"Something's Wrong with the Company?"… 5 Signs That Appear Three Months Before Layoffs

The company suddenly abolishes remote work, stops new hiring, and cuts employee benefits one by one. Directives to reduce costs and performance pressure also intensify. An analysis has shown that these kinds of signs commonly appear starting three months before announcements in companies that have undergone large-scale layoffs.

Blind, an anonymous community for office workers, analyzed the community activities of over 101,000 current employees at 10 U.S. companies that announced workforce reductions from May of last year to August of this year.

As a result, common behavioral changes were captured.

First, about 12 weeks prior, mentions within the company regarding various changes related to cost reduction and savings began to increase.

The access frequency and time spent by employees trying to find news related to layoffs also increased.

Starting around 10 weeks prior, focus shifted from the "company" to "me."

Posts and comments trying to check the possibility of whether one might be subject to layoffs increased.

Searches on severance pay, compensation terms, and which job levels would be targeted for layoffs also surged.

Starting 8 weeks, or two months prior, job-hunting preparations began in earnest.

Employees started looking for job openings at other companies and inquiring about internal referrals.

What stands out in particular is AI.

Posts mentioning AI and employment together have tripled over the past year, and three-quarters of them were in a negative context.

Anxiety spread not only to departments actually targeted for layoffs, but across various job categories and years of experience, with employees having 3 to 7 years of experience showing particularly active engagement.

Of course, remote work rollbacks or hiring freezes do not necessarily mean that restructuring is about to begin.

This analysis is the result of examining employee behavioral patterns observed at 10 U.S. companies, and situations vary from company to company.

Nevertheless, this analysis shows that even with sudden large-scale layoff announcements, changes could be felt much earlier within the company.

(Reported and produced by Sim Yeong-gu | Edited by Na Hong-hee | Designed by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.