Can There Be Good Things Coming Out of  Your Unemployment?

This article first appeared here in Feb 09 and  updated  on March 2010.

Written by: Gilbert Goh

I still received many emails daily from jobless PMETs seeking  for our assistance and wondered how many are still unemployed out there  even though the economy is reported to be on the upswing.

Many people have also asked me whether there will be  any good that can come out of their unemployment experience. 

There is also the jobless engineer mail that I received this month considering  suicide as an option in his most desperate state of mind. This mail,  incidentally,  has moved me to tears. We have offered him our voluntary counselling services which he rejected.

Sometimes, because of the prevailing negativity surrounding a recession, we failed to spot the benefits of the situation. Of course, a recession obviously brings out more negative reaction from people especially if they have lost their job in the process.

Nevertheless, if we look harder, we can see  that there are gems lurking in the mud in any given adverse situation – lessons that all of us can learn from.

For one, big items such as house, car and stocks will get cheaper due to the adverse market environment. Of course, the current housing and stock market prices have already shot through the roof. If we bought something from the stock market last year, I am sure that we will be reaping big profits from our investments. It is a good time now to sell rather than buy  especially for housing units.

I remembered we sold off our first HDB flat in 1996 reaping an enormous profit and that was the peak of the housing resale market. Prices bordered on the ridiculous and we could not find anything suitable after selling our flat. So we decided to rent and wait for things to be more stable. As we waited, the financial crisis in 1997 came and prices of property tumbled. I remembered we saw a 2-bedroom apartment in Tg Rhu area going for $600,000 after TOP. The foreigner from Hong Kong was pleading with us to buy her flat which she paid $1.04 million for. We did not purchase that unit but went on to buy a brand new townhouse from the developer at a huge discount of close to 30% just a year ago.

So if you are shopping for property, a recession is the best time to enter the market as prices dropped like bricks especially when there are foreclosures and auctions from distressed home owners waiting to offload.

However, beyond material gains, there are much more valuable lessons that one can learn from a recession.

People Are More Homely

During our unemployment period, I realized people are more homely as they cut down on entertainment and even business outings. Children get to see their parents more at home and this can only be good for the whole family.

People also eat more at home  with their family members while trying to save cost and this can only be healthy for relationship strengthening. We may have strive too hard in our at our work and a recession hopefully helps us evaluate our life’s priority. I realized that life is more than making money. There are some things in life that money cannot buy. Some people are actually more relaxed during a recession than when the economy is steaming ahead full blast. People entertained and traveled less for business and they have more time for their family. So a recession does slow down one’s lifestyle and for busy business people this may not be a bad thing. So in a recession, people turn to one another either for comfort or support.

Services at restaurants and shopping malls also improved tremendously as staff realized that in a down period, it is extra difficult to attract customers to their shops. AS their jobs are on the line if the shops can’t attract enough customers, they double up on their efforts to provide better service to attract repeat customers. This happened in Hong Kong immediately after the Sars epidemic as their service staff undergone a big cultural shift to provide tiptop service to attract customers as the country was coming out of a deep seated recession then. This is also so true for us here as during the recent crisis after 9/11, restaurants were virtually empty and many closed down due to a lack of business from a very harsh business environment. Those who survive manage to attract regular customers to their eating joints as a result of fantastic service and good food of course.

Going Beyond One’s Comfort Zone 

During a recession, many people also took risk and dabble in jobs that are way beyond their comfort zone. As they are already jobless and have nothing to lose, many took the plunge to sink their teeth into something that they have always wanted to do but got no guts. A friend of mine went into property sales during that dark period and till this day was churning six figure revenue every year and have never looked back. Property sales are also recession-proof and people need to sell and buy even during a recession. Sales during a recession is also exceptionally strong as my property friend told me that some people need to cash out from their properties to pay off certain liabilities elsewhere. Many also downgraded as they have difficulty paying their mortgage loan on a bigger flat.

Personally, I  took the plunge into social work earning $1500 for two years which I would not consider at all if not for the recession during the Sars period. I have worked in the social welfare services for five years in total before wsitching to do part time teaching two years ago.  Those period working for underpriviledged people have open my eyes to a world that I have not seen before while living a middle income lifestyle.

It is because of my previous exposure to social work that I started transitioning.org to help people in distress during joblessness. My prolonged jobless situation and my work experience with Central Singapore CDC also gave me some slight advantage in starting the non profit organisation.  I could relate to people who have lost their jobs and even gathered easily a few counsellor friends whom I have acquainted with during my previous job to volunteer for the organisation. For me, in life, everything happens for a purpose and we should try to try to see the purpose of our suffering.

During my  joblessness stint during the Sars period, I have told myself and many friends that I would use what I have learned during that awful period and used my experience  for the well being of others.  If I merely treat it as just another life’s experience and ignored it’s importance I would have wasted a truly precious opportunity to help others in need.

I also wrote a book “How to survive unemployment” relating alot of my personal experiences and how I    survived during that stressful period.  I have to wipe away tears many times while writing the book as some of the experiences were too agonisng to refresh. How I wished that I can delete them away like how we delete our computer files by the simple touch of a finger!

Personal Experience

Of course, the experience was a painful one  affecting my marital relationship with my wife for many years. It has taught us a precious lesson in standing together in times of adversity. The marital vow of “standing together in times of wealth and poverty” rung loudly  for us in a true life experience – unemployment!

 So,  never discount how your current jobless state will be able to bring your family closer together.

However, on the other side of the coin, my fear is that unemployment can also  break up many marriages as couples struggle with both financial and emotional issues. Those who manage to hang on despite the severe adversity will have a more solid  relationship after that as they have  allow their marriage to go through a refining process. Like unrefined gold nuggets that need to go through a furnance to be polished, we may need to go through life’s fiery adversity so that we can be a better  person.

I also learn who are my true friends during a recession. Some people, who you think are your true friends,  may fail you when you need them by your side.

On the other hand, others who you think are just mere acquaintances, will stand by you and the friendship grows from there. I have friends who gave me checks without me asking when I was in a desperate situation. Some even refused repayment when I return  them  the money when I was doing well with a job.  So in life, we always have surprises – some pleasant some unpleasant. 

So in a recession,  learn to look out for  those tiny  spots  that will shine brightly in a seemingly dark tunnel. It is not all gloom and doom as some have anticipated in a down period. Learn to see the positive  side of any adverse situation. You may find treasures in them.

We all can grow to be stronger and more resilient when the chips are down.  And never give up on yourself.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. Anais Nin

Related posts:

1. 7 Ways To Come out of Prolonged Unemployment
2. How To Maintain Family Harmony During Unemployment
3. Upgrading Out of Unemployment – Is It Possible?
4. Should you grab any job that comes along?
5. Facing Joblessness With Confidence – Be Prepared
6. How To Tell Your Family When You Are Being Laid Off
7. 7 Ways To Move Out Of Depression For The Unemployed
8. Seven Industries To Consider After Retrenchment
9. Eight Tips For Living While Unemployed
10. 7 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Job