|
 Employees
Should Stay Alert to Subtle Changes in Company
Auburn,
Aug. 7, 2002---Employees should be alert to subtle changes in
companies following mergers and acquisitions. Warning signs that
cutbacks are in the works, may loom on the horizon for weeks or
months prior to any formal announcement.
Employees, especially
those with longer tenures, may be vulnerable and should educate
themselves about things to watch for.
"The most likely
time for workforce reductions is the period immediately following
mergers or acquisitions," says. Dr. Jacquelyn Robinson, a
workforce development specialist with the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System.
Top and middle
management are usually combined for the transition. For the company,
this may mean a change or new direction in company philosophy and
mission; for employees, this may mean restructuring or consolidating
existing positions, eliminating or combining departments, all
resulting in a change in the customary working atmosphere.
When two or more
companies merge into one larger company or when one company buys
another, the functions and or services of various departments and
subsidiaries are evaluated.
"In most instances,
duplicate departments, functions or services are either eliminated
or sold to another company. In any case, positions seen as no longer
necessary or of value are eliminated -- people lose jobs, some after
having been with the company for years," Robinson says.
It takes most companies
three months to a year to assess all the functions and services
provided and all the departments in the newly formed company. Many
of the assessments will be made before daily operations are
combined. As the company's mission and philosophy change or are
refined, some positions, departments and services are no longer
considered assets.
"This is not to say
particular departments are no longer profitable. The department may
not fit into the company's new, revised strategic direction. The
result -- positions will be cut," Robinson adds.
Normally, positions are
cut in stages. Months prior to the official business deal, decisions
will be made on strategies to increase the bottom line and boost
stock values. Also, decided will be which, if any, positions will be
cut with the first round of cuts coinciding with the "official
opening" of the newly formed company.
Robinson warns that
making it through the first round of cuts is no guarantee that jobs
are safe. "Evaluation of the various departments and the
services they provide will continue after the official opening, so
one to three more rounds of job cuts may happen in the future.
"
It is possible to have
one or more last rounds of job cuts. The last positions eliminated
are usually those who helped the new company streamline its
workforce. Their services are more often than not duplicated
elsewhere in the company and are no longer needed.
The Alabama Cooperative
Extension System offers workshops -- New Beginnings: Life After Job
Loss -- to assist employees who are losing their jobs. The workshops
focus on how to mount a job search and look for a job in an
competitive environment.
For more information on
how to set up a workshop, contact Dr. Robinson at (334)
844-5353 or e-mail her
at jrobinso@aces.edu.
SOURCE: Dr. Jacquelyn P.
Robinson, Workforce Development Specialist, Alabama Cooperative
Extension System, (334) 844-5353
Article
in MS Word
Article
in Text
|
