If You Knew One of Your Co-Workers (Friend) Was In Danger of Losing His Job...

I have no idea what to do

i'm gonna go out on a limb and say yes you should make him aware of the situation - these things can be a bit of a bombshell if dropped on you at the last possible moment (i.e. when his boss tells him) - and i say that because its happened to me before (though i did at least have an inkling it was coming so not a real shock, in fact it was partly relief!). surely he would have some idea himself if the reason for his potential departure is down to the performance of the company he works for, or the nature of the market they operate within, rather than his own performance as an employee. if its the former then you will hopefully find he had an inling too and perhaps has been preparing already, if its the latter then thats a more sensitive issue but maybe you can soften that blow by pointing out what his good qualities in the job were and how he could improve all round for the next time?

what would stop you? do business ethics say you're not allowed to warn people or something?

I would tell him if he was a close friend. This gives him the chance to start looking for other work, or try and sort out the problem that's jeopardizing his job in the first place. Unless the background to this post makes your choices a little more complicated.

No, I just have a feeling if I tell him, he'll march into our boss' office and quit straightaway because they've been so pissed at each other lately... he's recently moved and doesn't have any spare $$ (none of my business, but he told me) and I just worry. It's not my problem, I know... I guess what I mean to ask is if I don't tell him, as a friend, am I being disloyal? (I don't care about loyalty to the company - I've been here long enough not to worry about that).

I would tell my friend any factual basis for my belief, like if the boss had a post-it note on the desk saying "Fire So-and-so," (which a former boss has had but the person wasn't a friend) but not if it was second-hand gossip or something that the friend was already aware of (as in this case, that the boss is angry with the friend).

Leave you job and the town you live in NOW. It's all too compicated!

I live most of my working life like this. You get used to it.

Probably best to tell them so they can at least try and get something else lined up but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should they tell anyone you told them.

Yeah, tell them if you give a damn about them, give them a chance to adjust to save their job or start looking for the next one.

This happened to me a few months ago. I was up at the receptionist's desk looking for a package and this other agent was up there having her type up a termination letter. I went back to where his assistant sits, fretting about whether or not I should tell her exactly what I saw, but she wasn't at her desk. Maybe it was a post-termination termination letter. Anyway, I never saw her again.