a 4.5. I lost a job in the late 70s. it was at sears and the reason was it when our country was going through a recession. I was considered laid off. i was only about 20 and still lived at home. they let me go because they had to downsize and they let the employees go who either was there for the shortest time or needed their job the least. since i was 20 and living with my parents it was byebye for me. i was unemployed for about nine months since there were no jobs that were out there for me. my experience was bad but not horrible. Now we ARE going through a horrible time. the ecomony in Michigan is pretty bad. there have been a lot of places closing down. especially factories. my husband worked for a place for 23 years. because of poor sales they had to close the building he worked at and only keep a building open over two hours away. we could have transferred but we weighed everything and decided there was no way we could afford to move on such a short notice. seo he is unemployed after 23 years. we are getting very scared . the severance is ending and although he will get a small unemployment it is very small much less than he was bringing in. He has been trying to get another job since they announced the building was closing but has had very little chances for interviews. Michigan is in a bad way for unemployment thousands upon thousands are in the same position.It has been extremly stressful. and worrisome of how are we going to make ends meet. we do not live high on the hog as it is but this has been very frightening. there have been thousands of foreclosed homes all around us. only a reminder of what can happen. i wish I could hear some more stories of how people went on to find a great job and everything was okay. but more often I hear of how people are losing everything. something I do not need to hear right now. sorry to vent. but the last few months have been extremely stressful about not knowing what is going to happen. so for now for us, JOB LOSS is an awful time for us.  UPDATE>>>>>> SEPTEMBER 11.....we are facing Job loss again since the company my husband works for decided not to continue their contract at the place he works for. now within six weeks we will be right back to where we were in early 2007. He is not being fired just another rotten bad luck circumstances. In Michigan finding a job is scarce the unemployment is one of the worst in the nation. Here we go again. At our ages we do not need this extreme stress. I do not know what in hell we are going to do now. I am terrified once again of losing our home.{ and this is happening a lot in Michigan.please keep  your fingers crossed for us. I have no idea what we are going to do now sorry to vent but there will be not sleep for me.

A good friend of mine was fired from the company that I still work for after he made a very serious mistake. Turns out he was unhappy, and didn't feel up to the work. He was in turn hired by a very large, international corporation to do a different type of work, and is climbing the ladder there very quickly. Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Have only lost one and it was my own fault. I grew from the experience so it was worthwhile, sorta.

I went through several jobs and occupations (and fired from a few) before being hired as an Aircraft Mechanic at McDonnell Douglas (Now Boeing). I was laid off for two years in the early eighties though and I remember how tough it was. I've been in Aircraft for Twenty eight years, so I have no regrets here.

It all depends. If you are young, and your job is just trying to downsize, then you can just get another job. But it is a lot harder when you are older or have worked in that place a long time, and the income from that job supports your family. Then losing that job is a lot harder then. If you lost that job because you misbehaved, then this is also a regret. Because of the fact it is a black mark on your employment record. If you go for another job again, the interviewer may ask you why you left that other job and you can't exactly lie about it.

I might miss some of my old jobs, but I left each one with good reason, and I don't regret it.

yes its disappointing .. but ur not a loser and who knowz u might get a better job

Can be heartbreaking, but it can also be a blessing in disguise.