Business

Moving on Requires Letting Go of Your Ex-Employer

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2022

Moving on quickly from being let go is essential to maintaining your career trajectory. It is a waste of time, and mental energy to dwell on the past and wish what happened didn’t happen.

Everyone has a few “ex-employer.” I don’t know anyone who hasn’t lost a job involuntarily. Many of my friends have lost more than one job. The government’s handling of the pandemic led to millions of Canadians losing their jobs they considered reasonably safe. The pandemic taught all employees, regardless of how they weathered it, these hard truths:

You don’t own your job.
Without any notice, your job could disappear.

With the pandemic slowly receding in June, Canada’s unemployment rate reached a historic low of 4.9%. However, even with a buffet of employment opportunities to pick and choose from, many job seekers still find themselves unable to secure the employment they desire. This can be due to poor communication skills, lack of a professional network or an unprofessional image. It can also be due to a mental barrier I often see among unsuccessful job seekers; an ongoing emotional attachment to their former employer(s).

Holding onto the expectations built around your experience with your previous employer(s) hinders you from moving on—to minimally disrupt your career trajectory.

There are 6 steps to moving on after being let go.

Accept the fact that your job is over.
Give yourself time to mourn.
(Perhaps your ex-employer did you a favour.)
Decide to be happy. (Happiness is a choice.)
Adopt a mindset of being open to new possibilities.

Many job seekers will disagree with the following statement because it doesn’t fit their “I’m a victim!” narrative: Being let go is rarely personal. Whatever the reason, showing you the door was a business decision—you were no longer needed.

When fresh out of a romantic relationship, it’s not wise to compare your dates with your previous relationship. You’ll prolong the process of finding a good match if you evaluate your dates against your ex. If you didn’t initiate the breakup, then comparing a potential future partner against your ex is being closed-minded. You’re seeking someone who emulates the person who once played an important role in your life, which will at the very least frustrate you. The same can be said for finding your next employer. Since no two employers, or bosses, are alike, it’s counterproductive trying to replicate your ex-employer/ex-boss.

Not letting go of your ex-employer can lead you to ignore jobs outside the industry you’ve built your career in. As well, when job opportunities don’t match your previous employment’s schedule, compensation structure, or brand cache, which you were proud to be associated with, you’ll tend to pass over them, thus not exploring “the possibility.”

Job seekers who secure their next job quickly have put their previous employer behind them and are open to trying something new. All of us have heard stories about relationships spawned by, “He wasn’t even my type but—.” The word “but” tells us that unexpectedly good things can happen in unexpected places. When you apply “but” to the job market, you click on those job posts with an unfamiliar job title and give the post a good read.

For every person who scrolls past a job posting because they feel unqualified, another equally unqualified person will apply. They understand they’ll have to prove (sell themselves) that they can do the job. If this doesn’t sound like the employment version of approaching someone out of your respective “dating league,” I don’t know what does.

In our ever-hyper-changing world, where you and I as consumers keep demanding cheaper, job loss is inevitable. Though the signs that your employer will soon be conducting layoffs are often visible, it’s difficult to predict with certainty if and when it’ll happen. All you can hope for is that you have a good run with your employer. (In 2022, 5 years with the same employer is considered a “good run.”) Certainly, nobody expected to lose their job due to a worldwide pandemic.

Involuntary departures are never easy, especially if you enjoyed your boss, job, co-workers, and that oxymoron called a “steady paycheck.” The trick is to manage these lapses in employment, which will inevitably occur throughout your career, confidently and strategically. (TIP: Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date and network constantly so that when the inevitable happens, you can start job searching ASAP.)

Compared to your previous employer(s), your next employer will:

Look and feel different.
Have different expectations, policies, and procedures
Have a different “culture.”
Probably take you out of your comfort zone.

As a job seeker, you’ll be in a great frame of mind if you accept these points and leave your ex-employers in the past, where they belong.

______________________________________________________________

Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send Nick your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

Business

Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

Published

22 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.

Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).

SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.

The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.

WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.

SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.

SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on X:

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Business

Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

Published

22 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.

“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.

“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”

Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.

On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.

If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.

These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.

If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.

However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.

He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.

“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.

Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.

The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.

Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.

Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.

Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.

Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.

Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”

In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.

“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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Business

RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

Published

22 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.

The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.

The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.

RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.

The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.

RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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