No job in the world, except maybe the papacy, lasts forever, and there are always signs when it’s about to end. What those signs are are more recognizable than you think, and it’s usually a matter of choosing to see them or not.
1. Rumors
Not just the name of a Fleetwood Mac album, rumors have a way of containing the truth somewhere within. And with workplaces being generally gossipy locales, it’s not hard to let a day pass without hearing something of semi-substance. This doesn’t mean that every bit of news is God’s honest truth, but that the more an item is repeated the same way, the likelier it is there’s truth to it.
2. Light Workload
If you’re used to staying an hour later at work everyday because of a combination of heavy work and a desire to go the extra mile but now find yourself exiting the front doors at 5pm each day, that’s definitely a sign. While it could very well be a coincidence or light slump, it probably means that management has less confidence in your abilities than before, and don’t trust you with important documents.
3. Less Attention to Mistakes
Everybody screws up; there’s no getting around that. And when mistakes happen, good managers address them right away so as to avoid them in the future. But when you notice that your mistakes--or one giant mistake--goes by without seemingly any notice, it’s an indication that management has stopped caring about your performance.
4. File Sharing
Usually, an employee is given a set of tasks to perform and instructed how to generally carry them out. Once they’re done, they have to share the results and then get assigned a new set of tasks. But if you find yourself being asked to share your work as it’s in progress, management is probably anticipating how to fill the void you’ll create pretty soon.
5. Downturned Economy
Sometimes, being phased out has nothing to do with you or your performance, but how the economy and your particular industry is doing. Just think back to the tourism industry after 9/11: people weren’t flying as much as usual, and airline and hotel employees suddenly found themselves scrambling. The economy has dips and dives that make steady employment far from a sure thing, and it’ll continue to be that way for just about every job, with the exception of perhaps death- and tax-related industries.
There are almost always visible signs that you’re being phased out of a job, but the key is whether you know enough to recognize them. It might not always be easy to face up to the fact that you’re about to made redundant, but giving yourself as much advance notice of the inevitable can make the process more palatable to handle.