ABSTRACT
Layoffs, downsizing, reduction-in-force. Although economic growth and prosperous conditions of the mid 1990s minimized these concepts as concerns, the economic slowdown and recession in addition to the terrorist attacks and response in 2001 quickly brought the reality of layoffs and firings to public attention. As the U.S. economy slid into recession, the number of organizations needing ways to reduce costs by trimming their workforce increased significantly. The unemployed workforce reached new highs for the decade. Economists’ forecasts suggested that although companies would “reduce the speed at which they lay off employees, the total number of layoffs would continue to increase” (Claims, 2001).
