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3 Unexpected Signals Employers Send Before They Fire You

William Shakespeare
Release: 2025-02-17 12:24:13
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3 Unexpected Signals Employers Send Before They Fire You

3 Unexpected Signals Employers Send Before They Fire You

Are you scared?

Many web developers are worried about losing their jobs, and this sense of fear is always lurking in their minds.

Will I be the next one?

Most employers are seen as lack of loyalty. They're happy to let you go once the situation requires it. And this feels like a betrayal.

Key Points

  • The relationship between employers and employees, especially in the tech industry, is often full of distrust and lack of loyalty, with both parties focusing on maximizing their own value.
  • There are three key signals that the employer may be preparing to fire employees: the employee is not a member of the "internal circle" or is not accepted by the team; the employee is unaware of the company's sales, growth and profit status; the company lacks unique selling points or clear missions .
  • Being a member of the “internal circle” is crucial to the success of employees because it allows them to obtain information and resources and be able to show their value to the company.
  • Understanding the company's sales and marketing strategies and financial status can give employees insight into potential job safety issues and deliver results that benefit the company.
  • If a company lacks a unique selling point or a clear mission, it may struggle to retain customers and employees, thus jeopardizing jobs.
  • Despite these signals, realizing potential unemployment is not guaranteed to be preventable, but it does allow employees to prepare and potentially find new jobs, help employers, or start their own business.

This is not betrayal for employers

This is just business.

At least, this is what we are expected to believe. Dig deeper and we will find employers and developers...

  1. Distrust each other. It is common for developers and employers to distrust each other from the beginning. The focus of salary negotiations is to extract as much value as possible from the other party while minimizing returns.
  2. Seldom establish stable relationships. Employee/employer relationship is not safe. Say the wrong thing, or say no to your boss, you may lose your career.
  3. Short-sighted. Most of the time, developers and employers focus on themselves— because both parties feel they have to do it.
  4. Labor loyalty. For most people, long-term and medium-term employment is a thing of the past. Some people believe that long-term loyalty will affect your value in the market.
But this is not just a business...

Sometimes your employer just wants to get rid of you

Maybe you lost the office politics game. It may be that your employer is about to lose a major client, forcing them to lay off employees. Maybe something went wrong, and you were the scapegoat. Whatever the reason, your employer may feel it is necessary to get rid of you.

What does this mean for you as a developer? At some stage of your career, you will be fired, laid off, demoted, or forced to “resign voluntarily.”

Most developers did not expect this.

Is this possible? Is it possible to find warning signs that you are about to lose your job in advance?

Absolutely possible.

I'm not talking about obvious signs - such as your boss' announcement of layoffs, or your company's poor management, etc.

Waiting for these signs means it's too late. I'm talking about signs lurking in the background.

You are about to be fired. If...the signs are there

You know where to find it. The usual signs are not that helpful, because is usually too late. If you are waiting...

    Management announces layoffs
  • Your boss mentions that they have lost a major contract
  • Your unpredictable workload will solve your own problem
… When the announcement is released, you will not have time to take action. You need a different set of tools. These tools require (a) to give you enough time to act, (b) to be a reliable predictor, and (c) to give you choices. There is one more thing. These signals require three things:

    Some digging (don't worry, it's very simple)
  1. Understand the information you dug
  2. Understand these signals are about the business, not about you.
Let's look at the first signal.

Signal #1: You are not a member of the internal circle

A meta-analysis conducted by Talya Bauer et al. found that feeling of social acceptance is a key factor in employee success.

If you belong to this group, you will stay.

More importantly, they make the companies they serve more successful. But why did things develop like this? Because being a member of the group allows everyone to obtain more information and resources.

You share the information and resources you have with other members of the team, and they (your colleagues and company) will share with you.

This may seem trivial, but it is

crucial. It's crucial because it's the only way you can show your value. Reddit user FiletOfFish1066 has just been fired for his programming job by a large tech company. He was hired for six years and earned $95,000 a year. What reward did he bring to his employer? Nothing.

I have done nothing at work since about six years ago. I'm not kidding. I work 40 hours a week, play League of Legends in my office, browse Reddit, and do whatever I want. I probably only did 50 hours of real work over the last six years. So basically nothing was done. And no one really cares. The tests were all run successfully. I promise you that I don't have friends at work either, so no one talks to me except my boss and the developers of the software I occasionally test for.

Amazingly, the developer actually gave his employer an incredible gift.

He found a way to fully automate his work. Suppose his department has only 10 to 20 people. This means he could have saved his employer $1,000,000 to $19,000,000 per year .

This is the leverage he can use to bargain for a raise. If his employer refuses, he can bring the information to another company or start his own business.

So, what is the lesson here?

If you are a developer who is not a group or is not accepted by society, this is a signal that you can be replaced. When disaster strikes, you will be the first person to be fired.

Signal #2: Blindness in sales, growth and profits

Generally speaking, developers despise marketers and salespeople. We don't trust them because they usually don't know much about technology. Naturally, this means that many of them will lie to achieve their purpose. They will make a deal by any means.

This makes sense, right?

Our contempt for sales and marketers is based on their behavior, which can be quite awful.

The problem is here.

Your salary comes from sales and marketing. This is how you measure your employer’s health. Are they losing money? Is the market shrinking? Are they in debt?

If you want to keep your job, you need to understand sales and marketing—that is, how your company sells and markets.

The vast majority of companies have some very bad habits when it comes to sales and marketing. These bad habits make it impossible to achieve work security.

These bad habits can cause business disasters that lead to unemployment—whether it is furlough, firing or layoffs. OK What kind of habits are there?

  • Sales/revenues have declined for two consecutive years. This may be caused by a variety of factors. Automation in dying industries like newspapers, taxi and delivery industries, or poorly managed companies like Kodak, they created digital cameras in 1975, but never made it come out.
  • No one knows where profit com comes from. Remember K-Mart? No one — employees, management or even suppliers — knows which products are profitable. So it's no surprise that they are heading for collapse and it's not surprising that they keep laying off employees. Employees make excellent decisions when they know which products have the highest profit margins and perform best for the company.
  • The sales team focuses on quantity rather than profit. Experts tell us, “Sales solve everything.” But that's not the case. If there is profit , the remaining money will be left in the end, and sales can solve everything. This is a problem because sales usually incur expenses. When profits are small or no, there is no money to pay employees, which means furloughs, firings and layoffs will follow.
  • Sales/revenue is 2 times net profit. Disasters are inevitable—economic recession, investor funds exhausted, industry decline. When there is profit, you have a job, and when these disasters come, there is no money to pay you. Businesses either (a) fire as many employees as possible, or (b) keep all employees in office and then die slowly and painfully.
  • Did you see the problem?

Any problem that harms your employer's finances will ultimately harm you.

If you deliver results – money, connections, resources, time – you are more likely to survive the inevitable storm. But most employees won’t work hard to create transformative changes for their employers. So, they will lose their jobs.

Signal #3: Your company is not specific nor unique

Consider the company you work for. What makes it unique?

Do you know? Take some time to view your company's website, employee manuals, advertisements, brochures, etc. These documents should tell you in very specific terms what your company is best at doing.

You should be able to:

Find something specific and valuable (for customers)

Determine what you and your company are concerned about.

    The following are some examples.
  1. Let's start with FedEx. FedEx is unique. When their competitors did not offer overnight delivery, they provided it. They guaranteed this and built their entire company around that commitment.
  2. FedEx: When it absolutely has to be delivered overnight

Chocolate is chocolate. Can't make it unique, right?

M&M's: melts in the mouth, does not stick to hands

What about ordinary things like pizza?

Domestico: Fresh and hot pizza will be served within 30 minutes, otherwise it will be free.

These are advertisements.

Advertisements are annoying, but they are also how you get paid. Each of these companies creates a concrete and very unique idea that focuses on one goal.

The following are some others.

  • Google’s mission is to organize global information and make it universally accessible and accessible.
  • Amazon: Our vision is to be the most customer-centric company on the planet; build a place where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online.
  • Apple designs Mac, the world's best personal computer, as well as macOS, iLife, iWork and professional software.

What about some bad examples?

  • Xerox: Documentation company (a law firm or paper mill?)
  • Kodak: "Share the moment. Share life." (What does this mean?)
  • Yahoo: "In the past 21 years, Yahoo has 23 missions."

If your company relies on ambiguous general statements such as "top quality" or "satisfaction guarantee", then you are in trouble.

Why?

Because there is no compelling reason for clients to choose your employer. There is no focus or clarity, so you can't do what you can.

This means you are waiting for a trigger.

It could be an economic recession, an industry recession, a loss of a contract - anything. When an inevitable disaster strikes your employer, they will pass on the losses to you; they will sacrifice you so that they can survive.

These signals do not necessarily mean you will be fired Maybe some people were fired, while others didn't. It's all really up to luck, right?

Actually, not.

These signals are canaries in the coal mine. They are catastrophes that inevitably lead to disasters. You have a lot of time, of course. But it's hard to tell when it's too late.

As we saw at Yahoo, the signs are there-if you know where to look.

This can be frustrating.

There doesn't seem to be a way to keep your job and survive. This is not the case.

Seeing these signals means you don't have to suffer.

Awareness will give you choices. You can use your time to find another job. You can speak up boldly and do your best to help your employer. You can give yourself time to start your side job.

There are many things to do. Even if you do everything right, you may still lose your job. Consciousness does not mean you are immune. This means you are able to choose the result you want.

Sometimes employers just want to get rid of you

But there is no need to be afraid.

You used to be Like most web developers, they often worry about losing their jobs. This fear always exists, lurking deep in your mind until you realize the truth.

It doesn't matter whether you are next.

When you see these signals, you can be free from fear and from bad situations. When the situation requires it, the employer is happy to let you go. These signals give you power. They give you time.

Use these signals to change your situation, or leave on your own terms when you are ready. Use them wisely and you will find that you are no longer afraid.


Want to learn more about employment and salary? Please check the following link:

  • Salary Negotiation Guide for Software Developers
  • How to find a development job without experience
  • 10 Popular Technical Skills That Don't Need to Coding
  • The best programming language by job needs and salary
  • 11 high-paying remote jobs in 2016
  • Five simple strategies to double your salary
  • How to retain employees and avoid employee turnover
  • How to negotiate higher rates with freelancers

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Frequently Asked Questions about Unexpected Dismissal Signals Sent by Employers (FAQ)

What are some subtle signs that an employer may be planning to fire employees?

There are some subtle signs that employers may be planning to fire employees. These signs include sudden changes in employers’ attitudes towards employees, such as avoiding eye contact, excluding employees from important meetings, or assigning them less challenging tasks. Employers may also start documenting employee errors or bad performances, which can be used as evidence of dismissal.

How do employees protect themselves if they suspect they are about to be fired?

If employees suspect they are about to be fired, they should start recording their job performance and any seemingly abnormal or unfair interactions with their employer. They should also consult attorneys or union representatives to understand their rights and possible legal recourse.

Can employers fire employees without any warning?

In most cases, employers do not need to issue warnings before firing employees. However, some state laws require employers to provide a certain amount of notice or severance payment. It is also important to note that firing employees for discrimination is illegal under federal law.

What should employees do if they think they have been fired incorrectly?

If employees think they have been fired incorrectly, they should consult with a lawyer or union representative to explore their legal options. They may be able to file a lawsuit against their employer for false firing, discrimination or violation of labor laws.

How do employees deal with the fear of being fired?

The fear of being fired can be tense and overwhelming. However, employees must be calm and focused. They should continue to do their best to perform their duties and avoid conflicts with their employers. They should also seek support from colleagues, friends and family.

Can employers use intimidation tactics to force employees to resign?

While it is illegal for employers to use intimidation tactics to force employees to resign, some employers may adopt such a strategy to avoid paying severance payments or unemployment benefits. If employees feel they are suffering from this strategy, they should record the incident and consult with a lawyer or union representative.

What are some signs of employers trying to intimidate employees to resign?

Signs of employers trying to intimidate employees to resign include creating a hostile work environment, assigning impossible tasks to employees or constantly criticizing employees' performance. Employers may also begin excluding employees from important meetings or decision-making processes.

How do employees prove that they were fired for discrimination?

Prove discrimination can be challenging, but not impossible. Employees are required to provide evidence that they are treated differently from other employees due to their race, gender, age, disability, or other protected characteristics. This may include email, text messages or witness testimony.

Can employers fire employees for refusing to work for fear of COVID-19?

The answer to this question depends on the specific situation and local laws. Generally speaking, employers are obliged to provide a safe and healthy working environment. If employees refuse to work due to reasonable fear of getting COVID-19, they may be protected by occupational safety and health laws.

What should employees do if they are afraid of going to work due to COVID-19?

If employees are afraid to go to work due to COVID-19, they should explain their concerns to their employers. They may be able to arrange remote work or other accommodation. They should also consult attorneys or union representatives to understand their rights.

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