The year 2009 is witnessing a reversal in the fortune of the job market from boom to gloom. Organizations are under pressure to cut cost, lower volume growth and lessen the demand for people. From Reliance to tea units, all are feeling the heat wave of the global business slowing down. Generally, when there is a fall in the demand of products, organizations first axe their employees because they are the source of expenditure for them. Job insecurity has adversely affected the Indian middle class. Non-performers are no longer required in any organization. HR is now formulating innovative ways on how to layoff employees with less trauma. This article looks into employee downsizing and its consequences on organizational functioning.

In the first quarter of 2008, the Indian companies were only thinking of expanding their boundaries. They were on a shopping spree with joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions. Finance managers were overwhelmed with bankers offering attractive loan packages. HR managers spent sleepless nights trying to formulate strategies to attract and retain talent pools. Post Lehman Brothers bankruptcy the entire Finance World tumbled! Sharp fall in funds and cash inflows resulted in decreasing demand for products and services, intensifying the financial crisis.

The gloom in the job market is painful especially when campus recruitments used to form half of the workforce. Employees as well as employers are equally fighting with the current economic slowdown. While employees are struggling hard to find the next good job, employers are working out on how to "fire" people with less pain. The job insecurity is so high that employees are constantly asking themselves "What if I am the next to be sacked?"

HRM Review Magazine, Employee Downsizing, Global Business Slowing Down, Talent Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Crisis, Economic Slowdown, Information Technology, IT, Employee Engagement, Productivity Linked Incentives, PLI, National Aviation Company of India, NACIL, Strategic Business Management, Economic Downturn.