Are they thinking about laying you off?

From 3arf

No one wants to think of themselves as expendable, the mere prospect of being let go potentially inducing a panic attack (or a premature visit to the restroom) but a little discomfort may be worth being forewarned. So take a few deep breaths and consider a few common signs.

Nobody enjoys being critiqued, sure it's an opportunity to grow but sitting across from the boss as they read off a list with your name on it just hurts. Regardless, critiques and reviews are how management invest in an employee's future with the business so it's worse if the critiques stop. For instance, say a tax preparer works for an accounting firm and Tax Day passed several weeks ago but he/she has yet to receive any kind of feedback, this could signal that a final paycheck has been typed up.

Unless two people share something in common outside of work, office relationships take a lot of time and effort on both sides, especially for newcomers. Lives as busy as they are, it's only natural for people to only want to invest in people theyhaveto see everyday. If a relationship has been building with a coworker and that person seems to stop trying, it could mean they know enough to not want to make a friend only to lose them again.

Asking for more work is a sign of excellence and employees on their way to the top make it a habit, but having to ask all the time is bad.  It could be the boss is swamped or maybe they want to see who asks first, so it's always worth asking but when all is said and done, bosses give work to those they know they can rely on. Big gaps in workload could mean they can't count on them.

Now, work may not stop over night as much as slow down or get spread out  which brings up another couple of signs: having to bring others up to speed and de-prioritization of projects. If an employee knows they are on track to finish a project then it's a waste of time to train someone else unless it's part of the job description, if a project is suddenly not a big deal then it may have something to do with the employee and not the task.

Another reason that work has slacked off could be outsourcing. Many companies have had to completely change their direction in order to remain competitive in the past decade and that often means cutting costs by outsourcing. What should be suspicious is how much work is being outsourced and if it's specific to one department. It's not uncommon for a company to outsource entire departments; spoken to any switchboard operators or English speaking tech support recently?

Not everyone can relate because many people only deal with a supervisor and not the boss, but it bears mention. In the business world people look each other in the eye and it is especially important for building trust between bosses and employees. It's hard to look into someone's eyes if they are about to be cut loose and many bosses feel personally responsible and even blame themselves for failing their employees.

Lots of information is passed from one person to the other around the water cooler (or is it the insta-cup coffeemaker nowadays?) but seasoned employees will tell you to be careful what you believe. That said, rumors are based on a sliver of truth however out of context or far-fetched they may be and it's up to the employee to search for follow up signs to grant credibility.

Being laid off is not an easy topic but sadly it's an all too common aspect of everyday business life. At the end of the day it is up to the employee to decide if their work life has changed.

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