When the Boss Turns Quiet: Warning Signs of a Layoff

Layoffs

When the Boss Turns Quiet: Warning Signs of a Layoff

Posted Oct 27, 2008, 09:48 am CST

By Debra Cassens Weiss

If your boss suddenly stops talking to you, it may be a warning sign that you will soon be laid off.

The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) talked to job coaches and management consultants to put together a list of warning signs. They include:

• Your boss stops making small talk with you, even though he or she continues to shoot the breeze with other co-workers.

• Your boss takes longer to respond to your e-mails.

• Your boss excludes you from meetings you once were invited to attend, or makes you feel as if you are no longer part of the “inner circle.”

• You are passed over for plum projects and given production-oriented tasks instead.

• Your work gets reassigned.

If you see the warning signs, it’s best to talk to your boss so you can correct any problems before it’s too late, experts told the newspaper. They also advise those worried about their jobs to update their resumes and start networking to prepare for a job search.

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Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 2 months, 1 week, 3 days, 17 hours, 16 minutes ago

Thank you for this advise. I think I am OK with my boss—he always comes in to talk to me.

So far this has NOT been a problem , but I WAS worried that I was passed over arguing a big discovery motion in the Appelate term but the managing partner said he would rather have me sit SECOND chair with him on this one while HE argues the MOTION.

Because I am STILL sitting there, I do NOT think this is the same as getting my work reassigned, since I am STILL second charing it WITH him, and he says he will consult with me on all evedentiary rulings.

My boyfriend says to Just go with the flowe, so that is what I will do. He always knows what is right for me.
Posted by Dan - 2 months, 1 week, 16 hours, 18 minutes ago

Is this article for real?

This is just more proof why law firms should not hire any law student who didn’t have some good experience in the real world before law school… I learned this YEARS before I even entertained the possibility of becoming an attorney. To people with real-world professional experience, this article is common knowledge.
Posted by Annoyed - 2 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 19 minutes ago

You don’t have to use CAPS in every sentence. It does NOT add anything to your message. It is actually quite ANNOYING. Also, it is spelled FLOW not FLOWE, APPELLATE not APPELATE, and I’m not even going to address your use of “charing”. I hope, for your sake, that your boyfriend urges you to take an English class at your local community college. After all, he always knows what is right for you!
Posted by Annoyed - 2 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 14 minutes ago

Damn, I missed one. It’s ADVICE not ADVISE. Whew!
Posted by JJ Walker - 2 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 8 minutes ago

I agree with comments 2 and 3.
Posted by JJ Walker - 2 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 6 minutes ago

Annoyed, don’t beat yourself up.
Posted by B. McLeod - 2 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 1 minute ago

Or when the Fed Ex guy says, “Are you still here?”
Posted by Ellen Barshevsky Superfan - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 46 minutes ago

@Annoyed & JJWalker—You shut your mouth when you’re talking to Ellen.
Posted by MakeEllenStop - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 44 minutes ago

Ellen - if your posts are anything to go by, you are not qualified to go into a courtroom, let alone sit second “chare” for a traffic ticket. I am begging you, please, please, please, stop. Or, please, please, please spell check the post prior to posting. And what is with the random caps?
Posted by MakeEllenStop - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 34 minutes ago

Ellen: it is evidentiary, NOT evedentiary.
Posted by LoveGodess - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 31 minutes ago

Ellen, you write as though you never made it past 2nd grade. It’s hard to believe you’re actually an attorney. You must be exceptionally good looking (and friendly) to have found work.
Posted by Al Tidom - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 22 minutes ago

It is perhaps true that Ellen is not the best speller, so I agree that she must be a knockout lawyer with a great personality. I am an Ellen fan, and frankly, if true, if I had to do it over again, I would marry such a woman any day of the week.
Posted by LoveGodess - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 8 minutes ago

Marry such a woman, perhaps. Hire her as an attorney? Never.
Posted by Bill - 2 months, 1 week, 14 hours, 3 minutes ago

Warning signs of a layoff: You work in the legal profession.
Posted by Dan - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 57 minutes ago

Marry?

No… If we’re playing “F, Marry, Kill” with our dear poster as one of the subjects, she’s certainly not “marry”.
Posted by Ellen Fan - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 49 minutes ago

Ellen, take no offense to these naysayers. They live to beat up people up on their misspellings because they lack substance and cannot offer anything on the subject.

By the way, this is a blog not a freaking pleading to be filed.

Treat everyone with respect even the ones that beat you up because they may be your next boss.

Geesh, freaking lawyers and their contrarian views.

Ya’ll take it easy on her. She has never been fired by a boss, never been fired by a client, never experienced the ups and downs. It’s all character builders and the ones that have experienced the above know what I mean.

Now, I have to get back to finding problems, offer solutions and sending bills.
Posted by lighten up - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 42 minutes ago

Give ELLEN a break, folks.

Sum of us work fore a living and don’t have thee thyme to cheque hour posts four tie poes.

And THE CAPS are called EMPHASIS.

Come on now….
Posted by but... - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 32 minutes ago

it’s really hard to understand things when they’re not spelled correctly.

Furthermore, it’s a bit annoying to see so many spelling mistakes at this stage in either “the legal profession” or in “law school”. I thought we had to take care of all those before we graduated college…
Posted by Dallas - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 28 minutes ago

I’ve pretty much stopped reading the aricles, and I just look for “Ellen’s” posts. Pure comedy gold.

Anyone who is annoyed by her should realize that she is not an actual person, but the alter-ego of a clever lawyer or student with too much free time.
Posted by ellen's revealer - 2 months, 1 week, 13 hours, 17 minutes ago

hey, guys. just want to reveal the truth about ellen. in Russia there is famous attorney-Barshevsky, the guy always wants to sneak into the politics but due to his etnicity he is not succesful. I think ELLEN is his daugher who came into the US, got her LLM or JD from a lousy law school, and landed with a paralegal type of job with a lousy midsize law firm. That explains her English and comments. Hope this helps.
Posted by Andy the Lawyer - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 56 minutes ago

Ellen—perhaps in the parallel universe from which you originated there are discovery motions in appellate courts. But in this one, discovery is long past once a case is on appeal.

You’re busted, cupcake. You’re a fraud.
Posted by Older Guy - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 54 minutes ago

Another sign: spending all day on the Pensky file.
Posted by hey nerds - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 28 minutes ago

Another sign: your briefcase is filled with only crackers.
Posted by Ellen Barshevsky Superfan - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 28 minutes ago

@ellen’s revealer: In soviet Russia, internet trolls YOU!
Posted by Michelle Obama - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 2 minutes ago

Hey, you people shouldn’t make fun of Ellen and try to hold her back. Me and Barack know that sometimes people try and raise the bar on you just when you think you are good enough and they tell you that you are not good enough. Don’t listen to them Ellen you finished law school and that’s all that matters. There is opportunities for everybody.

Obama ‘08
Posted by Fremont - 2 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 1 minute ago

Spelling legal terms incorrectly is a bad idea even though this is just an informal post.

I agree with the criticism and hope that you can learn from your mistakes. I also agree with the comments to be nice to Ellen.

I had a boss once (an extremely intelligent one) that gave us young lawyers a basic spelling test to see if we were qualified for the job.

As we all know it is important to be detail oriented in this profession. If you are not, you need to cultivate that skill.

Make it a rule!
Double check everything!
Posted by r - 2 months, 1 week, 2 hours, 52 minutes ago

My boss hasn’t spoken to me for 31/2 years!!! Should I be concerned?
Posted by Texas Law - 2 months, 1 week, 47 minutes ago

Come on guys, Ellen cupcake is a MALE TROLL who writes as a FEMALE FOOL to KEEP WOMEN DOWN. But, what would our blog be without him?
Discovery, anyone?
Posted by leave ellen alone - 2 months, 6 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes ago

She’s not real!!!
Posted by William E. Brown - 2 months, 6 days, 7 hours, 53 minutes ago

I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Of course Ellen is real. She was in my college chemistry class. And she was just as alluring as she is now.

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