Career Coach Shares The 10 Subtle Signs A Company Is About To Lay People Off
They may seem innocuous, but if these 10 things start happening, it's time to start making moves.
SDI Productions | Getty Images Signature | Canva Pro It's one of the worst and most stressful things a person can experience — being laid off from your job. Obviously, the financial upheaval is the most difficult part, but what amplifies the stress is the abruptness with which a layoff often comes. One day, you're living your normal workaday life, and the next, the rug is yanked out from under you.
It's hard to eliminate the element of surprise entirely when it comes to job losses, but there are indeed ways to sort of scan the horizon and suss out that things might be heading south at your company soon. Knowing what to look for just might give you the tools you need to prepare and maybe void the upheaval altogether.
Layoffs overall have thankfully slowed in recent months. The latest data from the Department of Labor showed layoffs pretty substantially declining across companies of all sizes, from small businesses to large corporations, and there are currently more job openings than job seekers overall.
Still, though the economic tide seems to thankfully be turning, it's still tough out there, especially in sectors like tech, marketing, and other professional services fields. So, how can you protect yourself from ending up on the wrong end of the economy's churn?
For one thing, there is the little-known Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act, federal legislation that requires employers to notify all workers at least 60 days in advance before a round of layoffs. Elon Musk infamously got sued for violating it shortly after his takeover of Twitter.
If this is all news to you, you're not alone. This 60-day notice comes via required postings on state government websites many workers have no idea even exist. You can Google "WARN Act" plus your state to find yours and get a heads-up.
But as anyone who's been in the working world a while knows, 60 days before the trigger actually gets pulled on a round of layoffs is often pretty far down the road. According to experts like career coach Greg Langstaff, there are 10 things to look out for that signal major trouble is brewing long before your spidey senses — or a WARN Act notice, for that matter — might indicate impending doom.
Ten signs a company is about to lay people off, according to a career coach:
1. Employees who are leaving aren't being replaced
If you notice HR and management don't seem to be in any hurry to fill cubicles vacated by your colleagues, this is likely not a coincidence. Often, this is part of an overall strategy to shrink the company, especially in the age of AI.
2. Hiring and spending freezes
This is probably a pretty obvious one, but many of us have a tendency to view these as just innocuous belt-tightening measures to get the company through a rocky period. And sometimes they are — but they're also often the opening salvo of a more draconian round of cost-cutting that involves offloading a big chunk of the workforce. Beware!
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3. Major projects being postponed
Similarly, this might just be a temporary cost-cutting measure — but it's more likely an early batten-down-the-hatches measure. You don't install a swimming pool in your backyard if you know tough times are coming and your job is the same way. If to-do lists are suddenly getting slashed, take it seriously.
4. Your company was recently acquired or is about to be acquired
This is probably the most obvious red flag of them all. Even if the companies in question assure you no one's going anywhere, get that resume in order anyway. Mergers and acquisitions almost never come without layoffs, because companies folding into one another creates scores of staff redundancies. Mergers and acquisitions frequently trigger WARN Act notices, too, so get to Googling!
5. Executives are leaving
Ever heard that old saw about "rats leaving a sinking ship"? It applies to your office, too, and the higher-ups are among those who get the earliest intel about stormy seas, if you will. If leadership is running for the hills, follow their lead and start thinking about your next move.
6. There have already been some layoffs
Where there are layoffs, there are often... more layoffs. And much like with mergers, even if you're assured you're not going anywhere, it's best to behave otherwise. Start getting your resume out there. Even if you do end up among the lucky ones who keep your job, it can't hurt to cover your bases.
7. Restructuring
Companies often restructure in order to address newer or more lucrative growth areas and move away from those that have gotten stale, say, a retail company moving away from brick-and-mortar stores to online only sales. Sometimes, your job transitions to the new order of things, but all too often, it doesn't. Here again, it's best to put yourself out there, just in case.
8. Outsourcing
Another obvious one — not just because your job might be the next one to go overseas, farmed out to freelancers, or scrapped for AI, but because this, too, is often part of a larger cost-cutting plan.
9. The company isn't hitting its goals
A fiscal quarter or two of less-than-stellar profits or growth might just be a bump in the road. But if your company is consistently, over several periods, falling short of where it should be? Well, the ship's probably taking on water, and it's time to start thinking about escape plans before you end up going down with it.
10. You get an invitation to an urgent company-wide meeting
At this point, the end has come. High-priority all staffs out of nowhere rarely bring good news, and if this pops up on your calendar, it's likely you missed — or just ignored out of denial — several other signs of trouble. Once the meeting's over, start calling those connections and trawling LinkedIn for opportunities cuz it's probably only a matter of time!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.