(NewsNation) — Major tech companies have slashed their workforces, announcing significant layoffs and leaving employees scrambling.
Amazon, Meta, Netflix and Lyft are among the growing list of tech companies laying off workers.
Amazon is set to lay off 10,000 people, about 3% of its corporate employees, as soon as this week, and this would be the largest layoff in the company’s history, the New York Times reported.
Tessa White, a career navigation expert known as The Job Doctor, joined Morning in America to share some tips on how to avoid being laid off.
White even suggested that if an employee plans enough in advance, they can certainly avoid being laid off.
“The first thing I would suggest to people is you get uber focused, uber focused on the projects that you’re trying to complete and measurements that you’re getting from the company. It has a dual effect,” White said. “First of all, it’s going to increase your resume and your resume will look better to have those professional highlights in the event you get laid off. But it also gives you momentum in your current company to show that you’re knocking off the things that the company cares about the very most.”
She explained that an employee builds momentum in a company when they get results. When an employee cannot only get results but tell the story to their manager about the results that they are getting through proof points, it’s showing that they are moving the needle, White said.
“That is the best way to recession-proof any career that I know of,” she said.
White said that if an employee is at risk of being laid off, there are a few things that they can do: One, start getting “LinkedIn style references” for their resume — one to two sentences from people you’ve worked with in the company that will build a better resume — and two, maximize cash.
“Make sure that on your payroll deductions that you’ve taken out your 401k just for one pay period, and that your tax deductions are lower so that you can maximize that last paycheck,” White said.
However, a major problem that White said she has seen is with quiet quitting. She explained that people tend to work on the lower priority items without having that uber focus on the things the company cares about the most.
“Every company I know would take a good enough worker who works on the right things rather than a really hard worker who doesn’t prioritize the most important work. If you can do that, I think that your job or your career can be recession-proof,” White said.
