What do you do if you're laid off in Economics and need to find new opportunities?

Economics is truly a vast field. After assessing your skill sets, you need to carefully explore the market for picking and selecting jobs that match your skill sets the best. The possible areas could be data analysis, financial consulting, policy analysis, market research, or teaching. These fields often require strong analytical skills and knowledge of economic principles.

Let your professional network know you're available for short-term projects or freelance work. Former colleagues, clients, or acquaintances may have leads or referrals to provide immediate income opportunities. Keep updating your skills on professional network.

I totally agree! Economics is vast and can be applied to process improvement and risk management tasks. Looking at regulatory areas is a good way to ensure your services are always going to be in demand. Having good analytical nd policy making skills is also a plus.

First the reason of getting laid off is a mandatory to know the next step or to know what should be done, whether it was structural or cyclical or what is the main reason of getting laid off! Then you will decide either to add a new skill? Or search for an alternative? Each reason for laying off has a remedial reaction.

Sit down with a piece of paper and a pen. Take 3 deep breaths and know it's okay to be back in the labor market searching for a job. It always leads to growth ALWAYS ALWAYS. List down 2 competencies you are skilled with in economics, and one you care about most. Now specify a centralized topic you know you can work with even if you have less experience in it. Take help from community college courses, online courses, really educate yourself about that topic. Then, start applying. Apply local, apply abroad but apply realistically. If at any point, your search takes you to an alternative branch of study like Finance, go there. Maybe there's some common theme you've worked for in economics and it just so happens to correlate with another field.

It’s important to update you resume and let it reflect the new skill you have assessed and possess. Learning is an evolving and continuous process. Don’t restrict your learning to a particular subject even if you are jack of all master of none.

Being able to highlight your expertise in your resume is a good way showcase skills and core areas of competence. Taking specialist courses with the World Bank and IMF Institute for Capacity Development is a good plus too to enrich your CV. This worked for me. Also ensure projects done are well highlighted.

Relationships are the key to opening doors you didn’t know existed. Yes, it’s important to know the right people. It’s even more important for the right people to know you. People think you don’t need as many networking skills in less people-forward fields like economics, but no industry is an island. Always be building your network, follow through on your word, and have people see you as a valuable resource in this field.

Networking Iis a very viable way of socialising with people to see if you can get leads on jobs. LinkedIn can be optimized for networking and following human resource business partners for different firms, network with them and cross network with their extended network of hiring managers.

Absolutely! Breaking into other sectors and applying economic theories and principles to their methodologies and practices is a good way to passionately carve a niche for oneself. You can research into economics of financial crimes, economics of audit and assurance and economics of work, etc, to carve novel niches that help industry experts and professionals understand their process improvement factors.

One strategy to improve your economics skills is to be open to reading work or articles in its numerous sub-disciplines. This allows you to improve your understanding of fundamental economic concepts while also learning about other areas. The econometrics toolbox, which is essential for every economist, can also be strengthened by looking at applications and clear examples of econometric models.

Start by assessing your existing skills and identifying areas for improvement. Consider pursuing additional education, certifications, or training programs to enhance your expertise in specialized areas of economics or related fields such as data analysis, financial modeling, or programming languages like Python or R. Leverage online learning platforms and workshops to acquire new skills and stay updated on trends and technologies. Networking with professionals in your field can also provide valuable insights and potential leads for job opportunities. By investing in continuous learning and upskilling, you can adapt to changing market demands, broaden your career prospects, and position yourself for success in the evolving job market.

People are always up in arms about the fact that graduates in economics or finance or business should end up in the corporate sector because that's where all the money is. Sometimes running endlessly behind the money is where people fail to find peace in their workplace. Go after the Public Sector jobs, go after the job you always wanted in economics, even if it's still a growing field or an underrated topic. Don't ever limit yourself or let anyone tell you what defines you in your field. Write your own story, create your own career.