That resulted in the elimination of 544,717 jobs from payrolls. Now, experts say, a piling-on effect is taking hold. Davis, for example, will start a new job with Accenture, the former Andersen Consulting, on Thursday. Even her old employer, UNext, has said the company will be ramping up hiring in some positions as it makes the transition from its start-up phase. The pace of the layoffs, meanwhile, is evidence that at least some were not well thought out, say some observers.
Rapid cuts demoralize the workforce and reduce resources.
Studying about 20,000 companies over a 12-year period, Kearney researchers have found that when companies periodically scale back, the ones that sacrifice earnings for revenue growth have a 50 percent chance of returning to rapid revenue and market capitalization growth within two years, Green said. Those that seek to keep profits up while revenue is shrinking stand only a 10 percent chance, he said. Of course, it's difficult for companies to explain that to investors focused on the short term, and even many workers are resigned to the notion that periodic job cuts are here to stay. Charlene Roderick of Chicago, a 22-year employee of troubled Xerox Corp., was part of a mass firing there in November. She had spent some time in senior management at the company, and said she understands such drastic action.