November 20, 2008 Reading the job security tea leaves Play video

(NECN) - The Federal Reserve has predicted that the unemployment rate could spike as high as 7.6-percent in 2009, as employers across the country look to save every dollar they can.

So how can you tell if you're next in line to be laid off?

Martha Fields, human resource and management expert and co-author of the new book Roadmap To Success, gives her advice on the subject.

Some signs of impending layoffs are as follows:

-- A travel freeze is put in place by your company.

-- Remember that free food? If that's where the free food is -- in your memories -- it's not a good sign.

-- If key players in your company are jumping ship.

Here are the ways you can avoid being laid off:

-- If your job seems dispensable, plan an exit strategy, so that you decide your future

-- If you are on the cutting edge of your expertise, stay on the radar screen by networking before you lose your job, not after