So I have been working at the same company for five years, doing pretty much all the IT stuff. Sys admin, help desk, you name it. I've also developed a fair amount of in-house software for the company.

Today, I learned from a trusted source that they are actively interviewing people to replace me. I probably have a week, maybe two until I'm fired. To my knowledge I've done nothing to warrant this.

I've been looking around lately for a new job anyway, but without any sense of urgency. I have put in several applications with very few responses though.

I have 5 years experience doing this professionally and 15 total years of dev experience, but only a GED.

I'm not sure why I'm not getting any responses from my applications, but I'm pretty scared right now. I have a 5 month old baby, a wife and a teenager that all depend on me.

I don't know what to do...

I'm just a teen-ager myself but I'd say don't be afraid of changes or something... I wish you luck is I guess what I wanted to say

Is there no employee protection where you live? In France, it's illegal to fire someone without at least a month's warning, and depending on the conditions for firing, compensation.

You have to be massive twat to not let someone know you're thinking of replacing them and why. Are you sure you didn't REALLY piss someone off?

Good luck with the recruiters, hopefully everything will be fine 😊

That sucks. Which country are you from? Can you talk to your boss about it?

Los Angeles, California. I'm not supposed to know about this so bringing it up will stir up a lot of trouble for the other person who was kind enough to let me know.

They have legal ground to fire me since I technically have three writeups on my record for being late (over 6 months ago was the last time).

@Gogeta70 maybe you could find their job advert and confront them about it? Or would they still suspect your colleague?

@CptFox I suppose that is a possibility. I'm not sure what confronting them about it would change though.

I'm mostly concerned that I'm being passed over for the jobs I'm applying for, even though I'm fully capable of performing those jobs.

@Gogeta70 Embrace capitalism and sell yourself (not your body, your brain. try to keep your body as a last resort. also try to keep your brain inside your body, works better that way). Everyone says that, but it's still something to always keep in mind. If you don't trust your diploma to show your level of qualifications, make your experience and projects stand out more.

But also make sure the recruiter sees you as human. Sell yourself to the company, the choice will still be made semi-objectively, but make sure the people you interact with see you as a person, and one they would appreciate of possible : be polite and professional, but not robotic, make them relate to you. That will also show that you have these soft skills companies tend to seek in all positions to keep the machine lubricated.

Sorry if I'm not much help, I've been doing a lot of interviews recently, but I'm still to need to this stuff to give better advice. Still, better than nothing I guess.

@gogeta70, what your company is doing is standard response to a threatening market situation. They're trying to replace a person with 15 years' experience with something that is somewhat midway, like 5 or 6 years. This is because his/her salary package will be obviously lesser than yours. This is also the reason why you're not getting hits on your resume. Not because of your education or competence but because 15 years simply means higher package. You will need to compromise from looking for Dev positions to management position. It could help. Sorry if I was a little blunt but consider this for just a minute.

Can you apply for the (your) role?

@Gogeta70 this makes me sick. Esp when you mention that its from 6 months ago you were late. You sound like a hard worker and youre being put in an unfair position for being late 3 times. Now im positive this us why i was let go. I hope everyone involved in this decision geta permanent uncontrollable diarehea and loses their jobs for being late from shitty drawers.

@funkfan82 i think youre right about this in one sense, but companies used to just say they cant afford the raises. Now they rotate you once youre no longer a price optimal asset. I hate this world so fucking much.

@plumbus again it don't matter whether or not you're a price optimal asset. Our salaries are called CTC on the dang balance sheets. CTC stands for Cost To Company. So the optimal performance part is just BS because they have to find a reason to get you out the door. This is the first component of a pay package. In the past few years employees have become less and less of a company's focus. Investors and the bottom line matter the most. I don't know why it is like this, but it is what it is. I am a systems engineer myself. Been at it for 14 years. I walk to my cubicle every single day with this same fear. Wow all of this sounds morbid. Again real sorry. I am just trying to make a point that there is nothing wrong with any of us. It's the people from upstairs so to speak.

The strange part is that I'm incredibly underpaid, at less than $25/hour. It's the reason I've been putting in applications.

Whoever they hire to replace me will definitely cost them more .