Will I be fired? Telltale signs!

"You're fired!"

Two scary words that you don't want to hear, ever! But due to the current current economic recession, it's no big surprise that companies are handing out the pink slip to many employees these days. So how do you know if your job is in the danger zone? Is getting fired really that simple and direct?

Here we find out some not-so-direct, subtle tell tale signs, which suggest you are going to be sacked.

1. LESS RESPONSIBILITY

Have you been seeing a dip in your responsibilities, of late? Do you see your work being passed on to your junior or colleague on the pretext of training?

"Being stripped of responsibilities is a sure sign of something amiss. Although it need not necessarily translate into being fired. But it could be a precursor," says HR executive Gauri Bhujbal Rao.

A Precursor? Yes. Like it happened in the case of customer care executive Naveen Francis.

"Initially it began with delegation of some of my daily chores to my colleagues. My superiors said they didn't want to load me with lot of work. But over a period of time the delegation left me with no work except taking calls," Naveen remembers.

Eventually he was asked to put down his papers on account of low performance.

2. OUT OF THE LOOP

Are you the last person to come to know what is happening in your team leave alone in the company? Then this is a huge tell-tale sign -- finding yourself out of the loop on everything.

"And it can be quite embarrassing at that," says call centre executive Saraswathi Japamani. Why?

"Because the whole office knows about it including your juniors and colleagues except you. This is exactly what happened to a colleague of mine. Slowly she was alienated from the on-goings of the office. And we were asked by our superiors not to disclose anything to her," she remembers.

3. MAJOR FAUX PAS

We are not talking about a silly goof-up like missing out on a silly detail in the presentation or for that matter a spell error.

But were you caught flouting any company policy like supplying company details to outsiders or stealing official documents etc. Well that is exactly not a great career enhancing move.

Now it needn't be anything as huge as stealing. Like it happened in the case of Arjun Nair, team leader with a KPO.

While working with a leading bank he was asked to handle a prospective client. "It was more of an on-ground training. Since I was under training, there were still many protocols that I wasn't told about. So while taking a call I happened to disclose certain information which I wasn't supposed to," he says.

Although Arjun wasn't at fault he was given the pink slip but in an indirect way. "They realised it wasn't my fault but nonetheless a grave error. So instead of giving me the sack, they asked me to put down my papers," says Arjun.

4. CHINESE WHISPERS

If you are going to be fired, chances are you'll be the last one to know. And news like this spreads faster than fire.

So you'll have co-workers whispering about your impending fate until you show up and the conversation changes abruptly.

5. PROJECT IMPOSSIBLE

Now this is a very sly way of dropping you out. That is, your boss will ask you to work on projects with inhuman deadlines that are hard to meet. They will make you work on two or three such projects consecutively and each failure will move you an inch closer to the exit door.

"This is more common in cases like pregnancy when you know the person is going to take offs. In short she will turn into a liability for the company for a short while to come. And this tactic works perfectly, without even arousing any suspicion," says Gauri Rao.

So if you think the project given to you is too complicated or will require longer time, then say that immediately or risk being given the pink slip.

If you happen to face two or more of these situations then be sure that you are headed for a sack. Take a good look at your working life and make the necessary changes.

Remaining passive about the situation will only worsen matters. "Being proactive will at least gain you the reputation of someone who is willing to walk that extra mile when the need arises," explains Gauri Rao.