Signs you are about to be made redundant, and what to do while you are still paid

Something does not feel quite right at work, but you cannot put your finger on what it is.

It is not always just one thing. It could be:

• A backfill for someone who left does not get approved.
• Your project is "paused for now" and nobody gives you a date.
• You get moved to "special projects".
• You move under a new head, and your old one stops appearing in meetings.
• Next year's budget gets discussed without you in the room.
• Your manager goes vague on anything beyond the next quarter.

None of these means you are on a list.

What they do mean is that the ground is moving. That is your moment to start working out what you would do, while the pay is still coming in.

The call is a surprise. The restructure rarely is.

Try this today: count how many of those six you have seen in the last three months. If it is two or more, start building options this week.

A good year for your company is not a good year for your job

Companies announce job cuts in the same breath as record profits. Good performance does not make you safe.

I was in technology HR at Credit Suisse, then technology reward at UBS during the integration. The people who came out of it best were the ones who had already decided what they wanted next, before somebody else decided it for them.

Waiting for a layoff to make the call is still letting someone else make it.

If your long-term plan is resting on not being on that list, you need a stronger plan.

Two things to write down this week

Over your years of work you have built skills that are valuable outside your company. Start here:

1. Write down one problem you have solved inside the company that somebody outside it would pay to have solved. This could be consulting, coaching, fractional work, speaking, lecturing, writing a book and more.
2. Then write down the names of three people who could buy it, and ask them, within what your contract allows.

I volunteered for redundancy. What I had not done was build one thing on the outside first, so I left in 2025 with no clients and started from zero. I did not build optionality until I needed it.

So use the weeks while you still have them.

If your role went tomorrow, what would you do? A new role in a competitive market, or start building your own business? If you want a starting point, my free diagnostic works out what people would pay you for from your own history.