THE EFFECTS OF UNDERSTAFFING ON INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP-PERFORMANCE IN PROFESSIONAL AND TRADE OCCUPATIONS

Drawing on prior research on staffing sufficiency theory, we hypothesi zed that individuals working in understaffed groups would experience h igher levels of perceived task scope and utilization of skills, and th at these task perceptions would lead to higher levels of organizationa l commitment and work performance. Data were gathered from 684 workers from 160 blue-collar groups and 55 white-collar groups. Our path anal yses indicated that moderate levels of understaffing were associated w ith higher levels of task perceptions and commitment for both blue-col lar and white-collar individuals. But only for the white-collar sample did task perceptions, in turn, lead to higher performance. At the gro up level of analysis however, understaffing was associated with lower levels of group performance. We suggest that these findings have impor tant implications for organizations and departments that are consideri ng structural downsizing.