#118 Losing a job (Med)

SBS Learn English will help you speak, understand and connect in Australia -  view all episodes.

This lesson is suitable for intermediate-level learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.

Learning notes:

Learn everyday English for talking about losing your job and practise kind, supportive ways to respond when someone shares this kind of bad news.

Examples of phrases you can use when talking about losing your job:

• I was made redundant today.
• My position was made redundant.
• I was laid off.
• I was fired.
• I was dismissed.
• They let me go.
• I lost my job.

Examples of phrases you can use when explaining why the job ended:

• They’re cutting jobs at work.
• There have been job cuts across several teams.
• The company is reducing staff numbers.
• My role no longer exists.
• My role was combined with another position.
• They closed our department.
• My department closed, so I lost my job.
• The business decided it no longer needed my position.

Examples of phrases you can use when talking about workplace changes:

• The company is going through a restructure.
• The business is restructuring.
• The company went through a restructure, and my role was made redundant.
• Everyone in my team has been affected by the job cuts.
• The changes have affected several departments.
• It sounds like a lot of people have been affected by the restructure.

Examples of phrases you can use when talking about your reaction to losing a job:

• Not really. I’m still trying to process it.
• I’m still processing the news.
• I’m still trying to take it all in.
• It hasn’t sunk in yet.
• I know I’ve lost my job, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

Examples of phrases you can use when responding with care and support:

• I’m so sorry to hear that.
• I’m sorry you’re going through this.
• That’s really tough. I’m sorry.
• Did you see it coming?

Colloquial expressions:

To be made redundant means to lose your job because your employer no longer needs you to do it.

To see something coming means to expect it before it happens.

To go through something means to experience a difficult situation.

To process something means to think about what has happened and begin to understand it.

To take something in means to understand and begin to accept something.

To sink in means to fully understand or believe something.

They let me go means your employer ended your employment. The phrase does not always explain exactly why.

I lost my job is a general way to say that your employment has ended

A position or role is the job you do in a workplace.

Staff are the people who work for a business or organisation.

Job cuts a reduction in the number of jobs in an organisation.

A department is one part or section of a business or organisation that does a particular thing.

A restructure is a change in how a business is organised.

To be affected means to experience a change or difficulty because of something that has happened.

Learning notes:

When you are talking about something in the present, you can use the present continuous tense (to be + verb + ing) to stress that it is happening right at this moment. You are stressing the process:

Transcript: 

(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)

SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands, and waterways throughout Australia.

Have you ever started a normal day at work, then there was one meeting that changed everything? You walk into the meeting expecting to talk about work. You walk out without a job.

When something like this happens, even simple words can be hard to find. How do you explain the news? And what can you say when it happens to someone you know?

Hi, I’m Josipa, and in this episode, we’re practising everyday English you can use when talking about losing your job. We’ll also hear some kind and supportive ways to respond when someone shares this kind of bad news with you.

Let's go straight into it. Here's Allan and Claire.

Allan: I was made redundant today. They're cutting jobs at work.

Claire: I’m so sorry to hear that. Did you see it coming?

Allan: Not really. I'm still trying to process it. They said my role no longer exists.

Claire: That must be a real shock. It sounds like a lot of people have been affected by the restructure.

Losing your job can make you feel a lot of different things. You might feel worried, angry, confused or unsure about what to do next.

You probably also need to tell your family, your friends or a future employee about what has happened. Let's look at some useful ways to do this.

First, Allan said:

In Australia, your job can be made redundant when your employer no longer needs the job that you are doing. It's the job that becomes redundant, not the person, So you could also say,

Your position or role is the job you do in a workplace. Another phrase you might hear is:

This usually means you lost your job because the employer did not have enough work or needed to cut jobs.

Now, being made redundant is technically different from being fired.

If someone is fired, it means that their employer ends their employment, usually because of a problem with their work or behaviour. You may also hear,

Dismissed has a similar meaning to fired, but it sounds more formal. Sometimes, people use language that does not show whether they have been fired or made redundant. They might say:

They let me go means your employer ended your employment. The phrase does not always explain exactly why. And if you do not want to share the details, you can simply say:

I lost my job is a general way to say that your employment has ended. In our dialogue we also heard Allan say,

If a business is cutting jobs, it is reducing the number of jobs that it has. This means some employees will lose their positions.

You could also say,

Job cuts happen when a company is reducing the number of jobs, usually to save money or because it needs fewer workers. If you want to sound more formal, use this expression,

Staff means the people who work for a business or organisation. When Allan shared his news, Claire responded,

I’m so sorry to hear that is a kind and common response that you can give when someone tells you that they have had bad news. Here, Claire is not saying sorry because the situation is her fault. She is just showing that she cares.

You could also say,

To go through something means to experience a difficult situation. Sometimes a short response is enough,

Here, tough means difficult. Claire then asked,

To see something coming means to expect it before it happens. So here, Claire is asking if Allan noticed any signs that he might lose his job.

Allan replied,

‘Not really’ is a response you can use when you are not completely sure about something and don’t want to disagree strongly.

To process something means to think about what has happened and begin to understand it.

When difficult news is very recent, you might need time to understand both the situation and your feeling about it. You could say,

• I’m still processing the news.
• I’m still trying to take it all in.

To take something in means to understand and begin to accept it. Another common expression is,

If something has not sunk in, you do not yet fully understand or believe it yet. For example,

• I know I’ve lost my job, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

Allan then said,

No longer means something was true in the past, but it is not true now. If your job has been joined together with another one, you might say,

• My role was combined with another position.

If a whole team is removed, you could say,

• They closed our department.

A department is one part of a business or organisation that does a particular function. Here are a few simple phrases you can use to talk about being made redundant:

• My department closed, so I lost my job.
• My role was combined with another position.
• The business decided it no longer needed my position.

You can use these phrases when speaking to friends and family. You may also use them to explain a gap in your work history during a job interview.

Finally, Claire said,

If someone is affected by something, it means that whatever it is has caused a change or difficulty in their life. For example,

• Everyone in my team has been affected by the job cuts.
• The changes have affected several departments.

A restructure is a change in how a business is organised. Teams, departments and jobs may be removed, joined or changed. You could say,

• The company is going through a restructure.
• The business is restructuring.
• They’re reorganising the company.

To reorganise means to arrange something in a new or different way. A restructure does not always lead to job losses. But in Allan’s workplace, some roles are being removed.

If someone asks why you lost your job, you could say,

• The company went through a restructure, and my role was made redundant.

Or you could keep it simple:

You do not have to share every detail. A short, clear answer may be enough, especially when the news is still difficult to talk about.

Sign up for previews, updates and to provide feedback.

Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire, and Professor Lynda Yates was our educational consultant.