The Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week

What if layoffs are not the quick fix for the challenges companies face?

Based on the frequency and scale of recent layoffs — there have been more than 140,000 in the tech sector this year alone — one might think that downsizing could cure everything from budget constraints to the common cold. But in a recent Harvard Business Review article, Didier Elzinga and Amy Lavoie argue that companies might want to consider the true impact of layoffs before eyeing their head count.

“Layoffs may sound like a shortcut to a more agile, lean, and responsive operation,” the authors say, “but proceed with caution.” While staff reductions can lead to short-term financial benefits, Didier and Amy write, they can also have a significant impact on employee engagement, morale, and loyalty.

In their research, the authors found that employees’ confidence in the company dropped 16.9% after layoffs; belief in career opportunities dropped 12.1%; and confidence in leadership dropped 10.5%. On top of that, they also found that it could take 12 to 24 months for employee engagement to rebound after layoffs — and that was only if the company hired new employees to backfill essential roles.

To learn more about this fascinating study, be sure to check out the top spot on our list below of must-read articles for talent professionals.

And further down our list, you can learn how CHROs can help maintain civility in the workplace during tense political times; why L&D leaders may want to think in terms of “durable” and “perishable” skills instead of soft and hard ones; and why industry leader Dr. John Sullivan considers hiring people you’d like to have a beer with a “dinosaur recruiting practice.”