There comes a time in a person’s life when a job loss is imminent- whether through company layoff, furloughs, or self-induced firing.
Job loss can happen to anyone, even during the best times, companies make changes, and employees get laid off. Sometimes employers announce cutbacks and it’s clear your job is in jeopardy. In other cases, it’s not so easy to tell where or when the ax will fall.
There are common telltale signs that indicate that your job may be at risk. What are some subtle signs your boss is considering letting you go?
Your company is suffering financially
If you’ve heard whisperings from your colleagues, on the news, or at board meetings that the company is in financial hot water, it’s a good sign that your job is on the line. A lot of companies are forced to engage in massive downsizing to cut costs when faced with declining revenue, rising costs, and poor economic conditions. Therefore when you learn that your company is in financial trouble, it may be time to discuss plans with management or take some steps to prepare for a possible layoff this could include starting a personal emergency fund.
Your responsibilities are dwindling
Any organization will have a natural ebb and flow to its work that sees you taking on tasks and projects on a steady basis. If you’re usually busy beyond measure, take note if there’s a sharp drop in tasks and responsibilities being assigned to you. It’s even a bigger sign if someone else or several other people can handle your book of business on top of their own. This is a subtle phasing-out process used by employers to plan ahead and find a new resource schedule to take over your shifts in the weeks that follow a firing.
New Management/ Mergers/Acquisitions
When a new Manager is brought in either because higher-ups want to bring in new talent or because of a merger or acquisition they’re often known to come into the company with new ideologies and changes- and this can include a change in the staff. Managers often want to bring in their own teams that they worked with or new hands to drive the organization forward. And if they were brought on to deal with any financial issues, these viewpoints may equate to fewer employees and it’s a sign that your days there might be ticking to an end.
You’re excluded from emails and meetings
If you’re experiencing a situation at work where you begin to notice that everyone else is receiving an office email chain except you, it could mean that your days as an employee are numbered. Lack of emails (your boss no longer copying you) does fall under the same umbrella as the shrinking workload- the only exception to this would be if there’s a technical glitch that sees the emails landing in your spam. When an ax is about to fall, managers will also deliberately
stop inviting you to crucial meetings that you used to be part of since they know you’ll soon be gone and they want the information to stay proprietary.
Someone with your skill set is hired
If your company’s HR is interviewing people who have very similar skill sets to you or you walk into work to find someone has been hired into your exact position and it’s not specifically to help with an overload of work that could mean that the company is strongly on the verge of taking you off its list of employees. Often times companies will tell you to train your own replacement in an effort to retain as much transitional knowledge as possible.
If you ever find yourself with that gut feeling that you’re about to be sacked or if sources from the grapevine also point in this direction- it’s often best to take your future into your own hands by getting your resume polished, putting out feelers and stirring your network towards finding your new home.
