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Essay On Laying Off Workers

analytical Essay
1512 words
1512 words
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Alexus Harris
ENGL 1102
Prof. Dale
4/25/2014

Downsizing Working America

Layoffs are widely considered to be negative life events associated with depression along with economic decline and numerous amounts of other health issues. Many studies have shown that there is a direct link between physical and mental illnesses that have occurred in former workers and layoffs. Even though there has been proof of these effects and layoffs there is still the fact that there is no way to avoid laying off workers. This issue affects hundreds of people in America a year though there has yet to be any advances towards preventing this issue.
Many psychologists believe that laying off workers can have serious consequences, such as mental and physical ailments of employees. However, other researchers say that laying off workers has never really been proven to cause depression or any other mental/ physical problems. There is also another argument that states that there is no way to avoid the act of laying off people; that it is just the way our system is set up. I believe that though the layoffs can not be avoided there could be better ways to let a worker go. I think that our system has to be improved in order for us to function properly. While some researchers say that layoffs have no serious effects they can’t avoid the changes that occur in a person after being laid off. Trying to avoid laying off people is pretty much impossible and I am not saying that it is the solution to our problems. However, reducing the damage done by laying off people is the goal. But I do think that attempting to cushion the blow to make it less detrimental to a person and their well-being would be in tact would be beneficial to all.

Downsizing has become an acce...

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...are of its employees. Based on the extensive evidence that huge layoffs most often provide only short-term gains and may do long term damage, should emphasize the need for caution when considering downsizing.
While it is an obvious fact that layoffs are almost impossible to avoid it has been stated that there are ways to avoid mass layoffs and the harmful effects that they can have on a worker’s well-being and their family. Layoffs have been proven to affect an employee’s mental stability and cause numerous amounts of health- related issues. It has also been proven that there is a way for corporations to decrease the amount of workers they layoff or fire by benefiting the workers a little more and the business a little less. While these efforts will not end layoffs and the detrimental effects it can have, it can help to “cushion the blow” or be less devastating.

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that layoffs are negative life events associated with depression, economic decline, and other health issues. there is no way to avoid laying off workers.
  • Opines that laying off workers can have serious consequences, such as mental and physical ailments of employees, but it has never been proven to cause depression or other mental/physical problems.
  • Opines that downsizing is not the answer to our economic situation because it will not help the average workers who need to provide for their families.
  • Analyzes how louis uchitelle's "the consequences-undoing sanity" states that layoffs are destructive psychologically for individuals who lose their jobs.
  • Explains that the threat of job loss and the anticipation of termination can also result in detrimental health consequences. in a study done by ferrie and colleagues, there was little evidence that deterioration of health was due to changes in health related behaviors.
  • Quotes dr. rolde, a czech immigrant and now psychiatrist, who stated that layoffs were "a trauma to the entire family".
  • Explains that america operates on a capitalist society that is constantly looking for ways to minimize costs while maximizing profits, but when companies start to put profits above employees, it can lead to mass layoffs that are harmful to our society.
  • Opines that companies should be held responsible for the individuals they are composed of and not jeopardize the economic well-being of their workers.
  • Argues that layoffs are a fact of life for most companies in distress during this economic downturn.
  • Argues that layoffs are not necessarily the cure for low profits that corporations and economists thought they were. a survey by the american management association in 1992 found that only 43.5% improved their operating profits.
  • Explains that a corporation will often discover the need to build up one aspect of the business process while trimming another.
  • Explains that layoffs are almost impossible to avoid, but there are ways to prevent them and the harmful effects they can have on a worker's well-being and their family.
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