‘It was awful’: These women bounced back from redundancy stronger – and you can too

Betha Giorgi spent years guiding companies through restructures, but nothing could have prepared her for the shock of losing her own job.

“It was awful,” the former senior Deloitte director says of her 2024 redundancy.

“There was relief because I finally knew what was happening. But that quickly gave way to shock, fear and, if I’m being completely honest, a sense of worthlessness.”

After more than two decades building a corporate career across Australia and the UK, Giorgi found herself without the routine that had shaped her adult life.

“What surprised me most was how quickly your identity can become tied to your job,” she tells nine.com.au.

Ant Cohen, career coach and founder of Project Placed, witnesses this pattern of thinking all the time.

With the end of the financial year underway, his workload is growing as businesses slash costs through redundancies – and the IT sector is driving nearly a quarter of all cases.

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“Redundancy isn’t just a financial event. It’s often a grief event,” Cohen says.

Driven by panic, Giorgi rushed straight back into a corporate role after being let go, before realising six months later it was no longer what she wanted.

When asked what drove her decision to jump back in, the answer is simple: “Fear, if I’m being honest.”

Cohen says one of the biggest mistakes people make is believing they have to immediately bounce back.

Instead, he advises people to give themselves permission to step away and focus on basic well-being – like exercise, family time, or hobbies – while maintaining a loose structure to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Giorgi found her turning point when she stopped focusing on what she had lost and looked at what was already in front of her.

Little Bay Beauty began as a natural skincare passion project during her maternity leave, which she ran alongside her demanding full-time job.

Redundancy gave her the time to rebuild the brand, refine products, and invest in ideas she had previously shelved.

“The irony is that losing something I thought I wanted gave me the opportunity to build something I truly love,” Giorgi says.

Former business analyst Krish Waje found herself at a similar crossroads after her entire team was made redundant by global tech giant Qualtrics in 2024.

Like Giorgi, Waje’s inclination was to stay on the corporate path, even securing a new role as a business analyst at TikTok.

She ultimately walked away from it to focus on Lunaire, a refillable candle company she had launched while working full-time.

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“Being made redundant felt daunting at the time, but it ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me,” Waje says.

“It forced me to back myself and fully commit to a vision I believed in.”

Building a business didn’t make the redundancies any less painful, though it did force both women to rethink what success actually looked like.

“It became about creativity, building something meaningful, having flexibility, and spending time with my son while he’s still young,” Giorgi says.

Cohen views this reassessment as a natural reaction to job loss. He urges people to separate their self-worth from a corporate decision entirely out of their control.

“Be kind to yourself. Redundancy can shake your confidence, even when you know intellectually that it was a business decision. What you’re feeling is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.

“But also remember this: your employment status is not your identity,” he says.

For anyone navigating this transition, Giorgi says it’s important to allow yourself time to process the news.

“Sometimes the chapter you didn’t choose becomes the one that changes everything.”

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