1 In Every 4 FAANG professionals Fear Getting Fired Daily
Many people feel like their jobs are at stake amid COVID-19; this fear and other work anxieties can make going to work (even virtually) difficult.
On Blind, the largest anonymous professional network with over 4 million users, professionals opened up about their fears about being fired.
A Blind user at Amazon asked, “How frequently does the thought of getting fired cross your mind? How do you deal with these thoughts? Are you stressed out?”
Here are how 2,278 professionals responded over the last four days
- 21% of professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind daily
- Nearly ⅓ of Amazon professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind daily
- 1 in every 4 FAANG professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind daily
- Finance professionals think about getting fired slightly more often than tech professionals
- 6% of professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind every other day
- 20% of professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind weekly
- 20% of professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind monthly
- 45% of Snap professionals say that getting fired crosses their mind monthly
- 33% of professionals say that getting fired never crosses their mind
- Nearly half (47%) of Netflix professionals say that getting fired never crosses their mind
A Twitter employee commented, “Why would anyone think of getting fired unless they did something really bad? What kind of psychological safety does Amazon instill?”
A user at Microsoft commented, “never think about getting fired. I think about quitting every day. (Yes, I’m working on a plan.)”
A user at T-Mobile commented ‘I don’t think I’m at risk of getting fired, but I still think about it and plan; you can be the #1 performer, but all it takes is one re-org or a bad manager, and you’re out. These companies do not care.”
It’s important for professionals to manage their fears so that they can focus their time and energy on actually doing their job. The first step in doing so is acknowledging the negative thoughts and understanding that they are not their reality. The next step is to consider working with a professional to lessen work anxiety—a therapist can help understand the role of negative thinking and provide you with additional support during this difficult time.
Finally, it’s important for company leadership to manage their employee’s fears to provide some level of physiological safety.
While it is normal to worry from time to time, sometimes this worrying turns into an unhealthy obsession—especially during uncertain times like COVID. With such a competitive job market, professionals are becoming increasingly worried about their livelihoods.