress venting" to your loved ones about your job concerns, you run the risk of overexerting your support system.
"Anxiety from any place in your life is going to seep into the rest of your life," she says.
For many of Gavin's clients, the hardest part of layoff anxiety is "feeling like you have absolutely no control over the situation."
While anxiety may feel "paralyzing," coming up with a clear action plan can give you a greater sense of stability, she says.
"When my clients are catastrophizing about this sort of thing, I always ask them, 'what would you do? I know you would bad, but what would you ?'" she says. "Often we're able to come up with a list of actions that we can take."
If you have a good relationship with your supervisor, Gavin recommends having an honest conversation about the prospect of layoffs, as well as doing some industry research on your own time.
Even if you do get laid off, Wilding says, "it usually isn't as catastrophic as we make it" in our minds. You may have to tighten your budget and put more energy into job searching, but being laid off doesn't mean that your career is over.
Wilding suggests sprucing up your resume and reconnecting with your professional network so that you're ready to hit the job market if necessary.
"It can give you a feeling of agency and control that should something bad happen, at least I'm ready to go," she says.