Layoffs continue to escalate ...

The layoffs are piling up.

Circuit City's closing shop and cutting 30,000 jobs, Hertz is axing 4,000 positions and drug company Pfizer is eliminating as many as 2,400 sales representatives. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We have entered an era in which every job - and in some cases, scores of jobs - are under scrutiny. And it's not just the jobs that are being considered. It's worker performance. Everyone is being watched, and they're being watched in a different kind of way. Employers want to determine what kind of value you bring to the company.

During flush times marginal workers and, in some cases, even questionable employees, can sometimes skate by because they get lost in the mix of an operation that has plenty of resources and a good cash flow.

But during times like these,  employees need to be careful - not paranoid, but careful.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard came to me years ago. I was talking with a representative from a large company and asked him what employees could do during tough economic times to lessen their chances of being laid off.

"Make yourself valuable," he said. "Make yourself indispensible so that when they are faced with having to make cuts you won't be high up on their list."

Very simple advice. But it makes sense. Let's face it, some people are going to lose their jobs no matter what. You might be the best computer programer this side of the Mississippi, or the best car salesman a customer ever encountered. But when times truly get tough, cuts are probably going to happen.

So my advice?

Do the best job you can. Make the company value your presence. Give them something that brings value to the operation. And then you can go home and feel good about yourself. It sure beats the alternative.