How to actively stay employed post-COVID when more layoffs are coming (Compete on value, not on price)
The pandemic has forced many organisations to conserve their cash by cutting cost. The downgrade of future revenue growth is a great opportunity for many organisations to prune back unwanted or unproductive growth, to get rid of people they don’t want, and to get rid of non-essential services and projects. They do so even when they have cash in their bank accounts or are doing well.
More layoffs to come for the employed
Do not assume that things will get better. Many organisations are likely to contract and downsize to remain profitable. They want to conserve cash and to position themselves for more uncertainties.
A BCG survey of CFOs tells a bleak picture, as shown below.
Lower revenue growth forecast
Many businesses have thrown out their pre-pandemic revenue forecast and budgets. They are waiting for their actual revenue and financial figures for April and May to come in.
In a BCG survey of business leaders, almost half said that they expect their profits to decline by more than 20%. It is concerning to read that 90% are planning organisation-wide cost-reduction programs.
Many organisations will be cutting payroll cost to match lower revenue figures and growth forecast due to economic uncertainties. They just don’t know how much money they are going to burn through.
Unprofitable projects and employees
Organisations will be evaluating all parts of their operations. They will determine whether projects and employees are “going to make us money” or “save us money”.
Corporate executives are going to ruthlessly look at every expense item in every department. Salaries paid to every worker will be scrutinised to determine what there is a return in investment.
The key question organisations will ask — “Is this person, team, or project contributing enough value to our bottom line to justify their cost?”
If not, we have to get rid of them!
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If you are an employee, ask the following
What’s your value to the organisation?
Are you a must-have, nice to have, or can do without?
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Other cost-cutting questions that corporate executives will be asking are:
- What are the essential services or projects that are key to the organisation’s survival or business model? Do we need to keep them right now?
- What are nice-to-have non-value adding services or projects that can be eliminated now to save us money?
- Who are the non-essential or non-critical workers that we can get rid now to save us money? The reality is that there will be workers on the payroll who can be pruned in this critical situation. Their jobs can be redistributed to others.
Ultimately, the cost-cutting exercise is about getting rid of the most expensive non-essential service, project or worker where there is a lower return in investment.
Herd mentality
When the future is uncertain and other organisations are also reducing expenses and laying off people, many will do the same. The herd mentality will creep in.
There is no social stigma attached when other organisations are laying off people. The public will not be surprised or critical, even if the organisation is cashed up.
Freeing up cash for new value-added acquisitions
When there is a crisis, there are opportunities. There will be opportunities for cashed-up organisations to acquire new businesses, new innovations or even new projects at much lower prices or at the fraction of the cost required to build them. There will be new start-ups with new potential.
In a BCG survey of investors, 88% said that they want CEOs to focus on building capabilities to create advantage, drive future growth, and be better positioned for winning the future.
Organisations can’t grow their businesses when their cash is tied up in non-essential services, projects and people that aren’t providing much tangible future returns. It’s purely a business or investment decision. There is nothing employees can do. It is just how it is.
It comes down to freeing up cash now so that organisations can take advantage of acquiring opportunities that will make their business bigger, better or stronger in the future.
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The freelance economy has shown an impressive growth
According to a 2019 Upwork research, 57 million Americans, or 35% of the U.S. workforce freelance. This is an increase of 4 million freelancers since 2014. For the first time, many freelancers have said that this is their long-term career choice.
In the UK, there is a 31% annual rise in people looking to go freelance in 2018.
In a post-pandemic world, many more organisations are likely to access freelancers both for cost efficiency and to supplement critical skill sets.
Without a doubt, freelancing will enable a more cost and time-efficient approach to supplementing or adding critical technical skills. But, beyond cost efficiency, freelancing makes it possible to attract world-class talent that would be unavailable to most organisations on a full-time basis.
With high unemployment in many countries, many unemployed workers will be turning to freelance work to support themselves.
As an employee, here’s what you can do now
Never assume that you will not be laid off. No one is immune from organisational restructures and down-sizing.
If you have a job now, it’s time to self-evaluate. Take proactive action to prepare yourself for any potential layoffs that may be on the horizon.
We are living in uncertain times. Businesses, big and small, will try to conserve their cash as much as they can. When they restructure or downsize just to survive, more jobs will be eliminated.
Even if your manager says that you have been a star performer since joining the organisation, layoff decisions are made higher up the management chain. These decisions are made quickly. They are made outside the hands of your manager.
Be prepared. Approach the future as if you are going to be laid off. By doing so, there is a sense of urgency. It avoids being complacent. It creates a bit of anxiety, even fear, for you to take proactive action now.
Many workers can have their heads in the sand. More so if they have been working in one organisation for a long time. Or they assume that their jobs are secure because of their tenure.
No employer will guarantee anyone their job security even if you have been the best performer during pre-pandemic times. This applies to big and small organisations including government departments and agencies.
Workers don’t plan to be without a job, but they fail to plan and secure their jobs for the inevitable. When you expect more layoffs to come, it will put you in a different frame of mind to do something about it now.
It is, therefore, a good time to get your ducks in a row.
More importantly, it is a good time to change your old paradigm or mindset. Embrace the contemporary paradigm of finding and securing your job!
Staying employed is a strategy game
The contemporary employee paradigm that requires you to strategically do the following:
- Develop a career growth strategy that is intentional. It should take into account your identity and personal circumstances.
- Know what you want to be known for based on your identity and unique value proposition to employers.
- Optimise your value proposition using relevant keywords in your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- Building your professional brand by constantly marketing and promoting yourself and your work to your network and employers.
- Running a business of one where you provide services in return for a payment in the form of a salary or wage.
- Targeting employers where you are emotionally connected to. These are dream job employers where you want to contribute your unique skills and experience.
- Building professional relationships with people at these preferred employers, both off and online.
- Networking your way into your dream job by going around the dreaded application tracking system (ATS). Avoid the spraying and praying method of online job applications.
- Serving people in your networks by giving them value. Indirectly tell them to remember you.
- Curating and sharing relevant information on social media platforms, etc. When you know more about your contacts, you will know what they are interested in.
- Continuously reading, upskilling and updating your knowledge. This is where lifelong learning comes in. You can’t serve people and curate and share relevant information if you have nothing to give.
Make yourself indispensable by specialising and branding
Can your work be done by someone else in your organisation?
If so, then your job is not secure.
When someone else can do your job at a much lower cost, or at a much faster rate or pace than you, then it is time to be looking out for new job opportunities. When you are just a commodity competing on price rather than value, there will not be any job security. This is why older workers, who feel entitled, cry out age discrimination!
You must, therefore, focus on a particular niche or specialisation for job security. You need to be able to solve specific problems or eliminate specific pain points to be valuable or indispensable to an employer.
You must also be comfortable marketing or branding yourself to prospective buyers (employers) who are willing to pay you for the value you are able to create for them or the problem you are going to solve for them.
By shifting the focus from an entitled mentality to value creation (return in investment) mentality, employees can gain a different perspective.
This is vitally important when unemployment rates are above 20% for many economies.
There are now more job seekers. The complexity of technology and work are ever-increasing exponentially. Employers are seeking more skilled workers, technical and non-technical, who are specialised in particular niches to solve specialised problems. Having deep knowledge in a particular area will be your key to future successes to remain employable and in employment.
You need to be relevant to your employer’s business model, either by making or saving money. It is creating an essential job profile that your employer will die for.
Here’s the thing. Everyone is good at something. Focus on those unique skills. Your unique value contribution will differentiate you from the crowd. This will enable you to compete on value, not on price!
Creating a compelling career narrative
Your career narrative is your personal story of how previous jobs, experiences and professional life have shaped you into who you are now. It describes how you have acquired key skills, what choices you made in the past, the kind of work you will do for the employer and what value you will specifically create with your experiences.
It is a compelling human story that emotionally connects all the dots in your working life. It also supports and aligns with your vision, values and brand, purpose in life, and identity as a human being.
Your cover letter, resume and LinkedIn profile sets out a personal compelling and powerful career narrative. The cover letter documents your human story. It will be based on the value you will create through your specialisation. It is linked to your ideal dream job employers where you have developed an emotional connection with through the usage of their products, services or brand.
If you have a job right now, target ideal employers that you want to work for, even if you love your current job. These could be your next dream job!
If you have been laid off or are currently unemployed, draw up a list of ideal employers that you would like to work for. This is part of your career growth strategy.
The spray and pray method of online job hunting will not work in the current situation. There is mass unemployment in the job market. It is saturated with experienced and skilled job seekers.
Your emotional connection will provide the required competitive edge over other job seekers. It will increase the sense of purpose and meaning in your work life. If you do not have an emotional connection with an employer, you will most likely come across as ‘cold’. You are not invested personally in the mission, vision and purpose of the employer. Cultural fit is two-ways.
Clean up your social media profile
It is common for recruiters, hiring managers and people you want to network with to Google your name and achievements. They want to know more about you, what you did in the past and what is your professional background.
If your social media activity can raise red flags, it is time to delete those profiles. Strong opinions may not go well with conservative employers.