Introduction
Companies that faced a decrease in sales, market share, or profits in the 1980s and early 1990s began to realize that their human resources were expensive and underutilized. To become more competitive, companies made strategic decision to gradually lower their payroll numbers. (Anthony, Kacmar & Perrewe al, 2002:434) Downsizing has become a critical issue around the world. Downsizing and mass lay-offs are happening not only on US companies but also organizations in the entire industrial world. The number of organizations and jobs affected by downsizing has been staggering. In 1993, in an unending quest for lower costs, higher productivity, and fatter profits, American firms announced 615,000 jobs cut, and all-time record. Many of these actions reached into the ranks of white-collar and middle management positions. Earlier, layoffs were generally limited to low-level, unskilled, or blue-collar labour. (Hitt et. al., 1994) (Internet Material #1) Making staff......
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Approximate Word Count: 4708
Approximate Pages: 19 (260 words per double-spaced page) |