THOUSANDS OF WORKERS who have survived the latest rounds of redundancies may feel a sense of relief, but they may be at greater health and psychological risk than those joining the live register.
Research into “redundancy survivors” suggests that they are more prone to ill health and anxiety compared with those working in a more secure environment.
Sickness levels and ill health are likely to increase in organisations that have implemented job cuts in the past six months.
Last week a conference of personnel managers heard that thousands of people at work are becoming psychological victims of soaring unemployment and widespread job cuts.
Layoffs and redundancies have knocked the levels of trust built up in recent months after years of building employee engagement and confident growth in many organisations.
Psychologist John Loughran told the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development annual employment law conference in Dublin that many employees are now experiencing “survivor syndrome”.
The mood of gloom and the accelerating number losing their jobs has put many who have retained their jobs into what Mr Loughran called “a rational negative” phase where confidence slumps.
To ensure ongoing employee commitment, many businesses will have to anticipate and implement strategic changes rather than confine themselves to short-term reaction and adaptation to the recession.
According to Mr Loughran, those who keep their jobs when colleagues lose theirs very often display signs of guilt, reduced self-esteem – and their productivity and sense of involvement decreases.
In addition there is increased anxiety, distrust, stress and absenteeism evident in many workplaces.
Medical research suggests that major downsizing leads to increases in sickness absence and cardiovascular deaths among employees.
The research, spread over four Finnish towns, found that “major downsizing was associated with an increase in sickness absence in permanent, but not in temporary, employees.
“In addition, the extent of redundancies was also associated with cardiovascular deaths, but not with deaths from other causes.
“In fact, there was a five-fold increase in cardiovascular deaths during the first four years following job cuts compared with a 1.4 times increase in the second four-year period.”
Michael McDonnell, director of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, cautioned that often the focus is on those leaving rather than the “survivors”.
“Disturbed sleep patterns and increased used of prescription medicines are often a by-product of a major job-cutting initiative, and it becomes more difficult to retain employee engagement.
“This is an area that good people managers will focus on while others are concentrating on cost reductions and redundancy schemes,” he said.
Good management practice suggests that redundancy is a two-stage process with a need to motivate those to “survive” the changes and not exploit their fears of further layoffs around the corner.
It seems that redundancies are not only about cost-containment but may sow the seeds of future workplace problems which will bring their own costs in personal health and productivity.
- Gerald Flynn is an employment specialist with Align Management Solutions in Dublin. gflynn@alignmanagement.net