A thick black cloud

Today my PM announced the new contractor renewal arrangements in our office. Starting Feb next year, an approval from the executive board will be required for all new hires and contract renewals. Take a look at the "Five signs you may be on the layoff list" (MarketWatch) :

1. Others are losing their jobs
2. Hiring freeze
3. Training budgets cut, projects slow down
4. Office gossip
5. Company is missing targets

A thick black cloud of signs 2, 3, and 4 shadows our office. The travel ban is still effective. The social committee cut various employee welfare. We didn't send out a dragon boat team this year! The gloomy outlook of the global economy surrounds me. When the PM reassured that the new arrangements are not going to affect those few of us, who have our contracts renewed before the end of Jan, I felt sorrow instead of relieved - like I will terminate my invaluable life after surviving a massacre.