If you work in a small company then the lack of the usual pace or activity is one indication that it is indeed struggling. Gut instinct and office gossip are also good sources of information. Although, not always reliable there is still a good chance that a looming layoff leaks out even before the actual announcement. You can also take a look at your company’s financial statements if it’s one of the publicly-traded companies since they are required to disclose the statistics quarterly and make your own diagnoses from there.

You can also compare revenues from one quarter to the next and see if there are any drastic changes with the figures. If your company relies on credit to pay the bills then it may be losing cash faster than you think. Creditors are not being too kind these days and are imposing stricter standards so your company may be forced to cut down the number of workers to be able to keep up with the payroll.

Finally, if the company’s net income is close to “break-even” then this isn’t a good sign for the company’s health. If it loses its usual demand then it is not getting profit from its output. The drop in revenue can only mean that the company is losing some cash and will soon be losing working if it doesn’t have any cash reserves to tap into. You can check out websites to view your company’s bond ratings. This may not directly affect the labour force but if your company is downgraded then this is a reason for workers to worry.