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9 Signs Your Company Is Quietly Planning Layoffs (#7 Is the Most Telling)

It might be time to start brushing off your resume.

By Chris Lewis, CEPF , Edited by Calista Headrick

Updated May 24, 2026

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You've noticed the news articles. Companies are slashing entire departments and cutting costs by reducing headcount. You start looking around at your own organization.

It seems they're tightening the purse strings. The little perks, like the free lunch on Friday, have quietly disappeared. Your manager is unavailable for your weekly one-on-one. No one is eager to talk about Q3 planning. Naturally, you wonder if your company is going to fall victim to the current state of affairs.

In January 2026, U.S. employers cut 108,000 jobs. That's a 118% increase year-over-year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data. And 2025 totaled 950,000 jobs lost, which is the highest since 2020.

But your goal is to prepare yourself financially, even when the job market is tough. That means anticipating what's coming and making a plan.

Here are nine signs to watch out for that might mean your company is quietly planning layoffs.

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Hiring freezes

Your colleague left their role months ago, and yet the role is still open. One day, you notice it's no longer listed on the website. Your workload keeps increasing, but there's no sign of hiring to expand the team. When you ask your manager about additional help, there's mention of a hiring freeze.

This is a sign the company is likely trying to pinch its pennies by not adding another position to the payroll. While it's not necessarily a sign a layoff is imminent, it is absolutely a sign they're watching their spending. And unless there's a course correction, you could be headed towards reduction rather than a freeze.

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Cuts on perks

You used to love free lunch Fridays. You had free subscriptions to your favorite industry publications. And work travel was a delight when you could splurge on room service. But, all of a sudden, these perks start disappearing. This could be a sign that layoffs are around the corner.

According to Reddit user u/FancyEntrepreneur480, the company's perks were one of the first indicators that layoffs were coming: "No more snack drawer, cracking down on expenses like travel they used to be lenient on."

u/Competitive_Fox_7731 echoes that sentiment, "Office coffee quality plummets. Catering becomes mostly bean cuisine."

Cancelled one-on-one meetings

Your weekly one-on-one with your manager used to be a standing meeting that was protected religiously. But, all of a sudden, they keep finding reasons to push it off. Every time you ask about your Q3 initiatives, your manager gets distant.

While you might be happy at first to get the time back on your calendar, this should raise a red flag. Managers might have a clue that layoffs are coming, and they'll become reticent to dive into future planning or even day-to-day interactions. If you regularly lose access to your manager, it's time to hit the job boards.

Stalled projects

Whether you work at a startup or a large corporation, there are almost always big initiatives that are underway. Often, they're the north star that you work towards while also chugging through the day-to-day work. Priorities may shift, and projects will evolve, but they're always there.

However, when the financial situation starts to shift, and the company starts considering layoffs, they'll put these projects on hold. Without knowing who will be there in a month or six months, executives and leadership teams don't want to undertake these initiatives. The team may not be there to finish them.

Empty senior roles

Workers often know that when new executives come in, it could be a sign that layoffs are on the horizon. A new CEO might shake up an entire department. But another sign is that VPs, directors, or managers leave, and their roles aren't filled.

If your department's executive is MIA, then this could be a sign that your team is either going to be absorbed into another team or slashed altogether.

Calls for financial discipline

The phrase "do more with less" can be used as a rallying cry to get everyone on board to work harder and be scrappier. But it's also a huge red flag.

Whenever executives start talking about financial discipline, increasing efficiencies, or keeping an eye on the budget, it means that the numbers are probably creeping towards the red. They may start to worry more about the numbers at the end of the month than the big picture growth. Earnings calls become tense.

These are all signs that the money isn't coming in, so soon, the headcount is going to have to be cut.

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Chaotic reorganizations

If you're on the marketing team, why are you all of a sudden reporting to the CFO? Chaotic reorganizations with teams rearranged and restructured in ways that don't seem to make sense are often a sign that layoffs are on the way.

The organization could be rethinking its executive team and experimenting with new team reporting, but that often precedes larger cuts, especially if your executive is the one who ended up on the chopping block.

Sudden change of work environment

A return-to-office mandate or a sudden shift to remote work could both be signs that layoffs are coming. On one hand, a return-to-office mandate could mean that a company is trying to quietly weed out employees who will quit before they commit to a commute.

On the other hand, a sudden move towards allowing working from home could mean the company is working behind the scenes to coordinate layoffs, and a quiet office gives them the time and space to plan without snooping eyes.

Calendar blocks

When HR starts putting blocks on the calendar, that should set off your spidey senses. This could look like two different things. The first could be company-wide leadership meetings with nondescript titles that indicate planning going on behind the scenes.

The second could be a day full of short meetings with employees who don't usually meet with HR. As soon as you get a meeting request from HR, and your officemate gets one, too, it's time to work on your resume.

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Bottom line

In the current environment, it's not a bad idea to keep your resume updated and look for ways to supplement your income even while you have a full-time job.

Make sure you have several months of savings in your emergency fund and don't wait for these signs to prepare for the worst. By the time you see it coming, a layoff could be imminent, and you'll want to be prepared to jump right into your job search.

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