Who is actually layoff-proof in tech?

The following people are layoff-proof:

The senior leader who has spent years becoming the person the business calls when something important needs fixing.

They know the technology well enough to get into the weeds when necessary, but they operate at a level where they own outcomes instead of tasks. They can walk into a messy situation, figure out what is broken, build the right team and operating system around it, and get the business moving again.

They understand how their work affects revenue, customers, cost, risk and growth. They can explain what they built, why they built it, what changed because of it and what would have happened if they hadn't done it.

Those leaders are hard to replace because their value doesn't live inside a particular title or org chart. Give them a different team, a different product or a different company and they can still create value.

If you want to be landing the best roles while also not having to worry about your current job, that’s what your career should look like.

If it doesn’t, you’re in the wrong role. Plain and simple. Here’s how you can turn your career around:

1. Take more ownership in your current role

Start working harder, build agency and take more ownership in your current role.

Before you call me Captain Obvious, both you and I know that that’s not going to happen. There’s a reason you’re not giving your 100% in the first place.

There is usually a reason you're holding back. Maybe you feel underpaid. Maybe you've watched less capable people get rewarded while you quietly clean up their messes. Maybe you've been given work you don't care about for so long that you've stopped trying to make it better.

At some point, you have to be honest about what is actually going on.

If you're already checked out, forcing yourself to "work harder" probably won't fix much. You'll just become a more exhausted version of someone who wants to leave.

2. Find a role where you actually belong

I'm not saying the next job will feel like a hobby. Neither of us is in our twenties anymore. Work is work. There will be difficult projects, annoying meetings and weeks where you would rather be anywhere else.

But there is a huge difference between being tired because you are doing meaningful work and being tired because you are spending eight hours a day doing something you don't believe in.

Meaning can come from money. It can come from building something important. It can come from having real ownership, working with people you respect, or finally being in an environment where your strengths are actually useful.

The goal is to get yourself into a position where you naturally operate with more agency because you actually care about the outcome.

If you want to go with option 2, it’s your lucky day!

I am going to land you your next role, and when your market qualifies, I'll guarantee it. Book a call with my team to learn more.