Too many times after someone gets fired, they say, “I should have seen it coming.” But most of us don’t see the signs because we don’t want to see them. Dolts!  They’re there, right in front of you.

Here are some signs your last day  is nigh:

There’s been a “change” in your boss’ behavior. He keeps taking long meetings with security. This is always a fatal indicator.

[See 15 Ways Good Bosses Keep Their Best Suck-Ups.]

Your boss speaks admiringly of Scott Walker. Beyond your boss’ attitude or changing behavior, if he starts doing something like this it’s because he considers current workers to be vexing grains of  sand in the great machine of commerce.

The boss becomes obsessed with things like ” innovation,” “efficiency” and “labor costs” accompanied by clippings from business news stories on China and Bangladesh. A Chief Innovation Officer is hired who immediately begins sending out  company-wide memos on how everything you know is obsolete. The memos are filled with misspellings, tangled gibberish, and inappropriate stabs at humor using non-sequiturs like “It’s un-American to not like pussy!”

The boss talks loudly about the great work of  the US Chamber of Commerce and how he’d kill to play golf with William Hickey in Prizzi’s Honor Tom J. Donohue. Start learning how to file for unemployment benefits.

[See How to Convince Your Employer to Fire the Guy Next to You First.]

The office  sycophant  stops talking to you. Every team has someone we know is the boss’ boot-licker. This is the person who your boss talks to more than anyone else, always looking for self-validation.  If someone you know is the boss’ lickspittle stops talking to you or begins avoiding you, then it could be that he knows more than you do and is reacting accordingly.

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You work for a company acutely sensitive to Wall Street directives.

The clock’s ticking.

When  you panic and think you’re going to lose your job tomorrow morning, realize only that it’s a sign you’re still sane and possess a functioning intellect.

Dr. Hugh Akston, director and career expert for jobs and career website TheBottomsofTomFriedmansShoes.com has been a CEO, led HR in global companies and is co-author of Labor Force: A New Manifesto for Getting Rid of  the Minimum Wage.

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