Hey Everyone,
Happy Saturday!
Today’s email is about a bit of unsettling news in the Salesforce industry.
Slalom, one of the largest Salesforce consultancies in the world, laid off roughly 7% of its staff.
It’s important to pay attention to these types of events.
Sometimes they serve as an indication of where the industry is headed in the short term.
Why where ~910 Salesforce professionals let go?
Without being in the room when the decisions were made it’s impossible to know for sure.
We can infer Slalom as a business had higher payroll costs than their revenues justified.
So forecasted revenue didn’t materialize, current revenue unexpectedly declined, or both.
Slalom’s customers are business paying for Salesforce services.
What might cause those businesses to stop paying for consultants?
Maybe Slalom’s customers themselves are seeing lower than expected revenues and cutting IT spending?
Again, it’s hard to say.
The takeaway is not to figure out what happened, but realized that “a good Salesforce job” isn’t guaranteed to be permanent.
We must understand that what happened at Slalom could happen to us.
As Lao Tzu says, “Plan for what is difficult when it’s easy.”
If you were laid off today, how you feel?
What would happen next?
Could you support yourself?
Thinking about this now is a good idea. I see two things we can all do to help prepare ourselves.
- Have a back up plan
- Become a linchpin
Have a back up plan
- Establish cash reserves. 3-6 months if possible. This will support you while you find a new job.
- Build an appealing LinkedIn profile. Social media is a powerful tool for getting hired.
- Update your resume. Maybe send it to a few job postings now to get a feel for the type of response you get.
- Consider what would make your resume even more appealing. A new certification perhaps?
- Brainstorm 20 step you could take if you suddenly lost your job to get back on your feet. Save the list.
- Identify activities you enjoy that will help you stay calm and collected during a stressful time. Writing, reading, organized sports, meditating, exercise, prayer, and time with friends and family are all worth thinking about.
Become a linchpin
A linchpin is someone who is indispensable to an organization.
It’s a good idea to reassess your “indispensability” in your current role, and work to become more valuable to your current employer.
- Make sure to read Salesforce books, earn Trailhead badges, or upgrade your soft skills in some way for 20-60 minutes each day
- Brainstorm 20 ways you could add more value to your current company, choose one, and act on it immediately
- Ask yourself, “What can I, and only I, do that makes a real difference in my role?” Spend more time doing these high value tasks.
In truth, most of us are safe in our current roles.
We can feel confident in our careers.
We can trust that even if the worst happens, we’ll be ready and able to handle it.
The message today is not to be worried. It is to be thoughtful.
To empathize with others in our industry and realize life doesn’t always go according to plan.
And to realize that by doing some preparing today, we’ll be ready for challenges tomorrow.
Like Ben Franklin said: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Best,
Nick
