Several reports dealing with underemployment and mental health have found that bad times weigh on everybody?s mind ? the unemployed and the still-employed. It is obvious why the unemployed would be sensitive to depression, etc., but the reasons for depression among those who did not receive the pink slip are less so. Studies have found that many left behind after a layoff struggle with guilt. In many cases, they end up overworked, forced to do the work of those who were let go. U.C. Irvine professor C. David Dooley has found that the rate of depression among layoff survivors matches that of their one-time colleagues.
See "For survivors of a layoff, guilt and more", Susan Brink, Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2008