Scientific guys aren't the best at telling their management why they should keep them on the payroll. This is good in a way, because the scientist needs to be creating, innovating, putting ideas into production, testing, etc. Computer people aren't much different.
In these times, however, you (scientist, system admin, HPC operations manager...) have to make sure that your management -- all the way up the line -- understands why you are there:
- What you bring to the business that helps it be successful
- How you contribute to the short-term success of your business units/ production teams
- What is unique about your contributions
- How you are looking ahead for long-term growth and success
If you were asked to justify your personal work or the work of your group, have you thought through what you would say? Do you have an internal story that is compelling? If not, put one together now. Do it after hours if you are swamped, but do it. Business management throughout the USA (and perhaps the world) are running scared because sales, services, revenue are all down. That means someone up the chain is likely to look down and ask "Why are we doing that?" If "that" happens to be your work area, then be ready with a good answer! Don't wait for the question.
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