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posted by martyb on Wednesday December 23 2015, @07:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-never-easy dept.

It's the holidays and many people are feeling cheerful, but if you're feeling Grinch-like instead this one's for you:

If you've been around for a while, the time will eventually come when a company you work for is in unfortunate shape and will need to "downsize." Having witnessed this at a client of mine this week, I've noticed a pattern and a few warning signs you may find useful...

Here are several warning signs you're about to be laid-off. If you've noticed more than perhaps one of these, your Spidey-Sense should be tingling—it's time to start polishing that resume/CV!
...
  I. Backups
"Have you backed-up all your work to XYZ?"
...
  II. Training
"Please train your co-worker on X, we need everyone up to speed on these components."
...
  III. Important Project or Person MIA
Just like the old Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, where the very existence of the main character is erased from history, a similar fate will happen to $BIG_PROJECT or important people.
...
  IV. Mandatory Meeting
Subject: Moving Forward in $YEAR+1

Content-free meeting invitations or email focused on date periods, especially late-in the year (a nod to tax purposes). "Let's discuss our plan for 2016." **gulp**

That's my list for now, please chime in with any others you can think of.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2015, @09:58AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2015, @09:58AM (#280142)

    It always pays to remember that HR is paid to talk nice but act evil. Their reason for existence is to make firing people easier (and to hire people, and maybe they interact with payroll, but that is so much easier).

    Starting Score:    0  points
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 23 2015, @06:57PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 23 2015, @06:57PM (#280308) Journal
    What's supposed to be evil about firing people? Sometimes people have to go because they're a terrible fit, poison for the organization, or even a danger to those around them. And sometimes it's because some boss wants a little more bonus this year. Good and evil depend on how the tool is used.

    What is ignored here that any sort of organization, not just businesses, needs to be able to fire people for legitimate reasons. And in the developed world, firing people is legally the most dangerous thing you can do organizationally short of maiming or killing people.