How Layoffs Affect Employees Left In The Workplace Persuasive Essay Help

Abstract

This research will be done to give a comprehensive examination of the workplace effects of employee layoffs. Various businesses have been negatively impacted by the manner in which employees have been laid off, putting them in a bind as to the most effective solution to the redundancy problem. The effects of layoffs are political, economic, environmental, and social. Interviews, questionnaires, and direct observation data will be statistically analyzed to assess the consequences and propose a workable solution.

Introduction

Problem statement

Unannounced staff layoffs produce dread, anxiety, and decreased workplace productivity. However, decreased hours through job sharing options give a sufficient alternative to layoffs for preserving a company's brand and fostering employee loyalty. This makes them feel secure and protected. Resulting in higher productivity, improved reputation, and market share expansion.

Literature Review

According to data from the 1990 wave of the Labour Market Activity Survey (LMAS) conducted by Statistics Canada, layoffs have a negative impact on employee performance. This theory's proponents concur that a degree of decreased employee productivity is noticed. Though a certain amount of fear tends to be beneficial for positive change, it has a negative impact on organizational decision-making, risk-taking, and heightened anxiety at all organizational levels. This negative impact on customer service and employee excitement has a long-term negative impact on productivity. This study utilized information from the 1990 wave of Statistics Canada's Labour Market Activity Survey (LMAS). It comprises data on a variety of criteria important to the layoff decision, including demographic characteristics, labor market involvement, employment, work patterns, and job characteristics. Since the sample for the LMAS (75,000) is drawn from the Labour Force Survey, the population is deemed to be representative of the civilian, non-institutionalized population, ages 16 to 69, who resided in the 10 provinces in January 1991.

According to this information, four groups were eliminated from the sample because they were deemed irrelevant to the study: (1) those who did not work in 1990 and therefore may have been experiencing permanent displacement; (2) those who had multiple jobs and therefore may have been laid off from one job and working in another; (3) those who had a part-time job, which may have been in the secondary labor market; and (4) those who were self-employed. Additional 3,323 persons who were omitted because they claimed a term of unemployment unrelated to work interruptions (e.g., a new entrant to the labor market) or a "non-layoff" reason for the job interruption were included (e.g., illness, accident, or pregnancy). The final sample includes 22,922 instances, including 9,554 union and 13,368 nonunion full-time employees.

Worksharing as a Substitute for Layoffs

According to Nixon, Hitt, and Jeong (2004), the work sharing system, which is handled by the federal government, is popular with the Canadian government. Employers, employees, and local trade unions favored the idea of an insurance payout for unemployment during an individual's time off due to job sharing (Chatrath, Ramchander and Song, 1995). Chatrath et al. (1995) found that 88 percent of respondents were satisfied with the policy. Although job sharing may marginally increase the cost of fringe benefits, this increase is likely to be more than compensated by cost reductions associated with hiring and training new employees following a demand hiatus. In addition, work sharing prevents an increase in average hourly labor expenses caused by the dismissal of lower-paid junior employees and the retention of higher-paid senior personnel.

Work sharing has other advantages. With more leisure time, employees are likely to profit from 90 percent retention of their weekly earnings. Additionally, this attracts employees who are not subject to layoffs. According to research data, there is broad support for the job sharing program among employees (Chatrath, Ramchander and Song, 1995). However, this is considered as a temporary answer to impending layoffs and not a lasting solution to work arrangements (Nixon, et al., 2004).

While job sharing programs are popular among employees at risk of layoffs, trade unions in Canada hold a variety of opinions. When it was established in 1982, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) considered the work sharing program as an impediment to policymakers' ability to make the correct judgments regarding unemployment rates and seniority levels by granting all employees the same job stability (Nixon, et al., 2004). Local groups responded to urgent concerns of its members, such as the catastrophic effects of layoffs, but national organizations had a more long-term perspective.

Nixon, et al. (2004), advocates of job sharing, assert that this method of avoiding layoffs results in a more equitable and balanced distribution of labor. This results in increased efficiency and creativity on the side of the employee. The general public, according to Reid, supports this strategy. According to a study on the impact of layoffs on firms, including employees, shareholders, communities, organization's management, and interaction with other firms, reputation and goodwill would be the same for announced and unannounced layoffs for competing and collaborating firms (Nixon, et al., 2005). (2004). This confirms the Institutional theory-based conclusion that organizations exhibit the same structure and behavior in response to events that hurt individual companies and firm-level organizations (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). Montgomery (1995) contends that layoff decisions made by a company demonstrated a beneficial association. This confirms the need for employee unionization as a safeguard against corporation layoffs. According to the survey, ethnic bias played a significant influence, since ethnic groups had a greater likelihood of being laid off than non-ethnic groups. In spite of this, family responsibilities, seniority, and vocational requirements have become the most prevalent grounds for layoffs.

Variables, Research Question, and Hypotheses

In light of the aforementioned problem statement and literature review, numerous hypotheses abound. Key hypotheses consist of;

Hypotheses

Despite the labor sharing arrangement, there is a significant gain in staff productivity.

Alternatively, employee layoffs lead to decreased productivity.

Variables

The researcher examined both dependent factors and independent variables. Age of employees, gender, breach of contract, demographic factors, employment level, work pattern, and productivity were independent variables.

While dependent variables include staff count and productivity, According to the alternate theory, layoffs could lead to decreased productivity. This occurs in a workplace when there are fewer employees, longer work hours, and less time spent interacting with other employees. These include staff utilization, a greater pay, an increase in working hours and other advantages, lower productivity, employee engagement, and an improvement in the quality of work owing to specialization.

Nevertheless, if the null hypothesis is correct according to the research findings, company structure could be solidly maintained in light of the work sharing arrangement in which employees feel valued by the organization they have worked for, feel secure in their workplace, and experience a reduction in joblessness and the frustrations that accompany job loss.

Research Concerns

What could be the impact on employee productivity if they remain in the workplace? How may layoffs damage the reputation of an organization? How should a corporation explain impending layoffs to its employees? how should a cost-benefit analysis be performed on staff layoffs? What organizational effects does a decreased workforce have? What economic effects could greater workload and working hours have?

Proposed Methodology

The research approach includes gathering data from several institutions, conducting a poll on the productivity levels of various organizations facing layoffs and those having the option of job sharing, collecting demographic data, and analyzing the collected data.

The research will focus on General Motors, a company that has encountered numerous market uncertainties from multiple competitors, as well as harsh economic circumstances and an uncertain global economic situation. In addition, the motor giant has laid off a large number of employees and retained a smaller workforce.

Other data will be collected from a group of businesses that have implemented a work-sharing program for their employees. Essentially, the researcher will collect data from the two groups to determine their perspectives on layoffs and work-sharing arrangements. In addition, the researcher would examine the production levels of the two organizations to estimate the impact of layoffs on the remaining employees.

Collecting data from companies that have laid off employees and those that have implemented work sharing as a viable alternative, as well as data from government agencies and reputable research organizations, is the methodology used to conduct research on the effects of employee layoffs in the workplace. The survey will be conducted by administering a questionnaire to those laid off, those in the workplace, and the management of the affected company, conducting interviews with those in the managerial hierarchy, reviewing scholarly articles on the effects of layoffs on businesses, and making observations. Geographical dispersion of the enterprises involved, whether local or global, demographics of the laid off and those who continue at work, social and political repercussions, and environmental ramifications of laying off people vs work sharing alternatives.

The focus of the research will be on all levels of management and the personnel of the companies in question. It would discuss the communication procedures of limiting layoffs, their impact on the interactions of similar firms, their policies, and any other policies pertinent to the research topics. Given an institution's macro-cognitive foundations of reputation, an in-depth view of stakeholders who are interested in value outcome, collecting information from shareholders of various companies, and analyzing the reputation standing of the companies of choice, even though reputation is not an absolute measure (Rindova and Fombrun, 1999). However, this has an impact when compared to other businesses (Shrum and Wuthnow, 1988). A statistical correlation between the variables will be investigated; this correlation may be perfect, partial, or nonexistent. Consequently, by evaluating the correlation coefficient, r, which measures the strength of the relationship between the variables, the hypotheses will be confirmed or rejected. Determine the significance of r based on the degree of correlation in the parent population. In addition, the data will be subject to a population confidence test.

The characteristics of the population, the mean, mode, median, and standard deviation, the dispersion of the population and the skewness, the symmetry of the distribution and its kurtosis (peaking of the distribution), will assist us in doing a statistical analysis on the collected data. The standard deviation, an important measure of dispersion, will play a significant role in a statistical investigation of the consequences of layoffs on people in the workplace. The acquired data will then be simulated using cumulative proportional frequencies and cumulative probabilities, which are calculated using a cumulative probability distribution.

Ethical factors will be taken into account in the research, and sampling procedures will include stratified sampling, which will take into account the ages of individuals remaining at the workplace, occupation, and geographical region; hence, samples will be taken from each strata. Consequently, an accurate and proportional portrayal of the population engaged.

Due to the tiny sample size, the distribution would statistically follow a T distribution, which is symmetrical about zero. The degree of freedom will decide the curve, and tables will be used to generate the confidence range for the data. Consequently, the critical value of t for a percentage greater than 95% will come from a greater probability depicted as P (/T/t) =0.95 for the variable under consideration.

The data will be collected using tables, and statistical tools including graphs, charts, frequency charts, and histograms will be utilized to display the findings and offer the interpreted data as actionable information.

The statistical findings about the effects of layoffs on employees will lead to a conclusion. Thus, the theories will either be confirmed or invalidated.

Plan for Analyses Proposed

Data collected on employee layoffs and their effects on those still employed will be submitted to a variety of analyses in order to provide a solution as to whether work sharing or layoffs should be prioritized and how to efficiently implement the plan in light of corporate interests. Consequently, the decision based on the studied data, the influence it will have on the business interests of the impacted firms, their reputation and productivity, and their interactions with other firms with similar business interests will have a favorable effect on the decision. If the outcome is good, this decision could be appealing to both sides. The acquired facts, analysis, and conclusion will gradually alter the recommended options.

One of the study issues about employee layoffs could be whether or not the productivity of the remaining employees will grow. Examining statistical data collected from companies that have laid off employees can yield valid responses to this topic. The statistical study of this question will be based on comparisons with other businesses and government statistics. The data were then subjected to a test of goodness of fit and a significance test in order to reach a credible result.

What is the reputation of companies that lay off staff in response to current or anticipated financial difficulties? On the basis of the data obtained through tables and bar charts, the mean, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient will be generated for this query.

The level of production will be statistically assessed using the simplex approach, which is commonly employed by businesses to discover the best and most viable options to pursue by putting the problem in a standard mathematical manner. A quantitative statistical analysis using bar charts and line graphs will be performed on a questionnaire delivered to stakeholders. In order to assure accurate and trustworthy data, the data will be tested prior to being authorized for use, and re-interviews and questionnaires will be administered if the data lacks consistency.

The gathered data will be encoded mathematically, visually, and placed into tables, so facilitating its analysis. On the acquired data, descriptive statistics involving frequency tables, polygons, the central limit theorem, analysis of the normal curve, standard deviations, and significance tests will be performed.

Eventually, data about stakeholders will be a question that can be addressed statistically by applying the appropriate statistical test to the data.

What could be the relationship between enterprises with comparable activity and other firms' layoffs? This information will be statistically evaluated, and a correlation will be discovered.

The validity of the research and validity of

× How can I help you?