Overall worker confidence is in the doldrums these days, and if if you're like everybody else, you're asking yourself, "Could my job be at risk?"

Unless you're fully retired, the answer is, "Yes."

Hiring freezes and layoffs are ratcheting up, especially in construction, real estate, banking and retail sales. It's all thanks to the mortgage crisis and housing bust, as well as consumers up to their eyeballs in debt who have snapped their wallets shut.

The workers most at risk in these bad economic times are those in most housing-related industries, consumer products manufacturing, retail, and even travel and tourism.

You're probably less in danger if you work in utilities, health care, or for a company that services our vices such as gambling, cigarette manufacturing and alcohol makers/ distributors.

Americans seem to be saying, "If we are going down, we'll do it with a smile on our face!"

Follow These 7 Steps Now

You don't have to sit idly by and accept whatever comes your way. In fact, you shouldn't! Even little things can make a big difference. Here are our top seven tips to help you protect your job in these tough times:

1. Work in your company's profit center, not a cost center. Cost centers include human resources, marketing and even customer service. Profit centers bring in the money. The sad truth is, if your job doesn't directly benefit your company's bottom line, you're at greater risk.

2. Be a star. No matter what your job entails, do it better than anyone else. If that means coming in earlier and staying later than co-workers, DO IT! The first employee out of the building at 5 p.m. loses.

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