Do we reinvent ourselves actually?

Purpose – Examining the way that individuals adapt to job change is one of the central aims of this paper. Design/methodology/approach – The factors and processes relating to job loss and outplacement among managers in the UK are examined and compared through identifying trends and cross‐sectional differences in managerial job losses among different industries, companies and individuals. This is undertaken by means of a questionnaire followed up by face‐to‐face interviews or telephone interviews using a semi‐structured questionnaire with analysis. Findings – The evidence demonstrates that individuals generally are extremely conservative and tend to stick to what they know rather than take the risk of the unknown or untried. What is perhaps more significant, is that 47 per cent of those that obtained work in the same field were in the age group 40‐49 whereas only 31 per cent of the 50‐59 age group were employed in the same field. Practical implications – More generally, the research underpinning this paper provides insights into the demographics of managerial job loss. It analyses the redundancy process over time; distinguishes between the transition from secure to insecure employment and from insecure to equally insecure employment and ascertains trends over a five‐year period; examines the extent to which managers lose the ability to plan and control their lives and attempts to link this to their individual predisposition and finally determines how managers are likely to respond or operate in a new employment environment. Originality/value – The research makes use of totally new and original material drawn from the experience of people change careers with outplacement support from two of the leading outplacement companies in the UK.