In the new austerity era, white-collar workers will bear the brunt of layoffs. After years of halcyon times, it’s time for office workers to be circumspect and hold onto their jobs. The days of quiet quitting, acting your wage and joining the Great Resignation are over. Now, you need to make yourself indispensable.
You must go above and beyond what was in your initial job description. Remote work provides a healthy balance of life and work, but go into the office five days a week. Put in the hours, but also keep an eye open for new opportunities—just in case you’re targeted for the next round of downsizing. Integrate yourself with your boss, so you know what you need to do to exceed expectations and hold onto your job—or possibly get a promotion—while others who are not “playing the game” are unceremoniously shown the door.
The Job Cuts Keep Coming
The plan, as it relates to job cuts, seems to be working for the Federal Reserve Bank. More than 150,000 tech workers were let go in 2022, and the new year ushered in thousands of more layoffs in January, as companies held off downsizing until after the holidays. Amazon says it’s letting go of more than 18,000 workers, up from the 10,000, which was estimated in November. Video platform Vimeo cut 11% of its workforce in pursuit of “ongoing cost discipline.” Salesforce is shrinking its 80,000-person staff by 10%. The software company added 30,000 jobs over the course of the pandemic, which CEO Marc Benioff now admits was “too many people.” Goldman Sachs is set to lay off around 3,200 employees. Coinbase plans to lay off 950 staff members, or around another 20% of its team.
What You Need To Do To Keep Your Job
Now is the time to take assertive control over your career by making yourself indispensable. Start by scheduling a conversation with your manager and human resources. Tell the parties that you love the company, your job, your boss and your co-workers and want to progress within the firm. Then, share what you’d like to achieve. It could be a lateral internal transfer or greater responsibilities. Flip the script by inquiring about what plans they have for you.
The best outcome is that they say you’re a respected professional and see good things for your future. If you leave the meeting feeling that the company doesn’t value your contributions and hasn’t put much thought into your career trajectory, it’s a sign that you should start thinking of the next play.
If there isn’t a path forward, continue to smile, work hard and produce, but also hedge your bets by getting in touch with respected recruiters in your space. Build a list of target firms you’d like to work for. Find the in-house talent acquisition recruiters, human resources representatives and prospective hiring managers and send them a LinkedIn invite or InMail, along with your résumé as an attachment.
Go into the office five days a week, even if your company offers remote or hybrid work options. You’ll disproportionately benefit from the proximity bias compared to your peers that are just small boxes in a Zoom video.
Exceed expectations by asking for high-profile, difficult tasks that others run away from. Disassociate with toxic colleagues who bring down everyone around them. You’ll need to put in quality hours to showcase what you’re capable of, demonstrating that you’re a keeper. Make sure that your boss and their managers are cognizant of your achievements. Shy away from boasting, but subtly let people know about your victories.
It will take hard work and patience. You’ll win fans by showing up and killing it every day. People will start perceiving you as one of the best go-to A-players that is irreplaceable and destined for great things in the future.
Don’t Do This
You may feel resentful that you’re not getting promoted as fast as you’d like and raises, promotions and stock grants aren’t offered as freely as in the past. Despite the setback, don’t become bitter and vindictive by overtly complaining to co-workers or start quiet-quitting. You won’t be helping your cause with a bad attitude.
There has been a trend of workers chasing clout by airing internal dirty laundry on TikTok, Twitter and other social media platforms. It may give you a temporary high; however, there will be repercussions. You’ll lose favor with the bosses and prospective future hiring managers may rebuff your behavior, concerned that you’ll also say derogatory things about them.
Why Did Everything Change So Quickly?
With the availability of cheap money, interest rates artificially kept low by the Federal Reserve Bank and a boom in demand over the last couple of years, companies aggressively hired personnel. The exuberance was muted when the trillions of dollars in stimulus funds flooding the market to keep it going during the pandemic caused, in part, 40-year record rates of inflation. To counter the devastating impact of runaway inflation on American families, the Fed hiked interest rates to cool down the economy. An intended consequence of this program is to nudge businesses into cutting costs and laying off workers.
Source: Forbes
