What happens when your employment relationship is no longer working for your employer or for you? That could happen any time, forcing you to launch a formal job search. Stay ready and begin before the beginning.
Stanley Davis
We know it’s likely that our jobs will not be forever. When the time comes for a change, be positioned with a “good offense.” Starting now, stay networked, involved and visible in your professional community. Continuously hone your knowledge and expertise. Should circumstances put you at a career crossroads, your preparation will make you more attractive. It will be easier to execute your right path forward.
Certainly, the potential for staff cuts is largely business or industry specific. The situation is not yet as bad as it has been at times in the past, but the trend is not good. Forbes magazine recently reported that “U.S.-based employers announced 172,017 job cuts in February 2025, the highest total for the month since 2009 … It is the highest monthly total since July 2020 … and a 245% increase from the cuts announced one month prior.” Forbes makes the point that, “Those professionals who are most successful in their careers don’t wait for the bad news to come.”
In the processes of cost and staff reductions or “right sizing,” the question of who goes and who stays does not have a uniform answer. Will it be based on the most recent hiring date? Will there be a thoughtful assessment of which employees or groups are not performing well?
Will there be assessments of who will be best suited to the changing organization?
In essence, the determinants could be any of these. Your best asset will be your results, flexibility and a visibly positive attitude. Strong performance will always be in demand. As anyone might be laid off, “anyone” should be pre-positioned for an effective and immediate response to a layoff. In the interim, respond to opportunities that will surface even when you’re not looking. These connections can do wonders for your network.
Actor Wayne Brady observes that, “If you stay ready, you won’t have to get ready.” In launching any job search, assure that all time available is productive. Immediately tap the thoughts and plans you’ve previously considered. Avoid squandering limited and valuable time.
We took a recent opportunity to speak with an accomplished executive who is currently in job search mode herself. Among her observations: “We knew that our industry, and our own organization, were facing problems. When positions, including mine, were discontinued I wasn’t surprised, as I was aware of the pending restructuring. The potential for me to search for a new position moved from a planning abstract to the career reality. I have enough experience that this is not my first time wrestling with this situation. I do know that, with inherent uncertainties, this purgatory is not where I want to be. After a brief bout with denial, a stint with anger focused on how the organization might have avoided the staff reductions, I continue to work my way through the disappointment. I loved my job, and many of my now former co-workers will be lifelong colleagues.
“While I’d like to think that the restructuring decisions could be reversed, I know from the advance assessment and planning that was done, that’s just not a potential,” the executive continued. “Based on the career relationships that I’ve nurtured over time, I had some helpful connections right out of the gate.”
Yes, your current job may not be forever.
If you can now sense the approaching need to begin your job search campaign, begin before the beginning. Be in position for a fast start. Continuously stay networked, involved and visible. Stay up to date in your specialty and on the state of your industry. If circumstances actually do impose the need to look for something else, it will be easier to see what’s ahead when you’re not just peeking at it from behind an eight-ball.
You’ve had a job, and you’ll land a new job. For now, finding that new job is the job. Thereafter, don’t let your new connections or perspectives atrophy. As the natural business cycles brought you here, maybe not for the first time, and you have career runway still in front you, this coming campaign may not be your last.
Stan Davis is a former business executive and the founder of New England-based Standish Executive Search.
