Asking Your Manager if Your Job Is Safe

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

From The Archives

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter offers advice for people who are worried about their jobs

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I’m going to talk with you today about those times in your career when you are hearing about the potential for layoffs.

Often, when John Hunter started thinking about job hunting, it’s because there are some rumors going on in their offices.  They are hearing “stuff.”  There is the grapevine going on.  There are going to be job cuts occurring.  Suddenly, people start talking to one another.  It becomes a situation of the blind leading the blind.

Sometimes, there is the brave soul who has the courage to talk to their boss or manager.  They asked them, “Hey!  It is my job safe?  Do I have anything to worry about?  What do you think?”

95 times out of 100, what the manager tells them, “There is nothing to worry about.  You are very important to us.  Really.  Don’t worry about it.”

When you stop and think about it, that manager doesn’t know anything more than the subordinate does is coming to talk to them.  That manager is so far down the ladder on a low wrong that all they are trying to do is hold that employee in place.  They don’t have any more information that the employee does.

Let’s stop kidding ourselves.  Let’s start by analyzing.

Frankly, if you have reason to worry, there is a bigger problem that is going on.  Your firm is struggling.  You are reading about it in the press.  Everyone is cutting back on jobs.  Why would you put up with that?

Instead of waiting passively to see if the shoe will drop, put yourself in the position to be found.  Put yourself in the position where your profile is up to date on LinkedIn where you might have your resume on a job order two.  Where you are starting to network with some people, maybe a former manager of yours who is at another organization that may be in better shape than yours.

Connect with them.  Talk with them.  Get a feel from them about what’s going on at their office.  Maybe, there is a place for you at their firm.

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