I've been there as well. At my place of work our department was informed that we *could* lose our jobs. I was freaking out. I tried to calm down but couldn't. I also tried to tell myself that nothing was certain, but I couldn't shake the worrying. I also was shaking and had chest pains. Unfortunately it came to pass that all of our jobs had been outsourced to India. I was a wreck. Afterward, while still in a state of panic, I devoted every waking moment to finding new employment. My persistance paid off and I did find another job - and for even more money. Things eventually worked out and my panic subsided. IF you happen to lose your job I hope a similar circumstance happens to you. It is a miserable situation to be in, and I empathize completely. I do recommend that you put your worry aside for now, but that's obviously easier said than done. It might be a good idea to start looking around for other employment now and possibly reaching out to recruiters. I wish you good luck, and continue posting if you need to so you can vent or seek other advice. Best wishes to you!

I am so sorry that you are going through this. I've been there myself.

I'm 33 years old, and I had my position eliminated twice from two different employers within a 1 year time span. The stress and anxiety that occupied that were terrible. It was last year actually, so not that long ago. I totally get where you are coming from.

I work in the HR field. Even those in human resources are not immune from mass lay offs. Here is the good news. IF, and I say IF because it hasn't happened and there is no guarantee that it will happen, you'd probably qualify for unemployment insurance. I had to do that when I got laid off. I believe you are eligible for 60% of the income you're currently making. You can receive six months of UI until you find another job. To make up for the remaining 40%, you could take on a temp job or even substitute teach if you have a college degree. I did both of these things to supplement my income while I looked for a job.

Here's another piece of good news that might help. Employers love loyal employees. Again, just from the HR standpoint seeing you've been with your current employer says a lot about you! So IF you do lose your job, putting that on a resume will help you a lot!

Last thing I'll leave you with, is to try to relax. I read a really good quote yesterday: "worrying is stupid. It's like walking around with an umbrella waiting for it to rain." You can't do anything about the situation, and you certainty did not cause it. Maybe prepare by brushing up your resume, but please don't obsess over this. My job losses were both expected with the first and unexpected with the second. I survived both. You will too, no matter what happens. Please remember that

Thank you all so much. Today we were told that our section of the company will be sold to another company. So at least I could have a job if they just sold us over to a new company. My wife has to have medicine for five years since she had breast cancer and I am on some strong chronic pain medication that I have to be on. If I lost my job how in the world would I get all those medicines since I would lose insurance. I'm so mentally broke right now.

I'm going through a panic attack, and no one is replying to my post :(