UPHOLDING SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYEE MORALE DURING DOWNSIZING

Abstract

Now-a-days downsizing is a part of life. Companies who cut jobs in one year repeat the same in next year. The researcher would like to highlight the many forecasted gains out of downsizing (high productivity, work efficiency, flexibility, better performance etc) could not be achieved. Studies have shown that employees undergoing layoffs often show signs of resistance to change, fear, commitment issues, and withdrawal symptoms since there is a significant rise in their workload. The survivors face commitment issues if they get to know that the company is being unfair in the whole process. Survivors trust is at stake since the top management opts to withhold the information and there is no openness towards communication. This trust and morale further deteriorates when the survivors find out that the management is unreliable and inconsistent in their decisions related to downsizing. Involving employees in downsizing decision making, training the survivors and providing them with career counseling sessions will definitely help to ease the rightsizing process. Trust and empowerment will ultimately become the sources of competitive advantage in this dynamic environment in the coming years. The study highlights the effect of downsizing on employees’ morale. It will help to formulate strategies that guarantee the delivery of the desired out come as well as it will also add to the existing literature on downsizing and employees’ performance in multinational manufacturing companies.Data was analyzed through descriptive statistics. The study concludes that downsizing increases their job insecurity. Furthermore, the study recommends that the organization must improve employees’ morale in an effort to boost employee’s output and make them feel secure and protected about retaining their job.