The Coming Pink Slip Epidemic

That’s the title of a recent Business Week article. It seems that the epidemic has already been with us for several weeks, if not months. Business Week predicts it’ll get a lot worse, with job cuts being made “across broad swaths of the economy.” The New York Times agrees. The only industries likely to resist the epidemic are health care and energy.

“Bottom performers” will be the first to go (which makes one wonder why they’ve been hanging around at all). The next areas to be cut are those “not considered essential to operations.” Marketing. Communications. And — yikes — human resources. Then, every employee and every job are potentially on the chopping block, as desperation turns into abject misery.

I’ve written previously about the importance of a job, which is even more important at a time like this. I’ve also posted about steps employers can take to keep from giving in to the pink slip epidemic. (Click here, here, and here.)

Layoffs are, of course, necessary at times, but they shouldn’t be the first thing that an employer implements when times turn tough. Unfortunately, it seems that with many employers, layoffs occur before anything else is considered. It’s another sign that we’ve become a nation of short-term, instead of long-term, employers.

One thing that is long-term about layoffs is the damage they do to a company or organization. And it’s not just the blow to those laid off. Those who stay live in fear of being laid off, which makes being productive when a company needs it most difficult to pull off. Those who stay have much more work to do because of the now thin staff, which stifles efficiency and slashes morale. Layoffs tend to disproportionately impact low wage earners who actually produce whatever the employer is trying to sell. That’s a bit counter-intuitive, but as well all know, that’s life.

Finally, when there’s a pink slip epidemic, there usually follows a lawsuit epidemic, something else that makes a company’s recovery problematic. Also lurking around the corner is a union promising those employees who remain that if they’ll vote it in, nothing like this will ever happen again.

We’re all caught between a rock and a hard place right now and probably will be for a while. But aren’t we smart enough, compassionate enough, and tough enough to figure out a way to vaccinate ourselves against an epidemic that will only make matters worse?

1. 

   LKS says:

   November 5, 2008 at 2:04 pm

   Unfortunately energy is not immune. FPL has always seen RIF as a way to increase their profits. My sister was let go on Monday; she had been with them since she graduated college 26 years ago. They have had @ 17 RIF in the last 10 years or so.

   Greed is everywhere and as long as that is a motivating factor even the resistant areas are susceptible to RIF.
2. 

   John Phillips says:

   November 5, 2008 at 9:36 pm

   LKS,

   Thanks for clarifying. Just goes to show that you can’t believe everything Business Week or any other publication says.

   Sorry about your sister. This is such a tough time for so many people. But I think you’re right about greed.

   John