A lot of really talented people lost their jobs recently simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The layoffs at tech companies like Amazon, Meta, and Twitter tell us a few things:
1. Corporations care more about shareholders and risk aversion than they do their own employees
Faced with “possible” losses, large corporations will time and time again lay off the lower level employees at a company, no matter what value they provide to the actual company.
And that is all it takes, when dealing with shareholders or investors, assumed risk in the future.
The average shareholder doesn’t care about the person delivering the product or service. They just want their money.
2. Mismanagement is rampant in corporate America
Why would lay off so many people?
Mismanagement is one answer.
While most of this conversation is targeted at larger corporations, mismanagement of employee hires is a problem at all levels of business.
- Companies need something done quickly, and the people they have cannot get it done in time.
- They hire the people they need to get the job done.
- People do the job.
- Companies do nothing to foresee what growth they will have with those employees after the project and/or do nothing to sustain the growth with the increased number of employees they just hired.
- Companies lay off a number of people once the project ends.
3. Make sure you are working the golden goose
In order to sustain your work at a company, learn what projects are the golden goose, and make sure you play a part in their success.
Until corporations are appropriately punished for mismanaging new employee hires, this is the best way to ensure you don’t lose your job.
Look at company press releases and company earnings reports to learn what products or services are the golden goose, and attach your wagon to those!
4. Set your expectations appropriately
You are hired to do a job for a company.
If things go poorly, there is a chance that you will lose your job, no matter how many years you worked or what your quality of work was.
Set your expectations appropriately.