Ah, it’s that time again… when employers use the threat of a looming recession to make thinly veiled comments about how we should all be so darn grateful just to have a job.
It started with the greatest hits:
“Salaries are over inflated. It’s not sustainable.”
“We can’t afford raises, COLA, or to continue matching your 3% retirement contribution.”
“Things are going to get bad but we can come together as a team to keep moving forward.”
Then, the lesser known:
“We had to reduce staff by 20%, but everyone was given severance and recruiting/job-hunting assistance.”
Which a few weeks later became this bop..
“Thank you for absorbing your former employees work. We had to reduce staff by another 20%, and we no longer can provide severance, but we will help with recruiting/job-hunting as much as we can.”
To then, two weeks later, morphed into my personal favorite:
“We had another staff reduction to half of our previous seats. You’re lucky to be here—because we value you. There will be no severance or job-hunting assistance. Please use this prepared statement from our former HR person (who we let go) and encourage former employees not to write mean things about us on Glassdoor.”
Don’t let companies take advantage of your loyalty. They DO NOT reward it. Look for new opportunities and put yourself first.