The impact of downsizing on remaining employees in the organisation (food industry) in the Western Cape

Abstract

There has been a new wave of global downsizing in the early 2000's due to the proliferation of employees in the previous years. A question can be posed; to what extent have organizations yet to adopt a policy framework for ensuring a balance of procedural on the one hand and efficiency imperatives on the other (Chew & Howitz, 2002). Organisational downsizing has become an important issue recently affecting individuals and the economy of businesses. A "purposeful reduction in the size of an organization workforce" defines downsizing focusing on people and ensuring a lean philosophy (Cameron, Freeman, & Mishra, 1991). Companies all over the world have used a strategy of downsizing to improve employee competitiveness, organisational effectiveness, profitability, efficiency and to reduce the size of their workforce. Regardless of the reasons given for downsizing it have profound repercussions on all the functions in the organization. Due to the various social and institutional constraints as well as organisational and human research procedures firms follow, the effects of downsizing differ from resource and market based strategies. The rationale of the study is to determine to what extent downsizing affects the remaining employees within an organisation with respect to trust, communication, loyalty, employee commitment and career advancement opportunities.