Layoff prevention programs create new cause to worry
Samantha Sigmon
Issue date: 8/29/07 Section: News
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He found that various factors like a history of negative work experiences, such as a low level of education or employment in a low-skilled job did not explain the increased gap in job insecurity for black workers as compared with white workers, according to the press release.
Communications between the management and workers could be the cause of layoff prevention program reactions. Certain theories suggest that people are attracted to and tend to socialize with others who are similar to themselves.
Informal word-of-mouth communication can make black workers suspicious of the program as they are largely excluded from social cliques, Yang said.
According to this theory, the fact that most managers are white means that there is less psychological barrier for white workers to interpret policies and programs in a positive light, according to the press release.
"In contrast, black workers, being outsiders and long-term targets of various workplace inequalities, may come to interpret policies and programs with suspicion and uncertainty," Yang wrote, according to the press release.
Only one third of employers in Yang's analysis reported having a layoff prevention program in place.
"To no one's expectation, such programs are detrimental to job anxiety of African American workers, making them even more anxious of their jobs.," Yang said. "If not fixed, those problems can be harmful to workers as well as employers, for example the decline of work morale and productivity," Yang said.
To fix this problem, "employers can find alternative ways to express their benign intention to protect workers' job security, particularly black workers," Yang said. "Perception of job insecurity maybe linked to workers' perception of other workplace inequalities," Yang said. "If African Americans perceive themselves as being systemically lagged behind in many benefits, they are only going to treat such layoff prevention programs as sheer rhetoric with a lack of sincerity."
Yang said he believes the gap in the perception of the layoff prevention programs can begin to be mended if people become aware about how they communicate information to different groups of people.
"If employers use human-resource-friendly policies to reduce anxiety, they need to be aware that not all will hear the policy in the same way," Yang said. "It's important not just to put programs in place, but to be aware of how people receive them."
Communications between the management and workers could be the cause of layoff prevention program reactions. Certain theories suggest that people are attracted to and tend to socialize with others who are similar to themselves.
Informal word-of-mouth communication can make black workers suspicious of the program as they are largely excluded from social cliques, Yang said.
According to this theory, the fact that most managers are white means that there is less psychological barrier for white workers to interpret policies and programs in a positive light, according to the press release.
"In contrast, black workers, being outsiders and long-term targets of various workplace inequalities, may come to interpret policies and programs with suspicion and uncertainty," Yang wrote, according to the press release.
Only one third of employers in Yang's analysis reported having a layoff prevention program in place.
"To no one's expectation, such programs are detrimental to job anxiety of African American workers, making them even more anxious of their jobs.," Yang said. "If not fixed, those problems can be harmful to workers as well as employers, for example the decline of work morale and productivity," Yang said.
To fix this problem, "employers can find alternative ways to express their benign intention to protect workers' job security, particularly black workers," Yang said. "Perception of job insecurity maybe linked to workers' perception of other workplace inequalities," Yang said. "If African Americans perceive themselves as being systemically lagged behind in many benefits, they are only going to treat such layoff prevention programs as sheer rhetoric with a lack of sincerity."
Yang said he believes the gap in the perception of the layoff prevention programs can begin to be mended if people become aware about how they communicate information to different groups of people.
"If employers use human-resource-friendly policies to reduce anxiety, they need to be aware that not all will hear the policy in the same way," Yang said. "It's important not just to put programs in place, but to be aware of how people receive them."
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