I’m not talking about your job description when you were hired. Hopefully, you already understand what your primary roles and responsibilities are. I’m talking about the kind of behavior you should exemplify if you want to stay employed when the economy sucks. Of course, you should continue to deliver on projects and assignments—this is a no-brainer.
Now is probably not the time to ask for more money or seek out a promotion. I’m always amazed to see colleagues continually push for more money, year after year, even when the company is doing poorly. I used to have an employee who was by far the worst worker in the office. Every year he would ask me about the possibility of moving up during his performance evaluation despite the fact that I made it very clear that I viewed his work performance as subpar. He was relentless in his pursuit, and it only irritated me more and more. When restructuring occurred, I took the opportunity to reassign this person because of disillusionment and constant nagging. Don’t be this person. Be the employee your boss likes.
You should also try and stay positive in the workplace. Too many people get negative and it only hurts their careers. Almost everyone will feel somewhat anxious, but it’s how you handle that anxiety that will separate you from the rest of the herd. We all know who the office complainer is, and during an economic downturn, the boss will always favor getting rid of this person. This may not be possible because of seniority or some other ludicrous HR policy, but trust me, the boss would prefer to let this person go if at all possible.
When layoffs do occur, I also see too many employees get affected by the bad news. You shouldn’t be throwing a party, but don’t be so naïve to think that you can’t be let go. I had one of the best experiences in my working career when the executives basically decided to fire/transfer most of the people in my department. They eliminated a lot of dead weight, and in the end, I think the company was better for it. I also firmly believed that I could be let go at any time and had been interviewing with several other companies just in case. In the end, I was able to keep my position. Part of this was due to the fact that I remained fairly positive and continued to work diligently.
One other item that can help you stay focused and positive is to have a backup plan. Both my wife and I work and make very similar salaries. If one us were to be fired, the other could easily cover all of the bills. If both of us were fired, we have enough in savings to go a couple of years (this money is not in our retirement accounts, but an emergency fund that is separate from our other finances). You should also be looking for other positions if you are at all concerned about being laid off. I always keep my resume updated and have no qualms in sending it out discreetly when I think trouble could be on the horizon. We don’t have luxury cars, though most in our economic bracket do; instead, we have peace of mind.