&gt; People are laid off when they are not necessary to a company’s future.<p>I think it is important for everyone to note that no one is necessary to a company&#x27;s future.   If you work for a company where that is true of you, or any other employee, it is a bad position to be in.  You work for an extremely shaky employer.<p>At the end of the day, layoffs do not happen based on merit.  They happen based on cost, or revenue, or a wide variety of other factors outside of your control.  I&#x27;ve been in meetings where 1 group that was demonstrably better by every metric we picked was still let go over another group.  The reason was the lease terms on the office space they were in.<p>Anyone that tells you that you can save your job in the face of layoffs due to changing your working habits is manipulating you.