My company had recent layoffs. I’m one of the employees who are left, but everyday I go in, I ask myself how long this will last.

I can’t relax or focus on work because I feel I can’t trust management. I feel terrible for my friends who really needed jobs and were really good workers.

Employment advisers used to say it’s better to have a job when you interview for another job, but with so many people looking, has the sentiment changed?

BEING part of a layoff is no longer something to be embarrassed by.

The large companies conducting layoffs are often closing offices, departments or divisions, not singling out certain people to fire. In smaller companies, however, employees may be laid off for performance reasons. One small-business owner writes that the economy gave him an excuse to get rid of an employee who was taking advantage of him. He felt bad about firing him, because he knew the man has a family, but this man’s poor work ethic led to his being let go. Clearly, this is an important time for employees to perform to the best of their abilities; the slackers should stand forewarned.

But don’t ever lose hope, no matter what is reported about the economy. Companies that are still hiring do exist. A spokesman for Dallas-based Armorstar Relocation Services writes that his company is looking to hire employees for business development. Interviewing may be tougher now, but candidates with strong networking and phone skills and solid work ethics have a chance. Armorstar has a heart and is open to hiring unemployed people. In fact, like the small-business owner, the company’s management feels for the unemployed people trying to support families.

People won’t have the negotiation power they used to have, but that applies to all – employed and unemployed. Just as this is a buyer’s market for real estate, this is an employer’s market for finding the best employees possible. The employed and the unemployed should have updated résumés and start practising their interviewing skills. And the ones with jobs would be wise to take their work seriously. Perhaps this is a turning of the tide in ethics, and those lacking strong work ethics won’t survive.