If you think being indispensable at work will save your job, guess again

Working hard at your current job with little to no progression is something we all fall into the habit of. (Credits: Getty Images)

These are just some of the tried and tested work rules that you’ll learn as a rookie employee, both by osmosis and also by example. Another really common decree you’ll hear––often from parents or older colleagues––is that you should do everything you can to make yourself as indispensable as possible.

From offering to take on more responsibility to staying late to finish tasks, being irreplaceable has long been seen as a really great way to ensure the security of your job.

After all, if you’re doing so much, have built up a huge amount of knowledge about how things are done, and a few years in, you literally have the keys to the kingdom, there’s no way they can get rid of you, is there?

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Tell that to famous tech founders such as Apple’s Steve Jobs, who was fired from the company he founded in 1985 after a huge disagreement with its CEO and the board. While Jobs’ famously returned in 1997 and helped shape the company into the massive success it is today, his vision and genius weren’t enough to save his role previously.

Celebrities too, have many tales of being not quite as necessary in their jobs as they may have thought. Madonna got fired from Dunkin’ Donuts, Oprah was dismissed from her first role as a news anchor, and even Anna Wintour has experienced the pain of being all too disposable, being axed from ​​Harper’s Bazaar after just nine months.

No insulation

The truth is that no matter how much passion and effort you put into your job, it won’t necessarily insulate you from being let go.

This was the case for the thousands of UK workers who have lost their jobs across the finance and technology industries over the past couple of years. For some this may have come as a really big shock despite wider global job loss trends.

That’s because putting your head down and getting the job done without speaking up should be enough for management to recognise and reward you, right?

In fact, the opposite is often true, and this kind of behaviour is known as ‘Tiara Syndrome’, where employees think that by working hard and being super-diligent, they’ll receive some sort of recognition.

However, it is often the people who are savvy enough to self-promote who will get recognition or promotions, and it further puts the nail into the ‘indispensable’ coffin.

Given the global economy, the need for companies to cut their costs and the rise of tools such as artificial intelligence, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that there are very few people in the workforce who are truly indispensable.

A new opportunity

A sobering thought, sure, but it is also an opportunity. If you think no one else can do your job or manage your tasks, this holds you in place, and you won’t be able to take advantage of new opportunities.

So keeping your skills sharp and learning new ones is the one true way to make yourself indispensable across your entire career. Strengthen your technical skills, don’t be afraid to learn new things as they arise, and develop your soft skills around areas such as communication, leadership and problem solving, for example.

If you think the writing is on the wall at your current job, or you’d like to move to a new company where you can finesse your existing capabilities, check the Metro Job Board first. It contains thousands of roles all over the UK, like these three.

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For thousands of roles all across the UK, visit the Metro Job Board today.

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