126,352 tech workers got laid off in 2025. Amazon cut 14,000 jobs. Microsoft slashed 6,000. Intel eliminated 24,000 positions—15% of its entire workforce.

And yet, some people didn’t even get the “your role has been impacted” email. Not because they were lucky. Because they made themselves structurally impossible to fire.

This isn’t about being the hardest worker or the most likable person in the room. It’s about occupying a position in the org chart that would cause more pain to eliminate than to keep. In 2026, when “forever layoffs” have become the new normal and AI is blamed for 70,000+ job cuts since 2023, job security isn’t about loyalty—it’s about leverage.

Here’s what the data reveals about who survives, and how they do it.

The “Forever Layoffs” Era (Why 2026 Is Different)

Glassdoor analysts coined the term “forever layoffs” to describe what’s happening: instead of one massive RIF (reduction in force), companies now do continuous micro-layoffs of 10-50 people at a time.

The numbers:

• 1.1 million announced layoffs through November 2025 (only the 6th time since 1993 this threshold was breached)
• Tech sector hit hardest: 150,000+ job cuts in 2025 alone
• Small layoffs (< 50 people) now account for the majority of cuts, up from under half in the mid-2010s

Why companies do this: Frequent small cuts avoid the “mass layoff” headlines and don’t trigger WARN Act requirements (which mandate 60 days notice for 50+ layoffs). They can continuously adjust headcount in response to quarterly earnings without the morale hit of a single blockbuster event.

What this means for you: You’re never safe just because the last round of cuts happened three months ago. The next one is always brewing.

The Three Types of “Unfireable” Employees

After analyzing layoff patterns across Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and 200+ smaller tech companies, three archetypes emerge as structurally resistant to cuts:

1. The Infrastructure Owner

What they do:
They built or maintain a critical system that nobody else understands. The codebase for billing. The data pipeline feeding the exec dashboard. The integration between legacy and new platforms.

Why they’re safe:
Firing them creates an immediate, visible crisis. Revenue stops flowing, reports break, or customers can’t log in. Leadership can’t afford the downtime to onboard a replacement.

2025-2026 example:
At Salesforce, while the company cut 4,000 customer service roles to AI chatbots, the engineers who built those chatbot integrations kept their jobs. Why? Because when the chatbot inevitably breaks (and it will), someone has to fix it at 2am.

How to become one:

• Volunteer for “no one wants to touch this” projects (legacy system migrations, compliance overhauls)
• Document nothing (controversial, but true—knowledge hoarding creates dependency)
• Make yourself the single point of contact for critical vendor relationships

The risk:
You become a “bus factor” liability. Smart companies try to eliminate these dependencies. But in the short term (1-3 years), you’re golden.

2. The Revenue Generator

What they do:
They directly bring in money—sales, partnerships, customer success for enterprise accounts. Their departure has an immediate P&L impact.

Why they’re safe:
Layoffs are cost-cutting measures. Cutting someone who generates $5M in annual bookings to save a $150K salary is insane math.

2026 reality check:
Glassdoor found that promotions increasingly favor in-office employees over remote workers. If you’re in sales or account management working remotely, your “revenue generator” shield is weaker than you think. Leadership wants to see you in the office closing deals.

How to become one:

• Move from cost center roles (marketing, ops, HR) to profit center roles (sales, partnerships, product with direct monetization)
• Own renewals for your company’s biggest accounts (especially if churn would hurt quarterly earnings)
• Get your name on contracts—if customers specifically ask for you, you’re sticky

The caveat:
Sales roles have their own volatility. Miss quota for two quarters and you’re out. This path requires consistent performance, not just structural positioning.

3. The Executive Dependency

What they do:
They make a C-level executive’s life significantly easier. Chief of staff roles, executive assistants who actually run operations, the analyst who builds all the CEO’s board decks.

Why they’re safe:
Executives protect their own people fiercely. When layoff lists come down, VPs lobby to keep their directs safe. If you’re one level removed—reporting to someone the CEO relies on—you benefit from that umbrella.

2026 trend:
With AI agents now handling administrative work, the traditional EA role is getting automated. But high-judgment roles—the person who knows what the CFO meant when she said “find the gaps in this strategy”—remain human-dependent.

How to become one:

• Get executive exposure early (volunteer for projects that put you in leadership meetings)
• Make your boss look good (your job is to 10x their output, not just execute tasks)
• Develop “we can’t lose this person” positioning (be the glue that holds cross-functional chaos together)

The downside:
Your fate is tied to your executive’s fate. If they get fired, you often go too. Diversify your internal relationships.

The Skills That Don’t Protect You (Contrary to Popular Belief)

Here’s what doesn’t make you unfireable in 2026, despite what LinkedIn gurus tell you:

❌ Being a “hard worker”
Companies laid off people who worked 60-hour weeks. Effort doesn’t equal leverage.

❌ Having a specialized degree or certification
55% of employers regret their AI layoffs because they cut people with domain expertise, then realized AI couldn’t replace them. But they still made the cuts. Credentials are a lagging indicator.

❌ Being well-liked
Popularity doesn’t survive spreadsheet optimization. When finance runs the numbers, “team morale” isn’t a line item.

❌ Tenure
Forrester found companies are cutting experienced workers and rehiring offshore at lower salaries. Your 10 years of loyalty might make you more expensive to keep, not less.

The “AI Replacement” Trap (And How to Avoid It)

Since 2023, companies have blamed AI for 70,000+ job cuts. But here’s the dirty secret: half of those AI layoffs will result in quiet rehires, according to Forrester Research.

What’s happening:

1. Company fires workers, betting on AI to replace them
2. AI isn’t ready / doesn’t work / quality tanks
3. Company either admits mistake and rehires (rare), or fills gaps with offshore labor at lower cost (common)

The Klarna case study:
In 2024, Klarna famously replaced 700 customer service reps with AI. By mid-2025, quality had declined so much that customers revolted, and Klarna had to rehire humans. But not at original salaries.

How to position yourself: Focus on “AI-adjacent” roles, not “AI-replaceable” ones. The people building, training, and fixing AI systems are safe. The people doing work AI is supposed to replace (but can’t yet) are in danger.

High-demand skills in 2026 (per Indeed data):

• Data preparation for AI implementation
• Prompt engineering and AI workflow design
• Human-in-the-loop quality assurance
• AI ethics and compliance

If you’re in a generalist role (basic legal drafting, contract review, financial modeling, junior dev work), you’re in the crosshairs. Upskill into specialization or pivot to AI tooling.

The “Ghost Job” Defense Strategy

40% of job postings in 2026 are fake—companies posting roles they have no intention of filling. This “ghost job” epidemic makes external job hunting a nightmare.

The unfireable mindset:
Don’t rely on the external job market as your safety net. Build internal optionality instead.

Tactics:

• Cross-train across teams: If your department gets cut, can you slide into another role internally?
• Document your wins publicly: Internal Slack posts, team newsletters, all-hands shoutouts. When layoffs come, you want leadership to remember your name.
• Build “shadow” skills: Learn the adjacent role’s core competency. If you’re in marketing, learn SQL. If you’re in engineering, learn to write GTM copy. Versatility = survival.

The Performance Review Advantage

When layoff lists are compiled, managers rank employees. Your self-evaluation becomes critical evidence.

The mistake most people make:
Writing a humble, understated review. This is not the time for modesty.

The unfireable approach:

• Quantify everything (revenue impact, time saved, bugs prevented, users gained)
• Use the manager’s language (if they care about “customer obsession,” frame your work through that lens)
• Position yourself as a “multiplier” (you didn’t just ship a feature—you unblocked three teams)

Pro tip: Use AI to draft your review, but don’t sound like AI. Run it through this framework to sound human while staying data-driven.

The “Fractional” Escape Hatch

If you do get laid off, the fractional executive model is the fastest path back to income without the 6-month job search grind.

What it is:
Instead of one full-time job, you work 20 hours/week for 2-3 companies as a part-time exec (CFO, CMO, CTO, etc.).

Why it works in 2026:
Startups can’t afford $300K full-time execs but need the expertise. You charge $200-300/hour for 20 hours/week = $16K-24K/month. That’s $192K-288K annualized, working half the hours.

The catch:
You need proven executive experience. This isn’t for mid-level ICs. But if you’re Director+ and facing layoffs, it’s worth exploring.

The Unfireable Checklist (Are You Protected?)

Rate yourself honestly:

□ I own a system that would break if I left
□ I directly generate revenue or retain major accounts
□ An executive would fight to keep me on their team
□ I have skills AI can’t replicate (yet)
□ I have internal mobility options if my team gets cut
□ My performance reviews are quantified and strong
□ I’m visible to leadership beyond my direct manager

Scoring:

• 5-7 checks: You’re structurally safe (for now)
• 3-4 checks: You’re vulnerable in the next wave
• 0-2 checks: Update your resume today

The Bottom Line

Job security in 2026 isn’t about being good at your job. It’s about being structurally expensive to lose.

The unfireable employee isn’t the hardest worker—it’s the person who would cause the most pain to replace. That might be because they own critical infrastructure, generate undeniable revenue, or make an executive 10x more effective.

The three-move strategy:

1. Assess your structural position (Infrastructure, Revenue, or Executive Dependency?)
2. Build leverage (Make yourself costly to lose)
3. Create internal optionality (Don’t bet on the external job market)

The forever layoffs aren’t ending. Companies have discovered they can cut continuously without the blowback of mass RIFs. Your defense isn’t loyalty or hard work—it’s leverage.

Start building it today.

Frequently Asked Questions