When a company is planning to do layoffs, the executive and management team tries to keep the proceedings under wraps, having secret off-site meetings, negotiating between departments without letting on about what it going on and trying to keep employees in the dark. Employees catch wind of layoffs very easily if the management team isn’t careful.

I was working at a company and walked into a meeting room where a group of executives had just met. On the board was a list of names that someone had left behind. I was in the loop on the upcoming lay-offs so I knew what the list meant. There were even notes next to each person’s name. I saw my assistant’s name on the list, realized I would need to fight to keep her, then quickly erased the list.

– Jeff, Boston, Mass.