Just under 50% of UK companies think that they will have to make redundancies in the next few months because of the Coronavirus crisis. 

If your company has already made use of the furlough scheme, it will come as no surprise to hear one of the big R words: Redundancy, Reorganisation or Restructure. 

They all mean the same; jobs will disappear and most employees will have to successfully apply for their job or be made redundant. 

Have you been asked to reapply for your own job? 

I bet your first reaction was ‘WTF! This is my job, why do I even have to reapply for it? I’m already doing the job!’

Even if you were expecting a restructure to happen, it’s still big news to you and it’s natural to feel angry, sad or betrayed.

But you need a clear head to think calmly about what to do next. 

Take a deep breath and consider your 3 options:

Leave it

Since the reorganisation means your job is gone, you’re not obliged to apply for this new one. You can take the redundancy pay and go. 

Even if you are really really angry and want to give your employer the finger, don’t! You don’t know who you’ll work with in the future. 

Leave gracefully and remain professional until the end.

Fight for it

If your company is going through a consultation process, you can challenge the proposal if you can prove that the job really is what you are doing right now. 

It’s worth a try if you have a union rep who’s ready to fight your corner. But chance is the company has already decided to go ahead with the restructure and that this ‘new job’ is too different to your ‘old job’ to just give it to you. 

So you’ll be wasting your time and can be a bit risky as you can be seen in a bad light for being too militant. 

If there are other people in the same situation, tackle it together, there is power in numbers. 

Earn it

If you want to stay and want the job you’ll just have to go with the flow and apply for it. 

Here are my 4 tips to earn your job back:

1. Be quiet

You do NOT have to give your opinion about the new structure, you do NOT have to share how you feel, you do NOT have to say what you plan to do next to your colleagues or boss, even if they ask you. 

Let’s be honest for a second, if you are really negative about the new proposal and air your frustrations with everyone, you’ll not only look bad but also make others around you feel bad.

If you’re going to discuss your views about the reorganisation, do it with someone you trust who will not use what you say against you. 

2. Be nice

Be a model employee! You don’t know yet who your next boss is going to be, be nice to everyone… just in case… 

3. Be confident 

Of course, there’s no guarantee that you will get the job! Nothing in life is guaranteed. 

Don’t start speculating about who will be made redundant and who will  compete with you for this role. Don’t listen to those who are trying to intimidate you by telling you that they think the job is theirs. If it was their job, they would have been appointed already. 

If you don’t believe you can get this job, whoever is interviewing you won’t believe it either. This is YOUR job and you’re going to earn it. This is YOUR job!

4. Be proud

If it’s your job, you’ve done it before and I bet you’ve done it well.

Remind yourself of your accomplishments, look at your past end of year reviews, quantify your results where you can and write down your successes. 

Gather evidence that you are the right person for this job and show it off in your CV, application and interview (or whatever hoops you have to jump to get your job back). 

Got it?

I get it,, going through a restructure and reapplying for your own job may seem like a waste of time but it is also an opportunity.

An opportunity to renegotiate your offer. It is a new job after all…

An opportunity to practice your interviewing skills. If you don’t get it and are made redundant, don’t panic… Your CV is up to date, you know what questions to prepare for your next interviews and you have (hopefully) a decent redundancy pay package to keep you going until you find your dream job. 

So remember, be quiet, be nice, be confident and be proud! This is your job and you’re going to earn it!