The Effect of Corporate Downsizing on Terminated White Collar Workers, Surviving Employees, and Corporate Performance

Author

Betty J. Brown, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1993

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

College

College of Business & Professional Studies

Degree Program

Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

Keywords

lay-offs, managers, management, organization, severence

Abstract

Reorganization, realignment and restructuring are the corporate issues of the 1990's. As companies face cutbacks from economic downturns, tightened budgets and stronger competition, a growing number of professionals, managers and clerical support staff are joining the ranks of the unemployed. This reorganization, realignment and restructuring has come to be known as downsizing.

A growing number of corporations have embarked on massive restructuring efforts in recent years, only to find that the expected savings are far more elusive than imagined. While staff reductions may hold the line on staffing costs, they do not in and of themselves produce revenue growth. Growth only comes from more constructive strategies such as developing new products and expanding existing markets. As long as sales growth remains weak, companies that turn to layoffs may be forced to cut back more employees in the future to help boost profit margins.

During the current trend of downsizing, emphasis is often fixed solely on the unemployed and displaced worker. However, the survivors of downsizing are also greatly affected by lay offs and restructuring. The survivors are often ignored before, during and after the corporate downsizing process. It is most important that corporations focus on the surviving employees, since they are the persons who will lead the new lean organization into the future.

Many managers and professionals who are still working are concerned about their future. Coping with downward mobility may be the single most important economic and social issues facing many white collar professionals in the 1990's.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

Brown, Betty J., "The Effect of Corporate Downsizing on Terminated White Collar Workers, Surviving Employees, and Corporate Performance" (1993). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 304.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/304