t offered early retirement in 1992. Normally, if this employee retired early he or she would receive only $7,512 a year. But since DuPont waived the actual reduction for those who leave early, the pension jumped to $18,756 a year. As you can see, this option would be an excellent incentive to the semi-retirement age employee. No one gets hurt, no disruptive feelings or negative responses are felt, in fact, the early retiree is quite happy and will display positive attitudes. As we look at the reasons for downsizing, it is easy to justify the needs from an organizational and business point of view. When considering the needs of employees and the affects of downsizing on them, the picture looks very different. While a company has to do what is necessary to stay alive in the competitive world of business, it also has a moral obligation to its employees and the community. Whether or not it chooses to consider the needs of its employees and the community during a downsizing phase will greatly affect the outcome of the process and alter the benefits of the lay-off. While the company's profits are its main concern, it must be careful of the way it implements the downsizing in order for the outcome to be adaptive and positive. If the profitability is the only criteria for downsizing and the company has disgruntled and non-focused employees, the outcome of the downsizing will apparently be disruptive, causing low morale in the workforce, which breeds lower productivity. If the employees can see the efforts of the company to exhaust all other possibilities before the lay-off and consider the needs and feelings of the employee and the affects on the community, they may be able to look upon the company with trust and security. A developed plan or focus for their future may allow survivors of the downsizing to adapt to the change in a more positive manner. Involvement by the Human Resource department should ease the pain of those affected by the lay...
