It’s a trying time for the whole of the industrialised world at the moment . We keep being informed that the economy is recovering, albeit rather slowly , from the worst recession in living memory, that is unless you happened to be alive in 1929. I don’t know about you but it seems to me that times are only getting worse. The world moves on though and time has moved on and it must be noted that the technological world moves at a rapid pace and yesterdays technology becomes obsolete very quickly and opportunities in the workplace appear to be fewer and fewer except if you have just the right range of skills .

Few organisations have an excellent track record when it comes to staff welfare. They just can’t afford to in this day and age . The Hire ‘em and Fire em’ way of treating staff that is prevalent in the States has very definitely spread across the Atlantic and if company managers are tasked with reducing their workforce to save cash then , these days they will notthink twice . Facing up to redundancy can be a traumatic experience. An important point is to bear in mind that it’s not often personal even though sometimes it could seem like it is. “It’s not personal, it’s just business” was a line from the Godfather but the consequences seemed quite awful then didn’t they?

It’s vital to start thinking early on if you suspect that you may be going to get made redundant. Forewarned is forearmed in some respects and the earlier you start thinking of the future the more prepared you will be if and when the axe falls. If your skills are totally out of date or are just of use to your current organisation then the sooner you find out what is wanted in the labour market the better. Your employer may be one of the generous ones that will give you help with re-training but if it’s a smaller organisation then this can be of limited value. The point here is that when the rumour mill around the company seems to be telling the truth more often than not then it’s time to look at your realistic options for when you actually get the chop.

If you have a specialist skill or a special interest then it’s not a bad time to think about starting your own business. If you have been in a desk job for most of your career then this can seem daunting but you should have a goodly period to mull this over before your employer lands that dreaded letter on your desk (or sacks you by text, as seems to be the current fashion!)

If you get made redundant and manage to get a financial package out of your previous employer then one way of investing your redundancy money is by putting it in a Franchise For Sale investment to get you back in business. In fact Franchises seem almost an exact match for people who have been made redundant. Franchises do demand an initial fee but then again it’s not like starting up your business totally on your own. A good franchisor will help you through the daunting start up period during which a lot of solo businesses fail. There is something to be said for the Franchise For Sale type of investment as say you have invested Nineteen thousand pounds in a Home Based Franchise. You are far less likely to walk away from this type of investment level than if you had merely invested a couple of thousand quid in some items that you can’t shift! If you’re worried about the investment levels needed then looking at a Home Based Franchise should help to keep the costs down by avoiding the expense of maintaining premises and plenty of Franchises tend to follow this system . If you have a good redundancy package but limited business experience than a good look at the Franchise For Sale market is likely to be your best bet.

A further option you could look at is vocational training. There are a raft of courses out there and the governments own organisation LearnDirect has a substantial number of basic to intermediate level course leading to industry recognised qualifications. If you are in receipt of benefits there is a grant of two to three hundred pounds available that can be used to help with the expenses of a course that leads to a work based qualification