Leaders remind staff they are expendable. The CEO commented that AI can replace all but 2 people (himself + a researcher) at an all-staff meeting!
To illustrate, I worked well, happily, and diligently for the last few years. But then, I received the weirdest and most abrupt “firing” before Medpace released quarterly financial results to the public. HR’s decision and reasoning seemed vague... my department peers were just as shocked and taken aback as me. I’ve since learned that other recently “fired” staff members had eerily similar experiences, leading us to speculate if it was a creative way for the company to avoid issuing public layoff notices.