One who waits for the ax to fall will surely lose his head (Robert's Rule #10)

[Tweeted 2011-05-06]

One of the most uncomfortable things we face in IT is the layoff, and anyone who's worked in IT for any length of time has felt it.Usually it starts as a rumor that the company is not doing as well as projected and then there are cutbacks in different areas of the budget and eventually, the company starts reducing the number of staff.

In the past, I've been on both sides. I've gone into a company to install a computer system and been met with "you're the one who's going to take our job away" and I've heard "we're cutting back and we have to let you go". It's never comfortable.

Some react to the situation by railing at their (now former) employer and some quietly accept their fate, attempting to say nothing derogatory. In my experience, neither reaction matters much, because everyone expects that those cut will have some negative feelings.

In contrast, actions before reductions appear to matter. In fact, sometimes you can even avoid being the subject of a reduction in force by proactively changing departments or roles. Adjusting your career to new situations isn't earth-shaking advice, but even so, some people tend to settle into a specific role and not want to move forward or even sideways. Such stasis, however, is deadly, because the one who waits for the ax to fall will surely lose his head (Robert's Rule #10).