Here we go again. The company is in trouble and looking for ways to cut costs. It is too bad that they always start at the wrong place. Sure, cutting employees is a quick way to cut costs, but it is not an effective solution. The initial financial savings look good. However, when you start adding in the hidden costs like lost revenue, lower production from reduced morale, and brain drain to your competitors, the savings drop. Add that to the "one time charge" for severance packages and unemployment payments and it disappears.
Fortuntely, there is a better way. There are Alternatives to Layoffs.
In these economic times, and with no one predicting a quick fix for major USA industries, an article like this one could have been very useful. However, why providing some sound reasons why layoffs aren’t good (although most studies have found that there’s about a 10% of a company that isn’t productive and a layoff allows for the thinning of this group), the real problem with the article is its recommendation: restructure. This presents a very general, ethereal term, one with little guidance or help to the reader. Classically when Management has a problem, they re-organize. Is this what the author is promoting? Leadership requires more than that. Sorry, this is a good, pertinent topic, but unfortunately left the reader still with no tangible options.