Outplacement programs usually provide counseling to help employees deal with the emotions associated with job loss—shock, anger, denial, and lowered self-esteem. Because the family may suffer if the breadwinner becomes unemployed, sometimes family members are also included in the counseling as well.35 Counseling also benefits the employer because it helps to defuse some of the hostility that laid-off employees feel toward the company.

Employees who are outplaced often do not know how to begin the search for a new job. In many cases, these people have not had to look for a job in many years.

An important aspect of this assistance is teaching separated employees the skills they need to find a new job. These skills include résumé writing, interviewing and job-search techniques, career planning, and negotiation skills.36 Outplaced employees receive instruction in these skills from either a member of the outplacement firm or the HR department. In addition, the former employer sometimes provides administrative support in the form of clerical help, phone answering, access to e-mail, and fax services.37 These services allow laid-off employees to use computers to prepare résumés, post résumés on the Web or send them via fax and e-mail, and to use copiers to copy résumés.