How to know layoffs are coming and what to do about it

The current headlines surrounding mass layoffs at some of the biggest and most established names in tech are understandably a cause for concern. From the news that Google’s parent company plans to shed 12,000 workers to Amazon’s decision to cut 18,000 employees from its existing workforce, speculation about who could be next is rife.

If you work in the sector and are worried your company could be the next one to make an announcement regarding layoffs, is there anything you can do to mitigate the fallout of losing your job? And even if you do manage to retain your position in an organisation that is reducing staff numbers, should you stay put or pre-empt operational challenges by moving on yourself?

Educated guess

Whether you choose to leave of your own accord or the decision is out of your hands, establishing the state of play in the company you work for is essential if you want to establish its long-term strategy and your career trajectory within it.

Seeking assurance from your line manager or HR isn’t enough, as they might not know what’s being decided at the leadership level, so you have to try and assess where the company you work for is headed on a more practical level.

Have managers suddenly been engaged in hours of seemingly endless meetings behind closed doors? Has there been a pay or hiring freeze in place that shows no signs of being lifted? These changes are usually indicators that changes are around the corner.

Cushion your career

Creating a plan B or having a backup plan is the best way to safeguard your future in the face of a recession or layoffs.

However, this doesn’t necessarily equate to leaving your current role. Upskilling, availing of learning and development resources (while they’re still widely available) and expanding your professional network are viable ways you can start cushioning your career now, meaning if you are hit with an unexpected layoff, you’ll be in a much stronger position to look for a new job.

Ready your resilience

Losing your job is never pleasant, especially if you’re emotionally invested in the company you work for or have formed a close bond with your team. It can also knock your confidence and this loss of self-esteem can leave you reeling for weeks… weeks you should be using to move on and secure your next role.

Research shows that it takes roughlyfive months, start-to-finish to get a new job, so time spent licking your wounds will only exacerbate the situation.

With this in mind, theAltFi Job Board is the perfect place to get a head start on your search as it’s filled with hundreds of jobs in companies that are still actively hiring, like the three below.

Cloud Security Operations Analyst, GoCardless, London

GoCardless is a global leader in account-to-account payments. It is currently hiring aCloud Security Operations Analyst to join its security and privacy engineering team to participate in the design, development and implementation of cloud security architecture, strategy and standards, and provide subject matter expertise on security detection and response capabilities. Candidates should have knowledge of cloud security tools, experience using SIEm tools (ideally Splunk) and ability in using EDR or IDS/IPS tools.View the full job description here.

Technical Manager, Financial Crime Business Banking, Monzo, Edinburgh

Monzo’s fincrime team is growing and is looking for aTechnical Manager to protect Monzo and its customers by implementing product, process and typology enhancements. You’ll also be required to provide technical advice to the operations manager and team managers and maintain an overview of financial crime risks. You’ll also be required to support urgent or complex complaints investigations that require financial crime expertise.See more details here.

Full Stack Developer, Starling Bank, London

Starling engineers love building things, learning new technologies and working with others across all areas of the bank to bring brilliant products and features to life. As aFull Stack Developer you’ll work on building the tooling that is used by Starling’s engineers on a daily basis and will need to be comfortable refining the javascript front end as well as tweaking CloudFormation templates. You’ll also be required to design REST apps, code backend services, and develop modern front ends, ideally using React or Redux.Find out more about this role here.

For more opportunities in tech, visit the AltFi Job Board today