Branding David

I am seeing a fair number of companies cutting staff that probably don’t need to. They are reporting record earnings, or at worst nominal drops in revenue, and yet they are cutting upwards of thirty percent of their staff. What is going on? Why are they making such aggressive cuts in their staff if the money is still rolling in?

The ME TOO Mindset

I was recently talking to a colleague of mine, and it was said that watching the news go around about all the cuts and the horrible economy most definitely pushes out the feeling that companies should make cuts because others are. When you put massive amounts of people together, you’ll notice quite often there is a tendency to follow a leader, even if it is in the wrong direction.

Are many companies letting go of hard working people just because they have seen the news that their competitors have let go of staff? Do they see this as a way to remain competitive and bolster their revenue figures? Is this just a great excuse, so that those that do the firings don’t have to feel bad?

Again, I am not saying that there isn’t a reason to downsize, if your revenues are going south, or your cash burn rate is too high to be sustained over the long haul, but to do it without any other provocation other than your competition cutting back is ridiculous.

Companies expect their staff to work hard for them, and be loyal, and then there is a hiccup in the economy and people are being downsized like there is no tomorrow.

I really think that if most companies took a moment to pause, really analyze the situation, and take preventative measures that don’t require a loss of talent and staff, they would be able to ride out this economic storm without contributing to the negativity that is currently hanging over the new media / Internet and technology related industries.

What do you think, were all of these firings really necessary?