Last season recession brought with it a phase where a huge amount of people especially working class suffered tremendously ranging from being chucked out of their jobs to committing suicides. Will this happen again or are we prepared to deal with it?

LAST SEASON recession brought with it a phase where a huge amount of people especially working class suffered tremendously ranging from being chucked out of their jobs to committing suicides. Will this happen again or are we prepared to deal with it?

Recession that stuck the United States of America in December 2007 took a global face and affected economies in other continents and creating wreckage in working class group's lives. Everybody was and is talking about incorrect government policies, food cost inflation, increasing or decreasing bank rates etc. but we forget to see the life of the person who actually gets affected, of the person who loses job. The total job loss that was estimated in India was around 1.3 million in 2009-10. And again this year marks the beginning of another period of Recession. Companies have already started announcing an approximate number of employees they are going to layoff, which has no doubt sent jitters through every working class person. So if this time again recession comes knocking our doors are we prepared to fight it or come out of it?

My agenda for this article is not to criticize government policies, UID or politics or corruption but about what an employee goes through during recession, how he feels and how recession affects his life. Would we be able to tackle the low wage with high inflation rate? And seeing the increasing food and fuel costs, the current lack of wage growth is becoming frustrating day by day. Psychologists acknowledge that unemployed people are two or three times more likely to commit suicide and the risk rises the longer someone remains jobless.

It becomes very difficult for an employee to concentrate at his workplace and work efficiently with constant pressure of losing job. It tends to direct hardworking employee's mindset to start thinking that if one has a good relation with his boss his job is secured. And people who are introvert and fail to maintain a relation with his supervisors would be the ones who would suffer. To tackle this kind of employee fear and insecurity, companies should start conducting psychological sessions, trainings and launch other programs that would make its employees comfortable, boost their morale and help them work efficiently.

During recession, the decisions that you make would be very critical to your financial survival. How you organize your time, corral your resources and handle your finances would certainly help you determine whether the job loss/insecurity is a temporary setback or a potentially life-changing disaster. A common man outside the workspace suffers badly during this time as prices of daily commodities shoots up and savings go nil, and one needs savings to survive during the period of joblessness. Interest rates are touching low which leaves you with no option to get quick high returns on whatever little money you have. You have gold which came during marriage but should you and will you touch that? Would it give the expected return? Will this gold be able to help you survive the bad phase? But what about the loss of emotional value?

To deal with the monster of joblessness and recession and inflation, it would be better to stay a little prepared. The most important task is how you would manage yourself. You need to get your priorities straight such as daily needs, monthly bills, premiums for insurance covers, and start tracking your spending. Cut down on the expensive food that you love, the extra pizza, the expensive dinners, extra cheese burgers, the extra shopping and the one extra party. Every penny saved out of these would help in your savings. It becomes very important to understand that what it is that we need and what we can afford? Plan a bare minimum budget required for a month and start putting aside the money. For example, an LPG gas cylinder costs around Rs. 400 and survives you for 2 months, so take a Rs. 500 note and put it in an envelope and tuck it in the corner of the cupboard. These tiny savings and tactics surely help in dealing with finances smartly and preparing one for the tough and unforeseen situations. And as Warren Buffet said, "Don't save what is left after spending, spend what is left after saving".

It is all about will power and metal strength. So stay put, you will survive. One should start practicing meditation and yoga. Exercise regularly which would help in keeping mind and body fit. Alignment, agreement of mind, body, will power and mental strength is required to deal with any crisis, and hence, it would help in dealing with the tough time and coming out of it as a survivor.