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How Companies Replace You Before You Know It’s Happening

A Life After Layoff

28,457 views

Your company may be interviewing your replacement before it tells you that your job is in danger. These are signs you may be fired from your job.

In this video, I explain how confidential job postings and hiring processes work, why companies sometimes search for a replacement while an employee is still working, and what may start to change around you before the company makes its final decision.

A confidential opening does not always mean someone is being replaced. Companies may also keep searches private because of an acquisition, reorganization, executive succession, or new business unit. But when someone is still sitting in the position, the company may use the search to determine whether replacing that employee is realistic.

I also cover the warning signs employees should pay attention to, what I would do if I suspected my employer was quietly preparing to replace me, and what candidates should ask when a recruiter approaches them about a confidential position.

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00:00 - They could be replacing you without your awareness
01:14 - What is a confidential job search?
03:29 - How the search affects the decision
05:07 - Signs to look for
06:58 - What to do
09:39 - You need to take back control
10:31 - What if you're the candidate?
12:14 - Most employees assume they'd get a warning

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A LIFE AFTER LAYOFF

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ABOUT A LIFE AFTER LAYOFF

I have spent more than 20 years in corporate recruiting, hiring thousands of people into companies including Amazon, FedEx, Korn Ferry, and ABB.

I explain how employers hire, evaluate, and promote people so you can make better decisions throughout your career.

This channel covers resumes, interviews, recruiting, job-search strategy, career advancement, layoffs, workplace challenges, and long-term career management.

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Facebook: Facebook: alifeafterlayoff
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20 Comments

@ALifeAfterLayoff Creator 13 days ago Pinned

Learn how to reclaim control and stop letting employers hold ALL of the cards in the job searcvh and employment arrangement. I created a FREE training to show you how: https://event.webinarjam.com/wwr63/register/pvmq7hm

@shermanng_fc 13 days ago

This is why I always check job sites for any potential new positions. At this point you never know when you're gonna lose your job.

@susan-oh 13 days ago

This behavior is gross. No wonder employees have zero loyalty. Employers don't deserve it.

@vigglarodz 13 days ago

This happened to me a few months ago. Scary.

@Ignignokt_but_not_Err 13 days ago

This is just another reason/example why i stopped caring. I do the bare minimum and no more. They don’t care about us and I don’t care about them.

@Some_Guy_From_The_Internet 13 days ago

I was secretly replaced for a cheaper worker. Twice.

@Casey773 13 days ago

I've learned that getting fired from a job no longer automatically carries a stigma. Anyone with any reasonable life experience should at this point know that companies are dirty, good employees get set up to fail, etc. So if a company or interviewer sees my employment termination as an automatic flaw of mine they can kindly move on because we're not going to connect anyway.

@spunkymonkeym 13 days ago

Maybe the VP's nephew needs a job.

@radicallycenterist5800 13 days ago (edited)

Everyone assumes the employee is underachieving. I have observed that most of the time it is management that is underachieving and they are bullying the top performer out of the company to protect the manager's job or cover up fraud. Bad managers use their team members as disposable pieces to blame the manger's incompetence on when needed. It is called projection.

Sadly, HR always goes with the Manager in order to protect the company. I have wondered if the HR representative ever starts questioning their decision when they have to hire 2 or 3 people to replace the top performer they let go? Especially if the top performer didn't go quitely.

@shermanng_fc 13 days ago

Always check job sites and check red flags in your company

@nickf2170 13 days ago

I ended up working under a psychopath plant manager, and he was truly mental. Absolutely every one in the plant knew he was a nut job. So, I answer an add for what looks like a fairly good fit for my back ground. The recruiter went on, and the more he spoke, the more I knew he was recruiting for MY JOB. I let him finish and then I asked if it was at this specific company and location....and he was shocked, when I told him you are recruiting for my job. At that point it didn't matter, I just wanted out.

@l.a.3541 13 days ago (edited)

Happened to me too with a new manager stepping in. All of a sudden I received aggressive emails, got an unexpected negative performance review, then a demotion with a PIP, then got fired amid pages of lies I never heard of. I had discovered my - much younger - replacement who got hired exactly when the aggressive emails started.

@SpicyLakeEffect 13 days ago

Oh yes. This has been going on forever. You don’t have to be struggling to be targeted. It could be as simple as some VIP not liking you. It could be that you’ve become a liability for some reason. It happens. In my experience, mid level managers are less likely to be secretly replaced. More often they are just eliminated and that role absorbed by another manager. Senior technical or specialty staff is a whole different thing and a replacement is more likely to be sought out, or, the company has an outsourcer all lined up for that technology.

@somanyberries 13 days ago

my last company didn't replace me with another hire, they just handed off the workload to someone else, just like they did with my other colleagues the went before me and I got their workload which burned me out and I was glad to get laid off.

@kuros2349 13 days ago

You getting thrown under the bus frees up the promotion/raise pool.

@Derp-DeFuhrer9080 13 days ago

Its amazing how a typical larger company will play this game with it employees but then expect them all to be loyal and honest and so on. Anymore do yourself a favor and don't treat them as anything more than a job and that you should always be watching for better and watching your current company as well. Don't get tricked into believing their hype about being family and valuable to them. You are nothing more than a number and I guarantee you they will sell you out and no even care where you end up if it means they can make more money doing it or get that pat on the back from their bosses and a bonus included. Loyalty and open honesty with them is a joke anymore. Giving them a notice is optional just like it is for them.

@ev0wat 13 days ago

If someone’s struggling in a role then this makes sense.

@Casey773 13 days ago

I was just fired last month. I didn't get a two week notice either. More like two minutes. The "courtesy" runs in one direction I guess. Well, it doesn't have to. At-will employment means you can walk off the job. I've done it before and had as much guilt as the company does.......ZERO

@SanFranciscan71 13 days ago

Yep. Sounds familar. Very familar.

@occupationalhazard 13 days ago

My company interviewed for and hired two replacements, both doing half my job. Neither could hack it. One quit after 9 months. The other is still around doing part of my job for over twice my pay.

They never got rid of me when they realized how much I actually do. Not really a win for me. But now all the cards are on the table.