Made Redundant at 48. Here's What Nobody Prepares You For.

I was a Regional Head of Operations for a European bank in Hong Kong. Fourteen years. Good performance reviews, decent relationships, the lot. Then in March they restructured the Asia desk and my role was "consolidated" into a global function based in London. That's the polite version. The real version is I got a call from HR at 4pm on a Wednesday, had a meeting at 9am Thursday, and was walking out of Exchange Square with a box by lunchtime. I'm not writing this for sympathy. I'm writing it because I was genuinely unprepared for what came next, and I suspect a lot of people in similar positions would be too.

The first two weeks

You tell yourself it's fine. You've got savings. You've got a network. Someone will call. You update your LinkedIn and add "open to opportunities" and wait. Nobody calls. Well, that's not entirely true. A few old colleagues message you saying "let's catch up" which is nice but doesn't lead anywhere. A recruiter reaches out about a role that pays half what you were on. A headhunter you used to work with doesn't return your email. The thing about being senior is that there aren't many roles at your level. In Hong Kong, for my specific function, there might be fifteen companies where I'd be a fit. Maybe twenty if I stretched. And most of them aren't hiring.

The identity problem

This is the bit nobody talks about. When you've been "Regional Head of Operations" for over a decade, that's not just your job. It's who you are. At dinners. At school events. On forms. When someone asks what you do. Suddenly you don't have an answer. And it messes with you more than you'd expect.

What I actually did

I'm not going to pretend I had some brilliant strategy. I didn't. I spent about six weeks feeling sorry for myself, which my wife was remarkably patient about. Then I got practical. I mapped out every person I knew in financial services across APAC. Not just the senior people — everyone. I set up coffees. Real ones, not LinkedIn ones. I was honest about what had happened and what I was looking for. Two things came from this. First, a consulting gig with a fintech in Central that needed someone to sort out their operations before a Series B. Three months, decent money, kept me busy. Second, a proper introduction to a Japanese bank that was expanding in Hong Kong and needed someone who understood European regulatory frameworks. I started there last month.

The honest takeaway

If you're over 45 and in a senior role, you should be networking before you need to. Not in a slimy way. Just staying connected. Because when the call comes — and in this market, the call comes for a lot of people — you don't want to be starting from scratch. And for God's sake, have a financial buffer. I had one. A lot of people at my level don't, because the lifestyle creeps up.

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