Downsizing 1 Downsizing Effects on Survivors:

In a representative sample of 13,683 U.S. employees, we compared survivors of layoffs, offshoring, outsourcing, and their combinations to a group who experienced no downsizing. Survivors of layoffs perceived lower organizational performance, job security, affective attachment, calculative attachment, and had higher turnover intentions than the comparison. Offshoring survivors perceived lower performance, fairness, and affective attachment, but outsourcing survivors generally did not have more negative outcomes. Layoffs generally had more negative outcomes than other downsizing forms. Downsizing 3 Downsizing, “the planned elimination of positions and jobs ” (Cascio, 1993: 96), has become a defining characteristic of organizational life. Organizations often downsize in an attempt to cut labor costs, improve profitability, and achieve a greater competitive advantage. However, there have been notable failures of many downsizing initiatives to deliver these benefits (Cascio, 1993). Because of such failures and because downsizing has impacted so many employees, much research has focused on understanding negativ