In times of CRISIS, laying-off workers should be last resort.

It is well-known that in hard times, the first recourse of many employers is to cut costs by laying off workers. Is it the right approach? We need to ask ourselves this question now as we have to face financial and economic crises. Employers should make redundancies only as a last resort; as it is a short-term fix and is detrimental to the company.

Businesses should instead plan for recovery and they can only do that by retaining their staff. In truth, businesses should invite their staff to participate in “cost-cutting exercises” and to come up with suggestions for reducing costs.

There are a number of legitimate ways to stave off redundancies.  Many big corporations are having recourse to them. These include short-time working, reduced hours, pay freezes, wage-cuts, and sabbaticals.

Mc Kinley in “Organizational Downsizing” rightly pointed out that there is considerable evidence that downsizing does not reduce expenses as much as desired and that sometimes expenses may actually increase”.

Lay-offs should be last resort. We have to find and fix the problem. Cutting jobs is not the best solution. Make the changes that will make the business better. Do not damage the very ones that made the business successful in the first place, its employees-its key resource-.

Areff Salauroo