Just a little personal experience:
BOSS: "There will NOT be a layoff."
REALITY: There was a layoff.
BOSS: "There will be no more layoffs."
REALITY: There were more layoffs.
BOSS: "This will be the last layoff."
REALITY: There were more layoffs.
BOSS: "I will be the next person laid off."
REALITY: He wasn't. Someone else was.
BOSS: "I am instituting 35 hrs. pay for 40 hrs. work."
REALITY: It lasted one pay period before the layoff.
BOSS: "The corporate jet will be the next thing to go."
REALITY: The corporate jet was still in place after the layoff.
BOSS: "Customer XYZ will pay their bill next week."
REALITY: Customer XYZ never paid their bill. Layoff instead.
BOSS: "Finish this project and we're in the clear."
REALITY: The project was finished. Then came the layoff.
BOSS: "Indispensable employees will be spared."
REALITY: No one was indispensable.
BOSS: "We made our numbers. We'll be OK."
REALITY: The SEC and IRS disagreed. We went out of business.
BOSS: "U.S. manufacturing is solid and protected."
REALITY: 400 jobs shipped to Haiti within 90 days.
BOSS: "A layoff will be the last resort."
REALITY: Layoff + executive auto leases still in place.
BOSS: "I will promote you next week."
REALITY: The company newsletter reported his girlfriend getting my job.
BOSS: "Just help me get through this and I will reward you."
REALITY: I helped him get through it. He didn't reward me.
Sorry to say, moral of the story:
Q: How can you tell if the boss is lying?
A: His mouth is moving.