{"id":346237,"date":"2025-10-31T19:22:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346237\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T19:22:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:22:12","slug":"top-warning-signs-your-company-is-preparing-for-a-layoff-according-to-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346237\/","title":{"rendered":"Top warning signs your company is preparing for a layoff, according to experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid high-profile job cuts<\/a> at major companies like Meta, Amazon<\/a> and Target, many workers are undoubtedly anxious<\/a> about future downsizing.<\/p>\n

According to Jason Walker and Rey Ramirez, co-founders of Thrive HR Consulting, a significant portion of these recent job cuts can be credited to AI.<\/p>\n

“Companies are seeing their ability to be more efficient and use less staff with AI, and so they’re taking the opportunity right now to reduce staff,” Walker says.<\/p>\n

Another reason could be that toward the end of the year, companies “start to look at head count, they start to look at cost, and there’s just general trimming of employees based upon that,” he says.<\/p>\n

From an employee’s perspective, these job cuts may feel sudden, but there are a few signs workers should pay attention to that could indicate a coming layoff, according to Walker, Ramirez and other experts.<\/p>\n

Hiring and spending slow down<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Jalonni Weaver, a high-volume recruiter based in Dallas, the number one portent of an upcoming layoff is a “slowdown in hiring.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0It’s a red flag when a company stops posting new roles, or when roles remain open for months, Weaver says.<\/p>\n

That may signal that the company could be in financial trouble \u2014 and for Weaver, a decrease in recruiting work meant that her own job was in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

A hiring freeze doesn’t necessarily mean that layoffs are imminent, but “it’s never a good sign that you’re doing well financially,” Walker says.<\/p>\n

Similarly, she advises workers to keep an eye out for sharp decreases in company spending. When a company is having money troubles, perks like free snacks and ping-pong tables “go away” she says, and year-end bonuses could shrink or vanish entirely.<\/p>\n

With these changes, “the culture usually shifts,” Weaver says, and “nobody’s really happy.”<\/p>\n

Corporate messaging changes<\/p>\n

Pay attention to what leaders are saying about the future of the business, Ramirez says.<\/p>\n

Phrases like “We need to be more efficient” are potential red flags that the company is looking to cut headcount, according to Ramirez.<\/p>\n

When a company begins to emphasize operations over innovation, “that’s usually a sign that change is coming, and that people will be impacted,” according to Rosie Nestingen, an organizational transformation consultant.<\/p>\n

“If one quarter you’re focused on innovation and impact, and then the next quarter on ‘buckling down,'” that could be a sign of impending layoffs, she says.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of language that starts to [plant] the seeds and set the foundation for what is coming,” she continues.<\/p>\n

People trickle out<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last major sign of impending layoffs is “quiet firing,”<\/a> Weaver says, which she defines as companies “finding ways to push people out, regardless of their performance,” without conducting formal layoffs.<\/p>\n

For example, hourly employees may find that their typical weekly hours have been cut in half, Ramirez says.<\/p>\n

“Employees can’t afford to live on 30 or 40 or 50% less pay, so that almost by design starts to push people out of the organization,” he says.<\/p>\n

RTO mandates can be used as another method to reduce headcount, according to Walker: after working remotely for years, studies show that many employees would rather look for another job<\/a> than return to the office.<\/p>\n

If co-workers and higher-ups start leaving the company of their own accord, it might be a good idea to follow their example, Weaver says.<\/p>\n

They may be aware that the company isn’t doing well, or they could be stifled by a lack of growth opportunities.<\/p>\n

How employees can prepare<\/p>\n

If you notice red flags that could indicate impending layoffs<\/a>, “don’t just ignore it or think ‘it’ll never happen to me,'” Weaver says.<\/p>\n

Her biggest piece of advice for employees is to “always keep your resume up to date,” she says.<\/p>\n

Staying abreast of market trends is key, according to Weaver. She advises workers to peruse job descriptions for similar roles and pay attention to which skills are on the rise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Weaver recommends asking yourself, “What has changed, what are they looking for in newer people, and how can I get that experience in my current role?”<\/p>\n

She also suggests that employees periodically apply to other roles, “even if you are happy at your job,” to make sure that their resumes<\/a> remain competitive.<\/p>\n

Walker has similar advice. “Your resume should be ready to go,” he says. “It should look the best it’s ever looked, and if you’re getting an inkling of the fact that you think you’re going to go, start sending it out in advance, start sending it out right away.”<\/p>\n

In today’s job market, “you’re not going to be successful with the traditional methods,” Walker says.<\/p>\n

Instead of just sending over an application, Walker recommends connecting directly with the hiring manager for the roles you want.<\/p>\n

“The ability to get in front of people more personally is really important right now,” he says.<\/p>\n

Above all, don’t get complacent at your job, Weaver says: “It’s okay to love where you work, but don’t get too comfortable to where you miss signs that things are going on.”<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, businesses are going to do what they need to do for themselves,” she continues.<\/p>\n

Want to level up your AI skills?<\/strong>\u00a0Sign up for Smarter by CNBC Make It’s new online course,\u00a0How To Use AI To Communicate Better At Work<\/a>. Get specific prompts to optimize emails, memos and presentations for tone, context and audience. <\/p>\n

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter<\/a> to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn<\/a> to connect with experts and peers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid high-profile job cuts at major companies like Meta, Amazon and Target, many workers are undoubtedly anxious about…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":346238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7890,64,7891,27498,7889,7895,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-346237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-articles","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-make-it","11":"tag-make-it-work","12":"tag-makeit","13":"tag-sourcetagnamecnbc-us-source","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115470411027858988","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}