What's a good rapid reaction strategy to implement before leaving the office for the last time?

I want to nth Theora55. In this situation as in any work situation I ask myself "what is the upside?". I can't see any upside in telling a boss off. You might get some near term satisfaction, but it can harm you in so many other ways. I also think people often get caught up in the "stick to the man" mentality. Your boss is a human and and is probably going through a tough time as well, and if you have a boss that isn't having a tough time firing you, you are better off not working with this person anyway. In my experience it's a very rare for someone to get fired for cause that does not deserve it. In the case of a lay off or RIF (Reduction In Force - the acronym does its part in making a layoff or mass termination sound less nasty, another trick of the "man") the terminations are rarely the fault of the boss unless he/she is directly contributing to company failures that are directly causing the financial woes that are causing the lay off. I have been fired and I have fired - and in terms of that one uncomfortable termination meeting, being the firer sucks more. I have unfortunately had to do this quite a few times. Fairly early in my career, I had to implement a RIF for 1/3 of my department about 15 people in the terrible economy of late 2001. This was purely a monetary issue for the company all these folks were decent performers, however, they were chosen because they were in the bottom 1/3 in terms of performance. The one thing I learned, is that you get to see a side of a person that you would never see outside a termination : how they react to the worst work news they could possibly get. Out of the 15 people some people were angry at the company and really angry at me, some people cried, and some people handled it amazingly well - so well that in 2 or 3 cases I decided that this person was so reasonable and so mature that I would have been better off firing someone else. In fact, one person said to me, "I'm really bummed out because I love working here, but I understand. Wow, this must be incredibly hard to fire all these people, how are you holding up?". While I could not reverse the fact that these people were being RIF'd and I had tried to help all 15 people with new jobs and references, it was hard not to work extra hard for the people who I thought handled it well. To this day I have a great "last impression" of them. It made me feel better about recommending them for a new job, and in one case I was actually able to hire one person back 6 months later when I got additional head count. Or more succinctly, whether being fired or quitting "always leave them smiling".

"These days, often when you're fired, you're often walked right out the door, with minimal time left to gather your things." Or to clean up your computer. Before it happens, back up any personal files and keep your browser bookmarks, saved passwords, etc. clean. Yeah, IT sees interesting things all the time, but those things doesn't have to be yours.

If you haven't built a "fire box" by now with little bits of incriminating evidence you've found over the time you've been employed it's likely that you have nothing with which to leverage any sort of severance beyond the standard. If on the other hand you've made a habit of riffling through waste baskets, checking copy machines for forgotten originals, taped conversations, and saved questionable emails... then you've got something to work with.

These days, often when you're fired, you're often walked right out the door, with minimal time left to gather your things. Telling off an employer, unless you know for a fact you won't be dealing with any of those people - or people they might talk to - is a bad idea. I'd start preparing your strategy now - once it happens, if it happens, it's too late. Update resume. Know how to contact possible references, or anybody else. Send out a polite parting email to those you'd like to give your personal contact info to, if possible. Save a portfolio of your work to a memory stick. Make sure you have all your stuff before you walk out the door, as you might not If you get laid off, I'm at a loss as to what one could demand, assuming, as most states are, you're an at-will employee. They lay you off, you leave.

You say your job isn't in jeopardy, which makes this kind of academic. Under those conditions, it might be more productive to think about what you should ask for when given new, additional responsibilities. But if you are laid off, you might at a minimum say something like: "This is hard to adjust to, though I guess I understand why you have to do it. Is there anything you can do to make this any easier on me?" A little non-hostility, and sympathy, might produce some interesting concessions.

You could do like I did. I was in the research library when my boss came upstairs and asked if I had a moment. I told him I needed to finish my research for next week's trip...which I knew wasn't happening, as I'd seen other people going down the stairs with boxes and angry looks on their faces. I proceeded to make him wait almost a half-hour before he could drop the ax. That was kinda fun.

If you suspect you're next, I'd start packing up my personal possessions slowly, sneaking some home per day. Then again, I wouldn't trust anyone who's packing for me while I'm in the office. At least when you're laid off, you're eligible for unemployment and it's as "no-fault" as you can get.

Don't sign anything merely because they ask you to. (You might choose to if they make it worth your while.) I don't understand how you can demand anything special when you are laid off, unless you think there is some illegality involved.

Yes, I mean they apparently thought I was deleting actual important work files, as opposed to clearing the cache (which yes, I'm aware is technically deleting files).