Joined new company 11 months ago. Rocky start, but things got better. I was praised and things seemed fine, but then I went thorugh a bad break up and needed some time off for health reasons and had a bad couple of months, but that's not to say I wasn't performing - or performing badly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my manager tried to extend my probationary period and gave a list of areas for improvement. These points had never been raised before. Some are fair, others are not. Anyway, after seeking advice from HR, it wasn't possible to extend the period, so he wants to work on my improvements informally (without official HR involvement). I am already making improvements, but it is stressful.
Redundancies are coming up in the company. Our team will be evaluated early-middle next year. One of our team members won't be coming back after her maternity leave. So we should make our 5% saving in terms of staffing costs. Yet my manager couldn't look at me when he said he'll be re-structuring the team to recruit someone junior. It felt weird. I don't know if i am being paranoid, but I have a gut feeling he might try to get rid of me. Later, he asked if I still wanted to go on a work trip that has been booked for spring. Why would he ask that?
I don't know whether to be honest and come out and ask if my job will be at risk, or to talk about the weirdness that has followed the above.
I know now is the time to start looking for jobs.
Any thoughts / advice would be most welcome.