Layoffs

5by Marlo
Reasons
Lyons
People Get Laid Off
January 23, 2024

Peter Cade/Getty Images

Summary. As companies continue to conduct layoffs, despite signs of economic

recovery, it’s normal to feel powerless. Sometimes thwarting a layoff is impossible.
For example, there’s not much you can do if your entire business unit is being cut
because company goals have... more

Despite signs of economic recovery, including lower inflation

rates and sustained low unemployment, the start of 2024 has
already seen a surge in layoffs, surpassing 10,000 within the tech
industry alone at the time of writing. Macy’s, Wayfair, Ford, and
Citigroup are among the other companies who have already
announced layoffs this year. This leaves many workers in a state
of uncertainty, waiting to find out if they’re next to be cut.

It’s normal to feel powerless in this position. There’s not much

you can do if your entire business unit is being cut because
company goals have changed and your work is no longer relevant,
or if the company over-hired and revenue has unexpectedly
dropped. However, there are proactive measures you can take that
will help you manage your stress. Here are five common reasons
people are laid off — and strategies to help you assert some
control over your professional destiny.

1. Lack of skills advancement

Employees are 100% responsible for continually upskilling and
reskilling. While companies may offer resources to learn new
skills, they tend to teach to the entire employee population, so
most talent development programs focus on management skills
such as giving feedback, leadership skills such as influencing
without authority, and soft skills such as emotional intelligence.
But employees need to continue to advance their hard skills, such
as becoming technically proficient in AI applications or new
programming languages. Those who don’t continue to evolve
their skills to keep up with rapidly changing business needs may
be targeted for layoffs.

Recent advancements in generative AI and large language models

(LLMs) such as ChatGPT provide a timely example. While this
technology has been predicted to replace human workers at a
large scale, for now it may be replacing tech workers who don’t
have AI skills. As companies update their core products with this
new technology, they’ll be looking for talent who have LLM
expertise. Even if you’re an expert in natural language processing,
machine learning, or natural language understanding
technologies, if you haven’t gained expertise in LLMs, which can
generate contextually accurate text, answer queries, summarize
text, and preform language translation, then your skills are
already outdated.

Showing a dedication to reskilling yourself in a new space and

demonstrating those skills during the transition to a new way of
doing business could save your job. Therefore, employees should
take a proactive approach to gaining skills and knowledge based
on where the market and company are heading to ensure their
skills remain relevant.

2. You’re an “overseer,” not a “doer”

When companies decide to implement budget cuts, the finance
department typically allocates a specific percentage reduction to
each department. The most straightforward method to meet the
assigned cut percentage is to eliminate the positions of
individuals with the highest salaries, particularly if they’re not
actively involved in accomplishing the work. Managers who lack
hands-on involvement may be seen as less valuable to the
organization, as there is a perception that they’re not directly
contributing to task and project execution. This perception could
increase the likelihood of them being considered expendable
during cost-cutting measures.

Managers who are invaluable to an organization find a balance

between strategic leadership and hands-on involvement without
micromanaging their teams. They’re perceived as more adaptable
and capable of responding quickly to changes, making them more
resilient in volatile business situations. Managers who have deep
understanding of team dynamics, challenges, and goals and who
can demonstrate their ability to speak to the details will make
seem like they’re the glue holding the team together, which makes
it harder to see their role as dispensable.
3. Lack of visibility
Being the quiet worker bee won’t protect you from being laid off.
In fact, being invisible could be your downfall. When determining
which roles to cut, if senior leadership doesn’t know who you are,
what you do, or the impact you make, your job could be an easy
choice for elimination. In times of organizational changes or
restructuring, being visible can help mitigate the risk of being
overlooked or underestimated.

Your visibility can act as a form of job security by ensuring

decision makers are aware of your capabilities and impact.
Having visibility at all levels in an organization can help you
create a strong network of colleagues and senior leaders who can
vouch for your contributions and accomplishments. It could also
show leaders you can succeed if plugged into any position. If
decision makers have a clear understanding of your skills,
achievements, and contributions, they’re more likely to view your
position as essential to the success of the company, or they may
see you as the person to combine teams under when other roles
are eliminated.

4. Lack of performance
When companies need to cut their budgets, they’ll likely try to
eliminate those who are considered non-performers. Where more
than one person is doing a particular job, layoffs provide
managers a ripe opportunity to cut low performers without
having to do the hard work of giving them more feedback or
putting them on a performance improvement plan.

Employees must realize their manager’s perception means

everything. So even if you think you’re doing a great job, if your
manager doesn’t agree, you could be deemed a poor performer
and be on the chopping block. Therefore, employees need to
proactively request feedback from their managers more often
than just during the performance-review period. Once you receive
feedback, continually work on improving, and check back in with
your manager to see whether they agree that your performance
has improved.

5. Offshoring and automation

The automation or offshore relocation of specific jobs is
determined based on strategic, economic, and operational costs
as well as technological advancements. Companies may opt for
offshoring to countries with lower labor costs where the talent
pool is rich with expertise. They may also implement automation
technologies that prove more efficient and accurate than human
labor to cut expenses associated with salaries, benefits, and
operational overhead. The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future
of Jobs Report delves into which jobs will likely shift toward
automation, minimizing the need for human interaction.

To safeguard against a potential layoff, it’s critical to stay

informed about market trends and assess whether your chosen
career is prone to offshoring or automation in the future. In some
cases, U.S.-based companies may have a U.S. manager overseeing
offshored talent or automated processes. That may pose further
challenges for early-career professionals who want to grow into
management positions and are seeking experience through jobs
that have been offshored or automated to get there. If you
discover your job is one that’s likely to be automated in the future
or you see trends moving toward offshoring your type of position,
find ways to gain new skills that will help you transition to
another field with less risk and will be just as (if not more)
fulfilling. For example, you could take on a stretch project in
another department at your company or form a side hustle
consultancy.
 ...
Building a reputation for being a valuable team member through
your work and relationships is key to minimizing your risk of
being laid off. Ensure your leadership and cross-functional
stakeholders know your contributions and the impact you bring
to the organization as well as where you’ve upskilled to stay
relevant, which will help position you as an indispensable asset.
This proactive approach helps ensure that your value is
recognized long before any decisions about layoffs are made.

Marlo Lyons career, executive, and team coach

and the award-winning author of Wanted – A
New Career: The Definitive Playbook for
Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your
Dream Job. You can reach her at
www.marlolyonscoaching.com.

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