What Is Career Grief?
Understanding the Loss Behind a Career Setback
Career loss is about more than losing a job. It can mean losing your identity, confidence, community, direction, and sense of belonging. Understanding career grief can help you make sense of what happened and figure out what's next.
What Is Career Grief?
Career grief is what happens when something in your professional life changes that you really didn't want to change. It can follow a layoff, a failed business, a lost opportunity, burnout, or even leaving a career that no longer fits.
It's not just about what you lost on paper. It's also about what that work meant to you.
The Losses We Don't Always Recognize
Losing a job can mean losing much more than a paycheck or title. It can affect:
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Professional identity
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Confidence and self-trust
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Community and belonging
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Status and direction
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A vision of the future
Understanding what you've lost can help explain why simply updating your resume or making a new career plan doesn't always feel like enough.
How Do You Move Forward After Professional Loss?
Laverne developed the RISE framework to help people work through career grief.
