| Abstract: | Increasingly often, executives are being called upon to manage organizations through downturns. Of critical importance to the long-term health of a firm is how its employees are treated during these stressful periods. Human resource strategies must minimize the loss of key personnel needed for organizational survival and turnaround. The purpose of this article is to discuss why key employees leave organizations following a downturn. We propose two reasons: Either employees abandon a sinking ship or upon considering a lack of career opportunities, they take well-timed exits. Then, by considering individual career issues that arise from an organization downturn, ways to counteract ill-timed employee exit are identified. These human resource strategies either reduce organizational uncertainty or increase career opportunity. |
