4 ms·

I remember an article a few months back were someone argued that layoffs was a tipping point for companies. The argument was that after the first round of layof

by jpablo 16y ago

I remember an article a few months back were someone argued that layoffs was a tipping point for companies. The argument was that after the first round of layoffs everyone in the company feel a little less secure about their job and as a result the company stooped innovating. Anyone has that link ?

okaramian 16y ago
I don't have the link, but this really depends on the company and how they handle the layoffs. Like if you have a round of layoffs, but you have employees with faith in the management and the product, you're going to have remaining employees that stick around and work hard. Generally people that don't fall in that mold are going to get laid off in a situation like this. If you have employees that are sitting there with an expectation that the cpmpany will fail, however skilled they might be, they're going to start looking at other options. I think what I'm saying is: the initial tipping point in a case like this isn't the layoff, it's the ensuing fallout. One strategy that I've seen fail is using fear to keep people working. A "you're lucky you're still here" attitude has had people (like myself) out the door on the first other offer they find. An attitude of "this sucks, but we have to do it to stay around, no one is to blame" (which Digg seems to be going with) prevents things from going further south. Something like that can even unite the remaining group in difficult times.
VladRussian 16y ago
having been through layoffs myself, i can say that while layoffs itself are a hit to morale, the "who and how" of the layoffs can either mute or, a much more common case, amplify the effect manifold. Employees taking hit for the management's errors, and as a result increasing the ratio of managers to employees as taking off several people off each team still leaves the same number of managers, directors, VPs, etc... "necessary".

by jpablo 16y ago

okaramian 16y ago

I don't have the link, but this really depends on the company and how they handle the layoffs. Like if you have a round of layoffs, but you have employees with faith in the management and the product, you're going to have remaining employees that stick around and work hard. Generally people that don't fall in that mold are going to get laid off in a situation like this. If you have employees that are sitting there with an expectation that the cpmpany will fail, however skilled they might be, they're going to start looking at other options. I think what I'm saying is: the initial tipping point in a case like this isn't the layoff, it's the ensuing fallout. One strategy that I've seen fail is using fear to keep people working. A "you're lucky you're still here" attitude has had people (like myself) out the door on the first other offer they find. An attitude of "this sucks, but we have to do it to stay around, no one is to blame" (which Digg seems to be going with) prevents things from going further south. Something like that can even unite the remaining group in difficult times.

VladRussian 16y ago

having been through layoffs myself, i can say that while layoffs itself are a hit to morale, the "who and how" of the layoffs can either mute or, a much more common case, amplify the effect manifold. Employees taking hit for the management's errors, and as a result increasing the ratio of managers to employees as taking off several people off each team still leaves the same number of managers, directors, VPs, etc... "necessary".