Last week, a law firm fired 96 associates, partners, and other attorneys on staff. This was the second time this law firm fired associates this year. The first cut was 30+. So far, this firm has "trimmed" over 10% of their workforce.  And, according to the blogs I read on these topics, not just the areas of their practice most affected by the sudden economic downturn were reduced.  Associates from practice groups all over the firm lost their jobs.

But there were signs. Other than the obvious economic down turn. But a lot of firms have not fired 10% of their workforce. A lot of firms have simply scaled back on hiring. Or have found other ways to cut back.  Were there signs that the associates were in trouble at this particular firm?

In a time of economic downturn, if you want to find out if you are about to get the axe for no fault of your own, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Does my employer specialize in an area that is going obsolete or struggling because of economic changes? Unless your employer can quickly turn things around, which is very very difficult for a large or difficult company (like, say, a law firm), you could be walking the pavement soon, searching for new employment.

2. Does my employer have a serious morale problem? You know the signs when you see it: all the employees huddled together complaining, usually-nice bosses yelling and frazzled, and wildly popular employees taking a lot of "sick time" while looking completely healthy.  Your employer is sinking like a ship, and unless you want to sink, too, work quickly on your resume, not your to-do list.

3. Does your employer think only about profit, and you know that they would axe you in a second based on the bottom line? A lot of law firms are desperately increasing their bottom line (and not the bottom line that enriches the associate) at whatever cost.  Some companies say reputation be damned. They don't understand the new workers and how, while money is enticing, they don't want to sell their souls. And while I think that these companies will suffer in the long run, the current administration of non-Gen Xers really thinks that this will just blow over. Or maybe they haven't learned from the past. Either way, if you notice the higher ups getting testy, or really quiet, and you know that they don't care at all about the little peons actually making them money, maybe you should dust that resume off and get busy.

4. Are other employees disengaged, or lost in the office?  When a large portion of the employees spend their day avoiding work, or when the work distributed is not properly explained or delegated, employees are going to be lost and disengaged.  Whey they are, they aren't being productive. And the company will suffer. In this economic environment, disengaged employees are going to lead to layoffs.
One, or maybe even two of these signs are not a sure sign of impending layoffs. But if you have under-worked, disgruntled employees, and a power structure that doesn't value the little, profit-producing guy, you are headed for trouble.