The influence of empowerment and job enrichment on employee loyalty in a downsizing environment

Maintaining survivors' loyalty in a downsizing environment is a difficult p roblem for management practitioners. Theorists have suggested that empowerm ent and job enrichment are mechanisms that allow survivors to cope with the stress of downsizing. This study examined the relationships between manage rial empowerment behaviors, perceptions of job enrichment, and loyalty beha viors with employees who have survived downsizing in an organization. Resul ts showed that empowerment does not have a direct effect on loyalty but aff ects loyalty indirectly through job enrichment. The results are discussed i n terms of their implications for theory and practice.