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JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
An Examination of Employee Layoffs and Organizational Justice Perceptions
Author(s): Jayme Sobieralski, Cynthia R. Nordstrom
Citation: Jayme Sobieralski, Cynthia R. Nordstrom, (2012) "An Examination of Employee Layoffs and Organizational Justice Perceptions," Journal of Organizational Psychology, Vol. 12, Iss. 3/4, pp. 11 - 20
Article Type: Research paper
Publisher: North American Business Press
Abstract:
Employee layoffs are sadly both prevalent and yet underresearched. How a layoff situation is handled
can profoundly impact victims’ reactions as well as the subsequent behavior of layoff survivors. Using
vignettes, we examined how the presence of a third party, employees’ seniority level and the provision of
a severance package influenced organizational justice perceptions. Results indicated that when a senior
employee was laid off, both procedural and interactional justice norms appeared violated. Additionally,
the provision of a severance package lead to more positive distributive justice perceptions. We discuss
how companies can minimize negative layoff reactions during these difficult economic times.
