Layoff Survivors Having Post Traumatic Stress?

Guilty and Stressed, Layoff Survivors Suffer, Too, by JoNel Aleccia, discusses how surviving a corporate layoff affects those employees remaining behind. Common symptoms include:

• Increased stress because of picking up additional workload and wondering if you will be next.
• Decline in morale
• Lack of security and confidence that their job is safe

As a corporate manager I have had to lay people off and now, this is the second time that I have been laid off. Of the two, I would prefer to be the employee getting laid off.

When I'm the one getting laid off, I know my personal situation, my strengths, weaknesses, and have already formulated plans on how to recover. When I have to lay an employee off, I don't know how prepared they are for a life turning point of this magnitude. You can read their emotions very clearly in their eyes and often it's a gut wrenching experience for both of you.

Being laid off, I'm free to choose my next path and there is no feelings of survivors guilt, wondering if I'll be next.