That's pretty grim. In my experience, it is unusual for a company to be so clear about it's very difficult economic situation. As others say, I think you can resonably expect that you may be out of a job in anywhere from 1-6 months - at least in a US business a company being so very frank and NOT offering any plan of action for what they are planning to do to recover is more or less an open invitation to employees to leave.

Realize that in a small company with dire economic conditions, there is no obligation to pay a long lay off package - it may happen, if there are drivers for it, but when a company is truly dying, layoff packages tend to get scanty as the money dries up.

I'd plan the following actions:

• Spend your time at work being as innovative and productive as possible. If you don't have a contract or a formal assignment, suggest work that could help both the company and you - even if it's a crazy experiment with a new process or technology - it's good to have things to talk about on your next job interview, and being able to stay motivated in an environment like this is a really good character trait.
• Brush up the resume and start looking - it's easier to get a job when you have a job. It's absolutely fair to say "my company's circumstances are extremely risky, as a newer employee, I suspect I may be among the first to go, so I'm considering my options".
• If your boss likes your work, and you have a good repore - confirm with him that the circumstances are as dire as you think. Keep in mind that your boss has his own reasons to encourage you to stay, but he also may be able to provide added insight about your specific group or department.

It's not wonderful to have many short term assignments on your resume when you are in the market for a permanent, long term job. But a bad case of luck in one case should not be a killer when you go job hunting - it happens. A single instance (or 2) is not a big deal, seeing a trend of assignments where you've left for numerous different reasons starts to build a pattern can be a flag. So just make sure in your next job that you either feel very certain that you will settle in for a loner time, OR you are intentionally looking at riskier opportunities, and so it's understandable that your job will change frequently.

That's pretty grim. In my experience, it is unusual for a company to be so clear about it's very difficult economic situation. As others say, I think you can resonably expect that you may be out of a job in anywhere from 1-6 months - at least in a US business a company being so very frank and NOT offering any plan of action for what they are planning to do to recover is more or less an open invitation to employees to leave.

Realize that in a small company with dire economic conditions, there is no obligation to pay a long lay off package - it may happen, if there are drivers for it, but when a company is truly dying, layoff packages tend to get scanty as the money dries up.

I'd plan the following actions:

• Spend your time at work being as innovative and productive as possible. If you don't have a contract or a formal assignment, suggest work that could help both the company and you - even if it's a crazy experiment with a new process or technology - it's good to have things to talk about on your next job interview, and being able to stay motivated in an environment like this is a really good character trait.
• Brush up the resume and start looking - it's easier to get a job when you have a job. It's absolutely fair to say "my company's circumstances are extremely risky, as a newer employee, I suspect I may be among the first to go, so I'm considering my options".
• If your boss likes your work, and you have a good rapport - confirm with him that the circumstances are as dire as you think. Keep in mind that your boss has his own reasons to encourage you to stay, but he also may be able to provide added insight about your specific group or department.

It's not wonderful to have many short term assignments on your resume when you are in the market for a permanent, long term job. But a bad case of luck in one case should not be a killer when you go job hunting - it happens. A single instance (or 2) is not a big deal, seeing a trend of assignments where you've left for numerous different reasons starts to build a pattern can be a flag. So just make sure in your next job that you either feel very certain that you will settle in for a loner time, OR you are intentionally looking at riskier opportunities, and so it's understandable that your job will change frequently.