EOD: Red flags you’re facing a layoff round

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I’m writing this during a government shutdown, and while the federal workforce may not be my target audience for layoff talk, it’s no secret that the job market is pulling back. Career experts at Careerminds identified red flags that layoffs are looming—and, well, I figured I’d spread the word.

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So what are these red flags of what Careerminds president Raymond Lee calls ‘quiet layoffs’?

🖥️ Sudden shifts in workloads for yourself, your team or others

💵 Promotion and raise freezes across the board

🙅‍♀️ Exclusion from meetings or communications you’d otherwise be involved in

🫗 Reluctance to fill empty roles

😕 High-performers being put on performance improvement plans, or PIPs being used broadly, unpredictably or in quick succession (they can become a paper trail justifying layoffs)

Why you should know these red flags

“Clear, above-board layoffs are painful for everyone involved,” recognizes Amanda Augustine, certified professional career coach and resident career expert at Careerminds. “But they give people a narrative that makes sense, like this has to do with a restructure, not my worth.”

While some leaders argue that keeping cuts quiet can avoid panic and investor blowback, Amanda says the reality looks different. It often backfires, damaging a company's reputation in its wake.

So what can you do? While you may only have so much control over the situation, there are steps you can take.

Amanda says, “My advice to workers is to voice your value, document everything, but have your plan B at the ready.”

Additionally, she suggests documenting your professional wins into numbers and outcomes your manager can forward up the chain.

And if you happen to be at a company that transparently voices pending layoffs, use that time to ask about severance, outplacement support and internal transfer opportunities.

If your boss has ever referred to you and your coworkers as part of some twisted family, remember that real families don’t lay people off for the sake of the bottom line. This is WORK, people. Most of us are replaceable (myself included—I recently got ghosted by a freelance client I worked with for years) and we have to protect ourselves and the people who are actually part of our family.

Thanks,