Healing the Wounds: Overcoming the Trauma of Layoffs and Revitalizing Downsized Organizations

5.13. Learnings and Implications

Layoff survivor symptoms persevered and evolved over time within the client organization. Survivors seemed more tired and depressed. They appeared to have been ground down by five years of job insecurity and flux. Although they had reduced their reliance on the organization to take care of them and seemed resigned to nonreciprocated loyalty, they were still struggling to understand and accommodate permanent job insecurity. They were an angry group, with much of their ire focused on top executive compensation, bonus payments during a time of financial loss, and excessive severance payments. In this regard, there is a direct correlation with the feelings of second act survivors. They had little tolerance for false ...