ABSTRACT
The New York Times runs a week-long series of articles on the effects of corporate downsizing on businesses, on the communities in which they operate or operated, and on individuals who work or worked for them (Uchitelle & Kleinfeld, 1996; Kleinfeld, 1996; Bragg, 1996; Rimer, 1996; Johnson, 1996; Kolbert & Clymer, 1996; Sanger & Lohr, 1996). Two months later, the paper runs a column entitled “Doublespeak.” It gives forty-eight euphemisms for getting fired, from “asked to resign” to “workforce imbalance correction” (Zane, 1996). Numerous books describe the changes in the workplace wrought by new technologies, globalization, and the value of the bottom line. Each book provides its own solutions (for example, Bridges, 1994; Rifkin, 1995; Handy, 1989). The only certainty appears to be uncertainty. In this turbulent sea of change, are there constants of individual action that can be drawn upon to provide anchors of meaningfulness?
