Survivor reactions to organizational downsizing: Does time ease the pain?

The present study used work role transitions theory as a guiding framework for examining changes in survivors' attitudes following an organizational d ownsizing. A total of 106 managers experiencing a downsizing provided data regarding organizational commitment, turnover intentions, job involvement, role clarity, role overload, satisfaction with top management, and satisfac tion with job security at three different times. Although the: results gene rally indicated that downsizing had a significant impact on work attitudes, that the impact varied over time, and that the initial impact was generall y negative; different patterns of results among the job attitudes studied w ere also observed. For example, satisfaction with top management increased across time, while job involvement decreased. Findings also indicated that changes in role clarity, role overload, satisfaction with top management, a nd satisfaction with job security were significantly related to changes in organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Changes in job involveme nt also moderated several relationships such that. there was a stronger rel ationship between the independent variable and the outcome variable when jo b involvement was higher than when job involvement was lower. Theoretical a nd practical implications of the findings and directions for future researc h are discussed.