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

4.2. Research Methodology

The initial study consisted of two samples: structured interviews of small groups of layoff survivors and individual interviews with human resource professionals involved in layoff administration. A second, more limited follow-up study (discussed in Chapter Five) was conducted five years later. In the initial group interviews were ten randomly selected groups of eight to fifteen survivors from recent layoffs. These groups represented a variety of businesses and job levels. The interview sessions were taped and the transcripts analyzed. The quotations that follow, excerpted from the interview transcripts, provide an appreciation of the depth and seriousness of layoff survivor sickness.

Survivors' feelings and concerns ...