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I worked 20 years at my last job before leaving to work somewhere else. I was never even close to being laid off, even during hard times. I think it was because I always tried to provide a good return on their investment in me. I averaged less than 2 sick days a year. I did my job very well. I never had the "this is all they are paying me so this is all I am going to do" attitude. Shortly after hiring on with my current employer, they announced they were closing the station I was working at. Rather than get laid off, I offered to travel. I am now on the road about 330 days a year.
I worked for a large corporate entity for 32 years. I went thru surplusses, layoffs, downsizing, right sizing, and re-engineerings. All in all, I was in line to be laid off 26 times. And I survived. I kept my eye on the prize, retirement. I learned a lot along the way and I'm happy to share.
1) Don't be any more loyal to your company than they are to you.
2) Be flexible and realize you may temporarily have to accept a lesser job with less money. You are smart and you can recover.
3) Keep your skills up to date and be a life long learner.
4) Never be a top performer. So they stroke you a bit. How are you going to do 10% more next year to be considered merely satisfactory?
5) Always do a LITTLE more than is expected. A LITTLE more than most of your co-workers.
6) Be unfailingly polite and professional. Leave office politics alone. Kiss butt when necessary for the greater good(yours). Never say anything bad about your boss(even if he/she is an idiot). Your job is to make your boss look good.
7) Chances are, your boss is a dolt who has no idea what you do for a living. He/she relies on metrics to evaluate your performance. Learn what those metrics are and use them to your advantage. If you know the metrics, you can look great on paper without having to work nearly as hard as some of your coworkers.
8) Don't make excuses and admit it when you are wrong. Never be a doom and gloom whiner....no matter what you think on a personal level.
9) If you have customers, treat them like gold. They will go ballistic if they hear you are going to be laid off and.....if the axe ever does fall, they will hire you.
10) Always be aware of job opportunities in your company. Move towards whatever is cutting edge and today's hot stuff. Rack up as much valuable experience as you can. If job A goes to India, you will be OK because you can also do jobs B, C, D, E, and F. In large corporations, a generalist who understands how most of the company works can be very valuable.
11) Don't take anything too seriously. Do the best you can and quit worrying. If it happens, it happens and you will know you did the best you could do.
Be part of a team that has P&L responsibility and consistently hit your targets. In large corporations, SAG is the first thing to be hit- Sales, Administrative and General. This cuts a wide swath of jobs, but the bottom line is that they're all cost centers.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,640 posts, read 11,931,469 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowsnow
I worked for a large corporate entity for 32 years. I went thru surplusses, layoffs, downsizing, right sizing, and re-engineerings. All in all, I was in line to be laid off 26 times. And I survived. I kept my eye on the prize, retirement. I learned a lot along the way and I'm happy to share.
1) Don't be any more loyal to your company than they are to you.
2) Be flexible and realize you may temporarily have to accept a lesser job with less money. You are smart and you can recover.
3) Keep your skills up to date and be a life long learner.
4) Never be a top performer. So they stroke you a bit. How are you going to do 10% more next year to be considered merely satisfactory?
5) Always do a LITTLE more than is expected. A LITTLE more than most of your co-workers.
6) Be unfailingly polite and professional. Leave office politics alone. Kiss butt when necessary for the greater good(yours). Never say anything bad about your boss(even if he/she is an idiot). Your job is to make your boss look good.
7) Chances are, your boss is a dolt who has no idea what you do for a living. He/she relies on metrics to evaluate your performance. Learn what those metrics are and use them to your advantage. If you know the metrics, you can look great on paper without having to work nearly as hard as some of your coworkers.
8) Don't make excuses and admit it when you are wrong. Never be a doom and gloom whiner....no matter what you think on a personal level.
9) If you have customers, treat them like gold. They will go ballistic if they hear you are going to be laid off and.....if the axe ever does fall, they will hire you.
10) Always be aware of job opportunities in your company. Move towards whatever is cutting edge and today's hot stuff. Rack up as much valuable experience as you can. If job A goes to India, you will be OK because you can also do jobs B, C, D, E, and F. In large corporations, a generalist who understands how most of the company works can be very valuable.
11) Don't take anything too seriously. Do the best you can and quit worrying. If it happens, it happens and you will know you did the best you could do.
This is a great post. I've been with the same employer for the past 9 years and survived outsourcing to India, layoffs, office closures, etc. I've pretty much done all of these things and it has served me well.
There are very few industries that are lay off proof. Being in education or the medical field are pretty much lay off proof fields. My last two employees were General Electric and Bank of America. I was laid off by both of them. With mergers and shift of operations it's hard not to go thru a layoff at some point. If you really want to stick with one company you must be willing to relocate. Being flexible is the key. The days of spending your entire career with one company is pretty much over.
How did you manage to stay off the layoff list during your career? Me and my friend was having this discussion and this is something you don't when you first graduate college.
If you remain stagnant in your job, your skills, your effort, you become road kill. I worked in technology, and I made a concerted effort to move toward the latest in technology vs. waiting for the company to move me in that direction. I also sought out promotions vs. sitting and hoping I would be recognized for my performance with a promotion. Whenever I went for a raise or promotion, I had my reasons and value documented.
During this time there was probably a 55 - 65% reduction in force, partly due to changing technology, and economic market conditions. During the bloodiest years (most of the 90's) my job title was one of a very few that was not subject to the almost routine RIFS.
I've never been laid off. I have no idea why I haven't been. I quit one job because I had nothing to do. I had been there 8 years and the work dried up. I was bored. Why wouldn't I quit? Most jobs I quit due to moving or motherhood issues.
I worked for the same employer for 37 years and never even experienced a RIF (government talk for reduction-in-force) or layoff. I worked for a federal agency and I had job security, good perks and an excellent retirement package.
"Hi, i'm TVSG and i'm with the government and i'm here to help you!"
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