Organizations are moving away from redeployment strategies and are hiring and firing simultaneously to respond to the economy but what affect does this have on the remaining employees? Across the globe, organizations are looking for ways to keep their companies afloat in the downturn economy. Two popular strategies are eliminating unprofitable segments and developing new business units that might thrive. In May, the Wall Street Journal published a story about companies that are implementing these strategies concurrently. The result is an organization that is both hiring and firing at the same time.
When the economy began to slow-down and companies were faced with reducing their work-force, the popular buzzword was "redeployment." Companies felt compelled to find places for as many employees as they could and more often than not, that meant retraining the employee. We saw many of our recruiter friends switch to a generalist position to maintain job security. This article suggests a big shift away from retraining employees and mentions that it's more cost-effective to lay-off employees and hire employees skilled in that particular area. While this makes sense from a business perspective, I can't help but wonder how the remaining employees feel while their colleagues are being laid off and their company is actively hiring. What kind of message does this send to the remaining workforce? Should we be worried about employee loyalty and engagement?
Written by: Elise Ludwig
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