I try to work under the radar and avoid being perceived as a troublemaker by the manager. What do you do to reduce the likelihood of ending up on the cut list, if that's even possible? What is your strategy to avoid losing your job?
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When I die one day, no one will be saying what a great worker I was. No one at work will even care. If I die at work, the response would be, "next one up". This being the case, why would I make my job the most important thing in my life? God and family come first. This being said, I work humbly; I do not seek recognition; and I do my job well. When I get laid off, I go to the next company. I lather, rinse, and repeat.
I work above the radar so my worth is apparent.
“ What will you be saying when you're the one being shown the door?“
I won’t be so arrogant as to convince myself that it’s “ it's all simply a matter of odds and random selection”.
Because it’s not. Which is why I’m still here.
And I’m not so arrogant to think my time won’t come. When it does I will be ready for it.
Nothing can save you.
I used to have an AVP that sent out 100’s of emails to employees on Sunday evening. I would shoot back answers to everyone of mine as they came to me. He finally slowed down as I continued to reply.
@hca+1lh9BKY4 You’re ignorant of the process because you have never sat at that table. Tell yourself whatever makes you feel comfortable. Blame others or your supervisor. It doesn’t matter either way… The post is the strategy on how not to get laid off. Sometimes the cuts are deep enough it is the it does involve some hard workers. However, when the cut is one or two, it’s usually the people that everyone says, “I saw that coming”
@uzq+1lh9BKY4: Sure thing, sparky.
What will you be saying when you're the one being shown the door?
Anyone who believes that hard work, dedication, loyalty, and performance will guarantee employment is the dullard, and will eventually find themselves wondering what happened.
“ I asked our supervisor, associate director, director, and VP to explain how the decision was made regarding who was released but never got any answer.
So, plan whatever strategy you like to try and keep yourself safe, but in the end, it's all simply a matter of odds and random selection”
You can tell yourself whatever helps you sleep at night.
If you really believe it’s completely random, you’re a bit of a dullard.
And that’s probably why you didn’t make the cut.
Your chain of command isn’t going to tell you that. They don’t have to, and probably didn’t want to have an uncomfortable conversation.
Do your job better than your peers and don’t be a pain in the a-s. When your boss asks you to do something, don’t complain. If you don’t do it, he or she will just give it to someone else and then you will move further down the list of ranking because your usefulness is less than your peers. You may think your AM is a du----s, but regardless of what you think, when he or she does the ranking, they are thinking about who will be able to get the work done when there are less people around. If you are not a person that’s presence is noticed when your gone, then you’re a non-essential employee. Also, if your not In charge of something or you take an extended leave for something like PPL, that also puts you in the non-essential bucket.
Why would you want to survive this cesspool? I'd assume take my money and move on to something better.
Not sure what the hype is about keeping your boss happy. I get a new supervisor every 2 years with AT&T, that has been the norm, sometimes less. I wouldn't worry about keeping him/her too happy. I've had 6 supervisors since 2018, do the math! They come and go depending on your business unit, but as I see it, who really cares. When it comes to them doing my PA, all they do is pretty much cut/paste from the previous PA since they don't really know your work first hand! Bottom line, don't fret, things change within AT&T at the speed of light and you can't control that!
I just try to keep my boss’s job as easy as possible and keep any of my work from reaching him. Basically do my job with 100% autonomy with no problems and don’t contact him unless it’s absolutely necessary.
That’s generally worked throughout my career except for one id--t that wanted constant reassurance that I was doing my job even though I’d been doing it just fine for many years before he showed up. Luckily he didn’t last too long.
Strive to be a top performer and someone your boss can depend on to get things done. That doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way all the time, but volunteering for things, taking on that little extra, helping out people on your team. It really doesn’t take a whole lot. Flying under the radar is what puts you at risk.
best strategy to survive is to just leave
“I worked super hard to become an expert in an area that AT&T really needs expertise in, and is essential for the future growth of the company.”
Sounds like from your review it’s not really what your mgr wants or needs you to work on even tho according to you it’s in T’s best interest. Time to look out for your own best interest, which might be at another company, maybe even better pay.
If survival and more $ are important to you, all other things being equal (which may or may not be the case):
- Fly under the radar if you are a weak performer, have limited skills, are unmotivated, are high maintenance, etc. It's probably in your best interest for your boss's boss not to know much about you.
- Fly above the radar if you are a strong performer, have value-add skills, are motivated, are low maintenance, etc. You want your boss's boss, boss's peers, etc. to know you.
I worked super hard to become an expert in an area that AT&T really needs expertise in, and is essential for the future growth of the company. My peers are L3s who constantly seek my advice and guidance. I am an L2. However, I received a very lukewarm performance review despite these efforts , despite active volunteering to provide assistance, and despite my actual reputation in working on important projects and teams. I expect to be on the lay off list. I am mentally and otherwise prepared. It will be a real loss for AT&T because my expertise is highly desirable in the industry. I feel that I am doing the right things for myself and for the teams I work with. Too bad it's not seen by my management. But then again, it will be their loss and I will land on my feet. Good luck to you.
Your best chance is to make yourself someone your mgr is willing to fight for during the rankings phone calls. A SME, a right-hand, someone who never asks for anything (you can afford that fancy headset!).
There is no way to hide. Think of the layoffs in terms of the German V2 rockets in Gravity's Rainbow: Everyone knows they are launched and aimed at London, but nobody knows for certain where they will fall or what buildings they will hit.
It's the same with layoffs at T. While one would like to think there is some sort of strategy or logic to the cuts, the only thing people know for certain is which groups will be targeted, but which employees are hit is almost random.
Case in point: I was part of the group hit in the Oct 2020 layoffs. We all know that T took aim at our department (we did a lot of DirecTV support), but the four of us (out of 16) who were hit were random in all aspects:
- Two men and two women, one was young (late 20's), two of us were middle (35 - 45) and one was over 50.
- All of us had great performance reviews
- Among the four of us we had collectively: earned five nanodegrees, one Service Excellence Award winner, two with significant T-Space bade accomplishments
- Tenure ranging from under two years to over 20 years
Nobody who was let go was underperforming, and those that survived weren't exceptional compared to the rest of us.
I asked our supervisor, associate director, director, and VP to explain how the decision was made regarding who was released but never got any answer.
So, plan whatever strategy you like to try and keep yourself safe, but in the end, it's all simply a matter of odds and random selection.
Learn your job without bugging your AM or saying “I don’t know how to do that”. Your AM doesn’t care or want to hear you don’t know something. Get in the dam APEX documents and learn that sh-t on your own. Don’t complain when your boss asks you to do something. Take the challenge and be thankful you got a job. The people that got cut were mostly folks that thought no one was watching what they were doing. But your AM does watch and won’t say anything because of situations like this. Handle your area of responsibility. Be productive and you will make your self someone your boss leans on for help. That’s kind of person you want to be to stick around. Don’t be a problem or a person that says “I don’t know if I can do that”. Take every opportunity that comes your way so you can be more valuable.
You’ve got the right idea. Make your boss’s job easier, not harder. It sounds simplistic but it really is that simple.
And this doesn’t mean just brown nosing. It means stepping up and volunteering to run lead on something for them. And do it well.
I am confident that every single person on my team that was just shown the door made the boss’s job harder, not easier. MIA from calls. Missing deadlines, poor administrative housekeeping, not keeping project tracking updated.
Though true that the workload will increase for those remaining with them gone, in many ways it won’t be too bad. Because they weren’t really pulling their weight anyway. And now you don’t have to waste the time trying to find them, cover for them to try and get updates on status that they probably didn’t have anyway.
Stay off the radar!
LWD courses and nanodegrees are the way to go.
Not sure about your position, but when the manager needs a SME from your group, volunteer. Spend the time it takes to learn the subject and deliver something to impress everyone. Every area manager I've had over the years loves this kind of thing, and then you can host a call or do an in person presentation. Something like a new technology or product is being rolled out. Volunteer to be the one to learn it first and present your findings to your team