10 hints you’re about to get your ass fired [Work Sucks]

When someone gets fired, very rarely does it just happen out of the blue with no warning whatsoever.  Usually there’s a period of ramp up to getting the axe, even if your superiors deny it– a breakdown in communication, increased hostility, reworking of departments in odd ways.  So what are the signs that your job may be in danger?  If it happens, you may see it coming and if you do, there might be little you can do about it, but you can always lessen the impact by giving yourself room to start looking for something else and reduce your downtime.  I’ve experienced several on this list, oddly enough all from the same company and my suspicions were correct.  Well, if by suspicions you mean “my boss told me he hated me and thought I was a worthless piece of shit and would be looking to replace me at his earliest convenience”.1. There’s Been a Changing of the GuardYour boss or immediate mentor has left and new blood has taken over, and no matter what you do you fail to win their support or positive feedback. Meanwhile, the CIO loves the new guy. This is never a good sign.I worked at a company once where all of a sudden, everyone in my department was asked to cross-train in other departments “just because we want everyone to be well-rounded”.  Right.  Even when they promoted the department supervisor up and out and stated they wouldn’t be replacing him (leaving the dept without leadership or management), they still insisted they weren’t going to dissolve the department– right up to the day it was dissolved.2. Your Office is Now a Cube, Your Cube Has Been Moved to the PantryDoes everyone else on your level have an office and you’re still in a cube? When they reorganized, did you end up with the office or the cube next to the construction zone, or in the darkest corner of the building? Sure, you can pretend it’s not personal, but it might be just the kind of thing that you’ll understand clearly in hindsight.3. Suddenly, Everything Is in WritingHuman resources requires a long paper trail to ensure your boss did everything by the book before they fired you. Maybe you and your boss used to discuss things over the phone, or you’d chat in his or her office and suddenly, you are receiving only formal e-mails, sometimes just to review the conversation you two have had. You’d be correct to be nervous.When this happened to me, me and my boss never really had good communication, but suddenly ever conversation, every meeting and every directive suddenly came back to me as an email breakdown “just for everyone’s records”.4. Your Team Is Having Meetings Without YouGet the nagging feeling you’re out of the loop? Did one of your co-workers reference a meeting you missed “because you were out that day”, except you haven’t missed a day in months? This may not just be a sign you’ve fallen out of favor with the powers that be, but that your relationship with them has reached a point of no return.5. You’re Being Set Up to FailIf you’re being given undesirable, under-supported projects that nobody could realistically succeed in, it might be time to update your resume. Blowing it on a big or visible project is one of the fastest ways to get fired, and one of the most hassle-free ways for a company to get you out the door.Meanwhile, the great projects—those that you would easily excel in—are going to others.6. You See That They’re Hiring for Your Exact PositionIf your company was hiring another Software Architect at your level, don’t you think you’d know it? So if you find a job listing that sounds alarmingly like your current position, it could be a sign that your company is arming itself with backup for when you’re given the boot. Does this sound paranoid? Just ask all of the bitter people who may have unknowingly trained their replacement.In my case, I was alerted to this fact by the office manager.  One day she sent me an IM saying “I just saw this ad on Craigslist– isn’t this your job?”  And from there out, I got to meet the people who were applying to replace me even as I was being told there was nothing to worry about– even though no one else in the company had the same job title.7. You’ve Been Promoted, but You Handle LessOften called “kicked upstairs,” these types of promotions are common when you’ve been with the company for some time, may not be unpopular and the company has to be careful how they exit you. Instead of firing you, you’re given a fancy-sounding title that means little because the role is away from the company’s central line of business.”This doesn’t happen in young companies much, but companies that are older where a lot of people have been promoted to their level of incompetence. There are certain positions that you can sort of slide people into that are career holding positions until they may retire or choose to do other things.”8. You’re Unpopular at WorkThink it’s no big deal that you and your boss don’t get along? Think again. You’re on the wrong side of that power relationship to have the last word. A manager can send an employee they don’t like packing. If you don’t have a lot of friends in the office, it can be even easier, as there will be no pushback from remaining employees if your position is cut first in a “downsizing.”I should have known at my last job that I wouldn’t last long considering my boss made it clear that he didn’t like me from day one and he only hired me because everyone else was pressuring him to.  That was a bad sign from the start that we were never able to work together.9. Your Company Has Been SoldThere are few better known harbingers of incoming walking papers than your company being acquired by another one. It’s rare that the company doing the purchasing is interested in the human capital of a company—they’re after the customers and the products. Just ask the 300 DoubleClick employees, who gained the title on April 2 of being the largest-ever group laid off from Google.10. You’ve Been Asked to Reapply for Your JobOne of the most classic corporate downsizing techniques is to force employees to reapply for the jobs they already have. Consultants are often called in to assess whether the worker is truly creating value for their company in their current roles, a thinly-veiled attempt to reduce headcount.Via: eWeek