<
https://news.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/explains-recent-tech-layoffs-worried/>
"Over recent months, tech companies have been laying workers off by the
thousands. It is estimated that in 2022 alone, over 120,000 people have been
dismissed from their job at some of the biggest players in tech – Meta, Amazon,
Netflix, and soon Google – and smaller firms and starts ups as well.
Announcements of cuts keep coming.
What explains why so many companies are laying large numbers of their workforce
off? The answer is simple: copycat behavior, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer, a
professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Here,
Stanford News talks to Pfeffer about how the workforce reductions that
are happening across the tech industry are a result mostly of “social
contagion”: Behavior spreads through a network as companies almost mindlessly
copy what others are doing. When a few firms fire staff, others will probably
follow suit. Most problematic, it’s a behavior that kills people: For example,
research has shown that layoffs can increase the odds of suicide by two times
or more.
Moreover, layoffs don’t work to improve company performance, Pfeffer adds.
Academic studies have shown that time and time again, workplace reductions
don’t do much for paring costs. Severance packages cost money, layoffs increase
unemployment insurance rates, and cuts reduce workplace morale and productivity
as remaining employees are left wondering, “Could I be fired too?”
For over four decades, Pfeffer, the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of
Organizational Behavior, has studied hiring and firing practices in companies
across the world. He’s met with business leaders at some of the country’s top
companies and their employees to learn what makes – and doesn’t make –
effective, evidence-based management. His recent book
Dying for a Paycheck:
How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance–And What We
Can Do About It (Harper Business, 2018) looks at how management practices,
including layoffs, are hurting, and in some cases, killing workers."
Via Wayne Radinsky.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
