Tribune Employees Talk: Buyouts or layoffs, the effect on morale is the same

Buyouts or layoffs, the effect on morale is the same

A Guild blog reader suggested we post the link to a newyorker.com column titled "It's The Workforce, Stupid!" Author James Surowiecki writes that recent research has concluded that workforce layoffs is an effective way to cut costs, but the practice is a temporary fix and has a "negative impact on morale."

Staff cuts negatively impact morale because those left behind are expected to produce more – in addition to their own work – to make up for work previously done by their departed colleagues and often for less pay and longer hours.