What should I do if I feel like my company is trying to get me to quit?

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.

Q: What should I do if I feel like my company is trying to get me to quit?A: Let me start by acknowledging that this really sucks. Getting laid off is awful, but working in a job where you feel like they don’t want you there is horrible, too. Like many workplace phenomenons, this practice has been around for a long time, but was given a new name recently: “quiet firing.” (It’s just-as-awful workplace cousin is “quiet cutting” or, more simply, a demotion.)Let’s start with what it is and why it happens. Quiet firing is when your manager starts leaving you out of meetings and discussions, removing you from projects or assignments, or just stops helping you grow in your career. You can probably guess why this happens: It’s much cheaper and easier for a company to have an employee voluntarily quit than lay them off. With a layoff there is usually the cost of severance and COBRA health coverage, among other expenses.

You may feel insulted and want to leave. You could “quiet quit,” doing just the bare minimum and wait them out to see if they do end up firing you. But that’s not the best approach.So, what else can you do? Whether or not you hope to stay in your job, it’s still worth an honest conversation with your manager. Start with something like, “I’ve noticed I’ve been taken off these projects lately. Is there a reason? Is there something else I should be focusing on?”

The question might be a catalyst to start work on something new and a wake up call to your manager to not exclude you. Or you could also get a noncommittal response that tells you there is no path forward for you at your company, in which case it’s a pretty clear sign you should start looking for a new role.

Want more on “quiet firing?” Here you go:

• Employers are ‘quiet cutting’ employees. Here’s how it can impact your career
• We all know about ‘quiet quitting.’ Now there’s ‘quiet firing,’ too
• What companies lose out on when they ‘quiet fire’ staff
• Five subtle signs your boss is hoping you’ll quit