7 Signs Your Company May Be Gearing Up For A Layoff

Unsplash / Luca Bravo

How are you feeling about your company’s stability? If you don’t think your organization’s on solid ground, it’s time to start analyzing warning signs that things could be on the verge of major change. The seven situations below may be signals that something funky is going on, and that you may want to prepare for a potential layoff.

1. Executives start using ominous words like “restructuring,” “reorganizing” or “downsizing” in meetings.

You can read between the lines. Your top execs don’t have to spell out “layoff” for you to get a sense one could be on the horizon. Pay close attention to the language they use in all-hands meetings, or even casually. “Restructuring” means that change is afoot. It could be good change or bad change, but you’ll get the sense from the vibe of your office, your company’s performance and the actions of organizational leaders.

2. Important meetings keep disappearing from the calendar.

Sure, maybe Google calendar can be glitchy, but if all big, important meetings keep disappearing, it’s not a good sign. Again, assess the vibe of your office to get a sense of what’s going on. If people who were supposed to be in those meetings look perpetually confused or upset, big change could be on the way.

3. Higher-ups are having urgent, closed-door meetings.

Noticing that your boss, or even your boss’s boss, is constantly rushing into meetings with other execs? Maybe the higher-ups are spending a lot more time in those meetings than they are actually running the company. Again, keep this concern in context, because there could be a lot of great reasons why they’re in there. (Maybe they’re planning a huge happy hour? Ha, we can dream.). But, if they come out of those meetings looking…not so positive, make a mental note.

Pixabay

4. Your boss is dancing around direct questions about what’s going on.

Your boss should always be direct with you about how the company is doing overall. Unless you don’t have a great relationship or your boss never gives you answers (hey, everyone has a personality, right?), avoiding simple questions doesn’t indicate that everything’s alright.

5. Scheduled projects are put on hold.

Remember that data project you and your team were so psyched to work on in the upcoming weeks? Well, your boss just told you, blank-faced, that the data project is being postponed till…well, she can’t say. You talk to your coworker who was planning to work on a social media project and she tells you that project has been postponed, too. Yep, it smells fishy in here.

6. The company has restructured several times since you joined.

Alright, we’re just gonna say that if you work in a start-up environment, it’s not unlikely that your company went through a number of phases. Growing pains can be so real in start-up land, and a company could be very successful despite experiencing multiple shifts. You should be mindful though if your company experienced repeated phases of layoffs or restructuring since you joined. Change is good, except when it’s messy and reactionary. If your company is constantly passing around leadership or changing everyone’s roles on a weekly basis, it’s safe to say things aren’t stable.

7. Company performance is tanking with no signs of rebounding.

If your company isn’t making money and your numbers are just going down-down-down, you might want to consider looking for a new job. A company can’t run on smiles, you know? (Though we wish it could.)

Seeing signs of a company shake-up? Here’s what you can do:

• Talk to people on your level. Communicate with your coworkers and see if anyone knows anything that you don’t. It’s not about gossiping — it’s about gaining useful information that could help you make an informed decision about whether to stay at or leave the company.
• Spiff up your resume. Hey, it can’t hurt, can it?
• Sign up for job alerts. And you have nothing to lose by submitting a few applications and going to networking events. Even if everything at your current company turns out fine, you had your own back.