Rachel Coles, 31, was made redundant from her job at the same time she was in therapy after the traumatic birth of her son – something that made her go into “panic mode”.
She said: “I felt angry. Our mortgage was £1,800 a month and other bills were about £800. Nursery costs were £1,000 a month. My confidence nosedived and I didn’t know how I’d get back on my feet.”
Rachel is one of many people made redundant as businesses look to cut costs amid a backdrop of rising taxes, costs and increased use of artificial intelligence.
The job market is tough. Vacancy numbers fell over the May-to-July period to 707,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Rachel, lives in Brentwood with her husband, Tim, 30, who works in accounting software sales, and their son, Dougie, five.
When Rachel had her son in September 2021, the birth was not straightforward.
She said: “After my waters broke, I was induced after 40 hours. I suffered a major haemorrhage, losing four litres of blood. I had surgery to remove the remaining placenta and nearly went into cardiac arrest.
“Later on at home, I lost another litre of blood and had to be rushed back to hospital to get the remaining placenta removed.”
Rachel was left with severe fatigue and anemia. After the birth she started getting private therapy, which she paid £50 a week for. She’s spent £5,000 on therapy since the birth and was diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Rachel said: “I was in a mental health crisis.”
While on maternity leave, Rachel was working in marketing at a tech firm, earning £38,000 pro rata doing a four-day week. After she returned from maternity leave, Rachel got a new job in marketing at a different company, earning £2,000 a month working four days a week.
In July 2023, Rachel got an email on a Monday, her day off, inviting her to a Teams call. She was told she being made redundant, along with 10 others. Rachel received a month’s pay and her holiday pay following the redundancy, totaling about £3,000.
Rachel started using credit cards to buy food and got into debt. Her husband paid the mortgage and bills, but their standard of living dropped.
Rachel said: “I went into panic mode. Some days I couldn’t get out of bed.”
Rachel did not apply for jobseeker’s allowance or jobs and her husband encouraged her to take stock and consider starting her own business.
After announcing her redundancy on LinkedIn, Rachel started getting a few new marketing clients in, earning £2,000 a month. Rachel now takes between £4,000 to £5,000 a month from her own marketing business.
She said: “Redundancy ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Richard Falkingham was made redundant at the time he had a second child on the way – and his savings diminished rapidly‘I was made redundant when we had a second child on the way‘
Richard Falkingham, 37, also found himself being made redundant at a difficult time.
The quality assurance analyst in IT, lives in West Yorkshire with his partner, 40, and their two children, a daughter and son, aged three and six months respectively.
In 2020, Richard joined a software services firm, testing websites for clients. By 2025 his annual salary was £33,000.
Richard liked the business, but it was acquired by a US-based company and redundancies ensued.
Initially, his job was safe and his manager said no further redundancies were on the cards, but added that it would perhaps still be sensible if he started looking for new opportunities.
In October 2025, Richard was told during a Teams meeting that all manual quality assurance staff were being made redundant.
“We were told we could apply for similar roles within the business. I applied for one but didn’t get it. My redundancy pay was about £3,000, so with the wages I was due, I got about £5,500 in total”.
At this point, Richard had a two-year-old daughter and his partner was pregnant with their second child.
He said: “My share of the mortgage and bills each month was £900 and suddenly I had no way of contributing. My partner, who runs a jewellery shop, had to handle everything.”
Richard signed on to receive jobseeker’s allowance, getting £90 every fortnight. With a family to provide for, Richard started applying for jobs immediately.
“I applied for hundreds of jobs but only got five interviews. Many employers did not reply at all and most sent auto-rejections. It was soul-destroying. I’d get up and apply for multiple roles without success. I became depressed and unmotivated.
“I felt like a failure as a father and partner. It was the scariest time of my life. I had a house, mortgage, bills and a child to pay for, with another on the way.”
Richard’s savings were diminishing rapidly. In the window of his local bakery he saw an advert for a job, applied and got it. He was paid minimum wage. By this point, Richard had had to cut back on eating out, food shopping and days out.
Out of the blue, a recruiter got in touch with Richard on LinkedIn asking if he was still looking for work in IT. Richard secured an interview within days and started his role as a manual quality assurance analyst for a new company in July 2026.
“At £40,000 a year, I’m now earning the highest salary I’ve ever had. I had a lot going on when I was made redundant, but it worked out eventually. Anyone who finds themselves in the situation I did should keep chipping away.”
What to do if you’ve been made redundant
People going through a major life change can be worse affected by redundancy.
Katie Emerton, recruitment expert at CV-Library, said: “When redundancy coincides with a major life event, whether you’re trying to secure a mortgage, expecting a baby, or managing rising household costs, it can feel like the foundations have shifted beneath your feet.
“Give yourself time to process what’s happened rather than feeling pressured to immediately bounce back and focus on what remains within your control.
“Once you’re ready, put some structure around your job search. Perhaps there’s a career you’ve always wanted to explore or a skill you’ve never had time to develop.
“Think about what you enjoy, what you’re good at and what you’d like from your next role, then tailor your CV accordingly. Don’t underestimate your existing network either.”
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