295: Surviving Restructuring, Reorganizations, Layoffs, and RIFs: What Mid-Career Professionals Need to Know

Navigating a job loss or corporate shakeup? In this must-listen episode, career expert John Neral explains the real differences between restructuring, reorganization, layoffs, and RIFs, and how mid-career professionals can stay grounded through uncertain times.

Whether you're affected by government DOGE initiatives, private-sector downsizing, or just sensing change ahead, you'll learn how to:

• Recognize what you can control
• Protect your well-being and set strong boundaries
• Understand how leadership makes tough calls
• Prepare a solid career contingency plan
• Identify your transferable skills and stay marketable
• Build financial security and emotional resilience

This episode offers clarity, compassion, and concrete steps to help you weather workplace change and protect your career.

Learn more and join the Mid-Career GPS Membership Community for coaching, resources, and support: johnneral.com/membership

Chapters

• 0:00 Change in Today's Job Market
• 3:07 Understanding Reorganizations vs. Layoffs
• 6:13 Leadership and Management Perspectives
• 11:56 Taking Control of Your Situation
• 17:44 The DOGE Effect on Organizations
• 22:07 Taking Care of Yourself First
• 28:05 Finding Support and Next Steps

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

Change. It's unavoidable, but in this job market, how do you effectively implement it? Everyone reacts to change differently, and dealing with change has been a frequent topic across many of my coaching conversations, because so many of my clients are experiencing uncertain and chaotic change during their mid-career journey, and whether they be a client or a professional connection. Here are just some of the emotions they're experiencing Resentment, anger, fear, opportunity, excitement. These are all valid emotions and reactions to whatever change may be happening inside of their organizations, and that's why, in this episode, I'm taking some time with you this week to help you examine organizational change through the lenses of your leadership, your management and yourself, to help you navigate any potential reorganization, restructuring, layoff or riff. I have been all sides of it and it is about to get real, so let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. If you didn't get a chance to hear last week's episode, I had an exciting announcement about launching my brand new membership community. It is called the Mid-Career GPS Membership Community and it is for mid-career professionals like you who are looking for support, information, resources and tools to help you navigate toward whatever is next for you and your career, as well as your leadership journey. So if you want to learn more about the membership community and come on in, all you have to do is go to my website, johnneral. com/membership to read all the details. There is a monthly subscription option as well as a yearly subscription option, and I look forward to seeing you inside.

John Neral: 2:27

Now for this week's topic, this one. I gotta say it's been a little difficult to plan in some ways, because it seems like everything is changing so much, and so what I wanted to do this week was to just take a look at some of the changes that are happening in this job market and give you some information to help you plan or strategize what potentially your next move may be. So we're going to talk about four things right off the bat. It's reorganization, restructuring, layoffs and rifts reorganization, restructuring, layoffs and rifts. So when it comes to reorganization and restructuring, a lot of times they are often used interchangeably, but there are some slight differences, especially in a business context. So when you think about your organization, if it is going through a restructuring, what that basically means it essentially is a comprehensive or complete overhaul of your company's structure, operation and strategy. I like to think of a reorganization as tearing everything down and building it back up again, and when that happens, some parts are kept, some parts are not, and so it is an opportunity to look at everything from a 30,000-foot view, as well as from ground zero, to completely restructure everything within that company. Now think of a reorganization as something a little smaller. Typically a reorganization targets a particular division or business unit and there is a restructuring of, let's say, departments, units, reassigning teams, looking at staffing numbers and things like that. So I like to think of a restructuring as it is completely tearing everything down and building it back up, and a reorganization is taking a small part of the organization and just formatting it in a different way.

John Neral: 4:42

But then we got to talk about layoffs and rifts and, as you've been following the news and, I'm certain, as you've been following what's happening within your own organization, layoffs and rifts can sometimes be used interchangeably. Here is the difference A layoff typically is temporary, so while we have seen more and more that it does tend to lead to a permanent termination, if you will, of your employment, typically we see layoffs. When it comes to temporary seasonal employees, you work for a few months, let's say during the holidays, you're laid off. Layoffs typically are not performance-based just as much as RIFs are, but RIF R-I-F stands for reduction in force and, as you've been following things that, let's say, have been happening within the federal government, you have heard the term RIF used quite a bit and what that means is that is a permanent elimination of your job and or your department, and that can be pretty traumatic. All of a sudden you've had a job and now you're left without.

John Neral: 5:54

So when you think about what's happening within your agency or your organization, you're thinking about whether they're going through a restructuring, a reorganization, a layoff or a riff. Let's just take a moment and look at this from the leadership or executive leadership lens. They're making a business decision and typically you are not involved in any conversations or decisions, more than likely at your level. These are decisions that are happening above you and, while you may want to be included, you may certainly feel as if you're being left out, and the chances are you are, and there's a very specific reason because at your level you are not privy to or allowed, if you will, organizationally to be included in those kind of conversations.

John Neral: 6:50

This one's really difficult, because so often, when we think about our thoughts and feelings, about how leadership is communicating, we can say, oh, they're cold, they're heartless, they don't care, they didn't give any consideration, and, on some level, I can absolutely understand that. What I want to offer you, though, is that these decisions typically are not made carelessly, and this is not an easy decision for them. Not an easy decision for them. Now. There are some people, and some people in executive leadership positions, where this just becomes very transactional, and it's how they look at the spreadsheet and they look at the bottom line, and you may be the casualty of that, and I get that that, but it's their thoughts versus your thoughts, and as much as your thoughts are you need a job, you need to pay your bills and everything else.

John Neral: 7:54

If the company makes a decision where they cannot afford to keep you, or they are restructuring to save the company in some way or cut costs in some way, then, understandably, the decision has to be made Now from your direct management, your immediate supervisor. Let's keep in mind they have to deliver some really hard news, and it is not easy for them. It is never easy telling someone, they are going to be losing their job, and oftentimes what happens next is for the people who are being told they're being laid off or riffed and they're losing their employment. They are flooded with a ton of information from HR and the organization about how they're going to continue their benefits and how long their salary is going to be, and what to do with any kind of investments or pension or retirement account that they have. So there's a lot of decisions, all while you are trying to process that you do not have a job. But what if you do? Let's acknowledge that.

John Neral: 9:07

In those situations, you then have to figure out all of the things that are happening while you still have a job and how you're going to get things done while perhaps the person sitting next to you or your work bestie is now no longer employed there. So the ton and flood of emotions that happen in situations like this cannot be overlooked, and so when I think about how we manage that change, it is that delicate balance between how do you hold space for an employee who is staying with the organization and yet they still have to get all their work done because the workflows don't stop. You can't sit around and complain and be argumentative all day. There comes a time when you have to get the work done. But this is an opportunity for you to show up and be really clear about what the ground rules are and have those intentional conversations to own where you are, welcome new opportunities, use your genius, protect and promote your brand. Those are my show up six strategies to figure out how you are going to play this situation moving forward.

John Neral: 10:23

As I shared at the top of this episode, I have been on both sides of it. I have been in those leadership conversations around reorganizing and I have been on the other side of it where I have been let go from my job or I've been one of the few that have stayed. And what I want to share with you in this moment is this From a leadership lens. They want to be transparent, they want to let people have as much time to make decisions, but I can tell you from my own personal experiences that I have been in conversations where we have thought we have locked down an org chart, only to change it the next day. So that's the reason why, typically as much as you, the employee want transparency and want to be let in, and you want to know now and feel as if you're not being told.

John Neral: 11:23

One of the hardest things to do is wait until that decision is final. Can you imagine the chaos that would happen if one thing is announced and then, all of a sudden, it changes? Management and leadership don't want that either. Okay, so here's what you have control over. So if you're in a situation where you are wondering what the decision is going to be from the company about whether or not you have a job or your department stays intact, or what's going to be next, where is your finger on the pulse of what's happening? What do you have control over? What are you responsible for? Control over what are you responsible for? And where can you get the best information? Minus all of the drama? So stay with me on that for a minute, minus all of the drama, because organizational change like this can be hugely dramatic. You that I can only imagine how much drama conversations have been, both inside and outside of work, and the worry, fear and anxiety about whether or not people will have a job or not. So if you have a really strong relationship with your direct supervisor, how do you want to leverage that conversation While they may not know anything? Leverage that conversation. While they may not know anything, they may be able to talk to you at least a little bit about what you're feeling and experiencing and what's happening, to help you make a much better and informed decision once you ultimately know what's going to happen to you, ultimately know what's going to happen to you.

John Neral: 13:22

As a manager and leader who had to help teams navigate through a variety of changes around reorganizations, one of the things I always kept in mind was that if someone on my team was emoting and breathing, they were alive, right. So if they were angry, frustrated, upset, confused, that was all okay. I was willing to hold space as much as I could to hear them out. But there also comes a time when you said, okay, look, we're not going to solve this right now. We don't know what the issue is. So, as much as we can talk about it, it's not really going to help for us to perseverate on this conversation because we just don't know yet.

John Neral: 14:05

I worked in one organization where they were dismantling our team and there were two rooms set up and, depending on which room you went to, you either had a job or did not. That was incredibly stressful, and so for a lot of mid-career professionals right now and a lot of people in general that are dealing with this kind of uncertainty in terms of their job security. It is okay to not be okay with all of this. Yes, people are losing their jobs. People are having jobs redefined and restructured, some people are being offered early retirement or buyout options and, of course, we know the quote, unquote fork in the road email that we heard that went out to so many government employees. Okay, it is not all glitz and glamour. I will tell you that.

John Neral: 15:02

I have had conversations with colleagues and friends who have thought that, oh, early retirement's just a great option. No, it's not, especially if you are not ready to retire. Early retirement doesn't mean, okay, you just get to go and you keep your same salary and everything. No, you will take a financial hit. If you retire early. You will go through a huge change in your routine because you're no longer going to work every day. Or you decide, okay, I'm going to take this buyout and now I've got to find a new job. You will make the best decision possible for you, but that's the thing. You can only make the decision based on the parameters and circumstances that are given to you.

John Neral: 15:57

More often than not for a mid-career professional, if they were told, hey, you can keep your job for the next 10 years or take the buyout. They're going to take the job for the next 10 years Because more often than not mid-career professionals you are not ready to retire unless you have a tremendous amount of financial security and you're like, okay, let's go, let's go do something else. So let's you and I talk a little bit about the elephant in the room and I want to talk about Doge for a few minutes. So I have read a lot, I have watched a lot, I have talked to a lot of people who have been impacted in some way by Doge, and the thing that I want to start off with and say is this does any organization have an opportunity to cut costs and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse? Absolutely, I think any organization can look at their bottom line and go we could save money here, we could cut expenses over here, and so on and so forth. But in my opinion, what Doge has done is completely taken that proverbial chainsaw and massacred and decimated organizations, agencies, for whatever reason or agenda they have.

John Neral: 17:41

As a former educator of 25 years, my heart breaks over the dismantling of the Department of Education and while this is not an education, career, profession-centric type podcast, I can't deny the fact that that is my background and I do believe the department has a very specific and functioning role. Have they always been efficient and effective at doing it? No, but I do believe that you need a national agency to oversee certain things within education so that all of the states have a resource to go to and they're not operating in isolation. So when I see what's happened to the Department of Ed and what I have seen happen in that, I just sit there and I shake my head and go. This is not the way to do it right.

John Neral: 18:41

Ideally, when somebody comes in and they want to look at an organization, they look at everything that the organization is doing and its effectiveness and they look at the numbers and they look at the money coming in and they look and see, okay, where can we make a cut? And typically you don't make such a massive cut that you then have to immediately rehire or bring people back in. You initiate change in waves and those waves allow you to ultimately get to the goal you are trying to achieve. In other words, when you go to institute change, how can you best minimize damage and upset. And for anybody that's going through this, if you are a heart-centered leader and you happen to work in a civil service or service-oriented profession right now, this is difficult. This is extremely difficult for you. And if you don't happen to work within a government agency and you work in a corporation, and maybe a large corporation like a Fortune 50, fortune 100, fortune 500 type company, please know that the ripple effects of what we are seeing happening at a national level will absolutely trickle down and impact what is happening within your organization. That's why, when you hear me say you are 100% responsible for your career, you have to take a look at what you are in control over and what you are not. So is organizational change necessary? Absolutely, it is.

John Neral: 20:30

Every company and organization has a fiscal responsibility to itself, its shareholders or employees and employees to make sure they are being fiscally responsible. Look, after all, you do a job and you get paid for it. There is an exchange of value in terms of the work you do and how the company compensates you. If the company doesn't have money to pay you, they can't have you keep working there. After all, it's a job. You're not going to do it for free. So are we in the midst of having every organization look at their costs, lean out and save money and put everything they're doing under a magnifying glass? Of course, but I truly believe that we have to be careful here to not cut things so deeply, to not cut staff and not cut programs so deeply that the organizations and their employees are not able to do their job effectively. But again, what do you have control over? Typically, if you're listening to this podcast, you are a mid-career, mid-level professional and you feel like you're probably stuck between a rock and a hard place between all the stuff leadership is doing above you and having to take care of the teams that are reporting to you, and wondering, oh my gosh, what the heck's gonna come next.

John Neral: 22:05

Okay, so, as much as this is extremely stressful and disheartening on so many levels, I do wanna take a moment to just share something of a little positive nature with you. Once we get through this wave, I believe that the larger conversation in the next wave is going to be about the frustration that a company and its employees are feeling and the lack of services because they can't get things done. They can't get things done the way they used to and while the way they used to do it was being changed or has been changed. We have to look at the way things are now, and is it actually better or worse? So I do believe the pendulum is going to swing. I don't believe any organization, be it a federal agency, state agency, private company, publicly traded company, is going to want to go back where they are spending and spending and spending over and over and over again and feel like as if they're just flushing money down the drain. That's not going to be the case. That's not going to be the case.

John Neral: 23:43

But if you are currently working in an organization that is going through some type of organizational upheaval or change, your first responsibility is to yourself. Put your oxygen mask on first before you help everybody else. Take care of yourself. Put your oxygen mask on first before you help everybody else. Take care of yourself. Know the rules, play the game, but set your ground rules that ensure you are taking care of yourself first so you can go ahead and do the job you need to do. That is the most important thing in dealing with all of this organizational change right now. How are you taking care of yourself and build your support network and as much. As you go home at the end of the day and you talk to your spouse, your significant other, your loved ones, your close friends. You need to be building a circle of support as well. Who are your colleagues that you can commiserate with? You can share thoughts and strategies and ideas, and even a good cry sometimes, whatever that might be, because right now this is hard, this is so difficult and I want to leave you with this.

John Neral: 25:05

I am a worrier by nature. This has been my goal this year is to not worry as much as I have been because I worry so much. My mother, before she passed away, had given me this book called the Worry Warts Handbook and she's like. I just wish you would stop worrying so much. My mother, before she passed away, had given me this book called the Worry Warts Handbook and she's like. I just wish you would stop worrying so much. But I often say when we worry, we care.

John Neral: 25:30

And when I was employed with a W-2 position and working in different organizations and hearing that there was going to be some change, I could not stop my brain from initially going to this place of oh my gosh, what am I going to do if I lose my job? How am I going to take care of myself? How am I going to pay my bills? And that's why we hear things like we should have an emergency fund right. We should have several months of our living expenses stocked away in a savings account or somewhere we can easily get to it that, if we need it, we can access it. But that's not everybody's situation. I get that right.

John Neral: 26:16

So I share all this with you because I remember this being incredibly stressful when I was going through it, and now, as I'm helping my clients navigate it and I'm helping people in my network go through this as well, I cannot overlook the fact that this feels like it is 10 times heavier. It is 10 times more stressful than what it has ever been. It is 10 times more stressful than what it has ever been. But think about what you have control over. Think about what you would do if. Have your plan B, have your exit strategy, have that next plan, that okay, if I stay, and this is how my role is going to be what does that mean for me and my employment moving forward? Lots of options. You are not the proverbial square peg in a round hole that doesn't fit anymore. You are talented and versatile and you have experiences that either your company wants or somebody else will. But navigating this job market as we've said throughout this entire year and my guests have confirmed this it is trickier and more complex than ever, but it is still able to be navigated, and that's why building your mid-career GPS is more important than ever.

John Neral: 27:46

So if there's anything I can do to help you beyond this free podcast, I invite you to go to my website, johnneral. com. If you click on the resources tab, you will see things like joining my free email community, where I email different leadership and career tips twice a week. You can join my membership community, which is a paid membership, and come in there and get access to me and a completely different level of support and join a membership community of like-minded mid-career professionals who, like you are all, trying to figure out whatever is next. Okay, there are digital courses there and guides there on my website at johnneral. com to help you as well. And if I can help you in any way, shape or form, know that I am here for you, because my goal is to help every mid-career professional strategize and figure out whatever is next for them and their career by building their mid-career GPS.

John Neral: 28:48

So, as we go through this organizational change together, I want to leave you with this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnarrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Neral Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.