Signs of Mass Lay-Offs

[prof.plumm]

A lot of people in my office are getting worried that the company might be letting a bunch of people go. I think they're being a little paranoid, but I was wondering what to look out for?
Will it be like 'Office Space' with performance evaluators, or something else?

[HenryN]

'The Bobs' (performance evaluators) actually could be one sign of trouble ahead.

All joking aside, there are a few ways you can tell that things might start working against you. Here are a few.
1) The company you work for says it will not be hiring anyone new into your deptartment, or maybe even companywide.
2) The company tries to watch all of their spending more thoroughly with more expense reports.
3) Your companies earning are not going up quarterly, and your company stock is listed as a strong sell on the market.
4) Your company merged with another and now there are excessive amounts of people for each job.

These are somes signs that your company might see fit to start letting people go. The real question is how to react when one or more of these signs start popping up.

It might sound cliche, but working harder is probably the most appropriate path to take. Proving you are an asset to the company is a great way to avoid being fired for reasons 1 and 4 especially.

So good luck and keep your eyes open.