How was I able to predict my layoff an entire year before it happened? Further, what caused me to take a defensive stance by saving a six month emergency fund, downgrading apartments, skipping the new car, adopting all cash spending, and radically slashing expenses?
The answer is that I gauged CEO behavior and made an educated guess that the broader actions of a few company leaders would eventually spill over to them all.
Contents
Predicting My Layoff
I was laid off in January 2023, but my alarm bells started blaring in late 2021 after I saw a headline about a name brand company conducting a small round of layoffs.
I was already monitoring the macroeconomic environment and knew things were on shaky ground, so this layoff announcement served as the early first domino in my mind.
Future dominoes would fall with more than 1,000 company layoffs in 2022 impacting upwards of 165,000 employees in 2022. It seemed to me to be only a matter of time before layoffs would strike my company. And of course, they did.
Fortunately, instead of being caught off guard and scrambling, I took the layoff in stride and turned 2023 into the greatest year of my life.
What Is CEO Collusion?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, collusion is a secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose.
I’m not suggesting deliberate law breaking is happening, but I definitely believe CEO and company executives act in coordinated ways to further their aims.
As of May 2023, The Bureau Of Labor Statistics reported that there were 211,230 CEOs in the United States. Of these, I believe there is a small subset of them with enough clout and influence great enough to pull the levers that influence changes in society and the economy.
It’s impossible to say who they are, but let’s assume for the sake of discussion that the lever pullers are the top dogs heading up the Fortune 500.
Earlier this year the U.S. workforce was estimated to have around 161,466,000 individuals. This means that an extremely small, but powerful group of CEOs could control the destinies of pretty much everyone else through company policy.
Having millions of financially dependent workers at their fingertips is a fortuitous thing. And if they meet to form secret agreements, their whims can shift the world.
Proof That CEOs Collude
Before you dismiss me as a conspiracy theorist, let me establish the basis for my claims.
I picked up on the fact that there was potentially an elite fraternity of CEOs, company leaders, politicians, and other powerful people during my stint as FedEx from 2019 – 2021.
Comments by FedEx leaders and news outlets alluded to it. For example, I read many press releases such as this one and began to understand that company heads formed tight knit communities.
FedEx also is a member of the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, a public-private partnership organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and supported by the Business Roundtable to provide a unified platform for businesses to mobilize and deliver resources to assist COVID-19 efforts in areas of the highest need around the world. FedEx President and COO Raj Subramaniam is one of 17 business leaders serving on the steering committee for the task force.
I didn’t have as much skin in the game during my FedEx years because I was more focused on fixing my finances than anything else. Once out of debt and living better, my need for self-preservation increased.
I needed to see more of the unseen more clearly.
Peeking Inside The CEO Fraternity
During my 2 year stint at Salesforce from 2021 – 2023, I began to pay closer attention to what I like to call “CEO speak” to better understand how things worked. This required seeing through the smokescreen of platitudes and heuristics to narrow in on valuable tidbits that would help me know what’s next.
Sometime in mid ‘22 – Salesforce’s CEO, Marc Beniof, confirmed my theory during our company all hands meeting where he mentioned that he recently returned from schmoozing with other big dog CEOs at a conference in the nation’s capital.
To be fair, he didn’t use the term schmoozing. But he did say that he was at a CEO’s conference in D.C. meeting other CEOs to discuss important CEO matters related to business, COVID, new realities of remote work, and other important topics.
That was the smoking gun for me.
Putting the above pieces together gave me all the confirmation I needed. Why wouldn’t CEOs coordinate efforts while mingling at conferences such as these:
- The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit – News forum where CEOs and decision makers from the public and private sectors can discuss topics such as the economy, energy, sustainability, and the geopolitical landscape. The summit also provides opportunities for peer-to-peer networking in breakout sessions to exchange ideas and practical guidance for business decisions.
- CNBC CEO Council Summit – The CNBC CEO Council meets the moment, bringing together a diverse community of invitation-only CEOs from across industries, geographies, and stages of growth.
- The FORTUNE CEO Initiative – The FORTUNE CEO Initiative is dedicated to helping members find ways to promote social progress as part of their core business strategies.
CEOs Are Friends And Allies
So far this is still all conjecture as I don’t have any proof of what these big wigs actually discuss when they meet. So, to that I say let’s turn to my next exhibit which gives us that proof.
Here is an excerpt of a 2023 statement made by Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO regarding return to office policies:
When asked for data to support the move, Jassy lacked a good answer. He said that he spoke to “60 to 80 CEOs of other companies over the last 18 months,” and “virtually all of them” preferred in-office work. He admitted it was a “judgment call” that wasn’t widely supported by data and compared it to another major decision that wasn’t supported by data in the past: the launch of the Amazon Web Services cloud unit.
The point here is to show that top CEOs are cut from the same fabric. They frequent the same meetings. They speak the same language aka “CEO speak”. And they mirror each other’s decisions.
Whether implicit or explicit, collusion seems like a natural thing for them to do. And I don’t necessarily believe they even have ill intentions in doing so.
Using CEO Collusion To Your Advantage
As promised at the start, I’ll show you that it’s possible to flip the cards of CEO collusion to your favor.
It helps to think of it as an intricate game of chess where you and your opponent are reading each other and the playing field while plotting your moves multiple rounds in advance.
Let’s talk about it.
Strategically Position Yourself Against CEO Whims
The two best scenarios I have for using this concept are mitigating the threat of layoffs and getting ahead of shifts at work such as what’s happening currently with return to office trends.
I’ll discuss these instances in detail, but I urge you to extend this to other scenarios that you can forsee or that may arise.
Pay Attention To What Leaders Say
The most important requirement for collusion to work is secrecy. As long as the powers that be can restrict information, they can pull the strings. Therefore, the most important thing for spotting collusion and protecting yourself is paying attention.
As shown above, your company leaders are a great source of information.
You should attend as many all employee or department level sessions as possible while keeping a close ear out for telling words such as efficiency, operating margin, restructuring, outside consultancy, and more.
For your benefit, here is how you may want to interpret such phrases as you sift through the smokescreen of CEO Speak.
- Efficiency: Company efficiency is achieved in many ways, but the preferred method for leaders is via layoffs.
- Operating Margin: The difference between revenues and expenses is a company’s operating margin. Headcount is usually the largest expense on a balance sheet, and also the easiest to adjust quickly via layoffs.
- Restructuring: Leaders love a good reorg in which the reshuffle the people on the organization. Naturally, they also use this as an opportunity to cut dead weight.
- Ways Of Working: If leaders are talking about ways of working, rest assured changes are coming.
- Outside Consultancy: No explanation I can give will do more justice than you going out watching the movie Office Space or the show House of Lies on your own. Thank me later!
Spotting the clues enables you to make countermoves that will position you to weather any storms or even come out ahead. As I mentioned to start, my suspicions that layoffs were imminent led me toward steps to secure my position.
The precautions I made then served as enablers for me to ultimately take the layoff in stride while thriving.
Using CEO Collusion To Mitigate The Threat Of Layoff
Understanding job security requires understanding there is always potential for layoffs. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit idly by and become a victim to them.
Once you recognize the threat of layoffs, you can take necessary steps to prepare. Here’s a few ideas:
1) Build A Robust 6 Month Emergency Fund
If your company is contracting, other firms in your industry are likely doing the same which means finding the next job could take some time to land.
A robust emergency fund is a fundamental and valuable financial tool for you to always have in your arsenal. And they are even more important when layoffs loom because you may need the funds to float you as you seek out new employment.
2) Slash Expenses & Adopt Extreme Savings Measures
Hemorrhaging cash is the last spot you want to be in when jobless. With no income, you could quickly run into the red and have to reach for a credit card or loan to float. These measures would put you behind on any progress you’ve made.
A better approach would be to operate your household as lean as possible with minimal expenses and abundant positive cashflow. This cushion will prove beneficial in instances of job loss.
3) Improving Your Performance And Value At Work
The safest employees are those who bring the most value. Value is driven by doing important work and doing it well.
Reflect on your position at work and find ways to make yourself more indispensable to your manager and firm. Your job will be safer because of it.
4) Jumping Ship To A New Company Before The Ship Starts Sinking
Why wait until the ship starts sinking to get off board?
Those who like to take matters into their own hands may find it better to proactively start looking for new work before the tides shift. Doing so could strengthen both your standing at your current company and get you ahead of the curve while everyone else sits idly by.
5) Strategically Invest To Take Advantage Of The Market Cycle
I’m not yet a savvy enough investor to tell you what those strategies could be. But perhaps you are. Or maybe you can start to learn.
At either rate, spotting trends early and taking a gamble has made a lot of people rich throughout the history of man. Maybe you can be the next Michael Burry as depicted in the popular movie The Big Short.
Using CEO Collusion To Get Ahead Of Return To Office Trends
Back in mid ‘22 I advised my ex-girlfriend to focus on applying for local in office jobs over remote jobs because of the disparity of applicants vying for each type of role.
Thanks to my free trial of LinkedIn premium, I saw that most remote jobs had hundreds or even thousands of applicants. Meanwhile, local in-office jobs frequently had fewer than 50 applicants for the same types of roles. Seriously!
Following the crowd is usually suboptimal and it was obvious that the remote job market was super competitive. Therefore, a viable strategy to gain employment back then would have been to simply look where others weren’t.
Today, the remote job market is probably even more competitive as the supply of remote jobs dries up. CEOs have collectively banded together to force employees back in office.
So what recourse might you have?
1) Step Up To Compete For Remote Jobs
My current job is remote so I’m good. But I know that will all change at some point.
When that time comes, I am fully prepared to step up to the plate to aggressively compete for and win one of those prized remote positions.
I will do this by breaking out all of my best job hunting tactics such as having a pristine resume, a world class interview, strong networking, and turning the charisma meter up to max setting.
2) Negotiate With Your Current Job To Remain Remote
I’ve learned over the years to always make the ask – especially when it comes to things I desire at work.
We really have nothing to lose by asking to remain remote if we already are. You can pull out whatever excuse you think will fly. Or simply state the value you bring as a remote worker.
Use whatever reasoning you think will give you the strongest case, but make the ask!
3) Delay Your Return To Office For As Long As Possible
Perhaps you have no recourse other than to return to your office. But maybe you can do so “in a few months as you have some personal things you need to take care of first”.
I can almost guarantee your boss will be okay with a 1-3 month delay in your return since they get to keep you on the roster. And then, perhaps you can extend that few month grace period even further.
This strategy will lose its usefulness at some point. In the meantime, maybe you can go job hunting and compete for one of the remaining fully remote roles.
Financial Independence Is The Ultimate Power Move
Let’s imagine that I’m a quack and CEOs don’t really collude. No prob because the nuanced message here remains the same.
That message is that financially dependent workers are at the mercy of their bosses. In essence, a dependency on work for survival makes the source of income one’s ruler.
This is why they say debt is slavery.
Given that, the ultimate trump card to CEO collusion, threats of layoff, and forced return to office is achieving financial independence which shifts the cards in your favor.
Imagine what would happen today if none of us needed to work to survive and simply decided to collectively dig in by demanding remote work. They could theoretically fire us all, but then they’d have to shutter their doors because there would be no one left to do the work.
Financial independence gives us that power of choice. If we don’t like a new policy at work – we can resist or quit because we really don’t have to be there in the first place.
It may sound like a pipedream for some, but I’m well on my way to achieving this state in my own life. I anticipate it will take me less than a decade from now to get there.
Who Controls Your Destiny?
I’m content knowing that more freedom is in my future. I will get there as long as I keep working, saving, and making the proper financial moves.
I actually believe that we would have any even stronger workforce if more people were financially independent. That would result in more people doing work they love while being less stressed.
At any rate, I’d love to hear from you on your plans to take back or maintain control of your destiny from the powers that be. Share below in the comments.