Unless you are extremely lucky, have only worked for yourself, or have always been part of the family that owns the business you work for, you will probably be laid off at least once in your life. If your company is at least halfway decent, then you’ll receive an appropriate amount of notice so that you can prepare for the separation. Even better companies will have some kind of severance package relative to your title and time with the company to help with your transition. By and large, if you are personally targeted for a layoff, then there is very little you can do to avoid it.
I wish this article could be one of the many “lifehack” pieces floating around the internet that really could save you from a layoff if only you used this “one weird trick”. Unfortunately, layoffs are usually rooted in cold, hard metrics. Financial projections weren’t met, and the company needs to free up operating expenses. Sometimes that means trimming away the high earners. Other times that means slimming down teams across the board. It could also mean cutting whole departments and business units that aren’t profitable. In these cases, there’s very little an employee can do once deadlines to meet goals have passed.
And yet, people do survive cuts. Not only are some employees dodging the layoff, but some that were scheduled for layoffs have been saved. What are they doing differently than those that are being let go?
Go Beyond Your Job Duties
Working more is probably the most straightforward but also most onerous layoff-prevention technique. When we negotiate salaries before accepting a position, we expect the salary to match the tasks expected of us. So, to go beyond those required tasks makes the salary unfair, and there’s no one to complain to, because we voluntarily took on more work as layoff-prevention. This is why I have no qualms about asking for a high salary and letting the hiring manager negotiate me down, but I digress.
Being a highly visible and recognized contributor is a great argument for keeping you when others around you are low achievers. A coworker of mine shared her experience of surviving a deep cut in her department where everyone but her was let go. When she asked her manager what saved her, he told her that it was because she was always volunteering for assignments, looking for ways to contribute. Yes, doing this will probably paint you as “the employee who doesn’t say no” and may actually slow your career growth since you’ll become indispensable in your current role, but you’ll have to weigh that possible outcome against a layoff. Like many situations in life, there is a balance you have to find for yourself.
Ask Someone Who Can Save You to Save You
The success rate of asking to be saved is probably very low, especially since the numbers have been crunched and your position has been determined to be expendable. However, if the decision comes down to either letting you go or your equally-at-risk coworker, then it doesn’t hurt to pull your manager aside and make your case. I actually don’t have any faith in this tactic working, but I just wanted to share an incredible story I was told and needed a preamble.
A company I had just joined had recently gone through a relatively large reduction in force – something like 20%. One of the employees affected was the general maintenance guy. One day, before the layoffs took place, he noticed the CEO waiting outside the lobby and asked him if he needed a ride somewhere. The CEO accepted the offer. While driving to their destination, the two men made small talk, and the CEO asked the maintenance guy how he liked working at the company. The maintenance guy confessed that he was part of the layoff, and he worried about how he’d provide for his family without this income. Later that week, the maintenance guy was no longer scheduled for separation.
That is an amazing story, am I right? Of course, I am. Just don’t count on this working for you.
Become a Political Animal
Of all the tactics that I have seen insulate people from layoffs, political machinations are the most despicable. I believe this because politics has nothing to do with an employee’s value to the company as a worker, but instead as someone who has personal value to a small group of decision makers. All companies suffer from intra-office politics to some degree, but one company I worked for was blatant about it. Year after year, the same incompetent people kept ducking the reaper’s scythe while the nose-to-the-grindstone types kept getting cut. One employee who was directly responsible for a $300,000 loss because he didn’t manage a promotional giveaway correctly not only dodged a layoff but dodged any kind of negative repercussion because he knew all the right people.
I further despise political employees because they often supplement poor performance with their connections and relationships, allowing them to do less actual work. This can only lead to resentment growing within the ranks and a distrust for management for tolerating. There’s a reason why many employee guidelines frown upon (if not forbid) fraternization between managers and direct reports.
To wrap all of this up, I don’t think there’s any sure-fire way to prevent a layoff from affecting you. Even becoming a political player doesn’t always save you, especially when you’re out-maneuvered by a coworker. All you can do is demonstrate your value every day and hope that’s enough.