I am currently working in a private company in the Philippines as a fulltime employee for the past 3 years. There is no sign of retrenchment or pay cut in spite of the economic situation but it never hurts to make extra measures to make myself layoff-proof. My job is IT related but lately, because of the economic related news, all these bail out talk in the US has made waves here in the Philippines. Some companies who have their business processes in the Philippines outsourced are somehow in shaky grounds. This affects me because the client of my company caters to these outsourcing companies. If they close down, my company will weaken and might be forced to downsize or initiate pay cuts.

As a person who prepares for the future, I have started to step up by doing various vital tasks even if it's not related to IT. There was a time I helped making a couple of company events successful by assisting in the logistics. I'm also planning of stepping up by handling all marketing collaterals of the company because right now, no one is doing it so it's a nice way of adding jobs to my work scope. I am also canvassing new marketing collaterals by talking to suppliers and allowing them to bid among themselves so we get the best deal.

Everyone can step up if they feel that changes will happen within the company. Stepping up also helps people to be more productive. In the end, if by stepping up you get to improve your company even in a small way, you can use that as leverage if you need anything from you employer.