Workers Still Wary Of Cutbacks Widespread Downsizing Leaves Legacy Of Insecurity

Hiring is up and job cuts are down, but workers are still looking over their shoulders.

A decade of downsizing has left a legacy of fear among workers, who increasingly fret about pink slips even as they’ve become more satisfied with pay and training opportunities, a research firm reports.

The four-year survey of employee attitudes by International Survey Research Corp. attests to the vast impact of downsizing, a strategy designed to cut costs through shutdowns and firings.

“People are living their lives in chapters now,” said John R. Stanek, chief executive officer of the Chicago firm, which specializes in research on workers’ opinions.

“Anyone who thinks he’s got a job for life has been in a lead mine for the past 10 years or is a Supreme Court justice,” he said Monday.

Nearly 30 percent of U.S. workers lost their jobs from 1990 to 1995 due to job cuts or company shutdowns, according to the annual Corporate Report on job demographics by the Cognetics research group.

This year, job creation for the most part offset job losses, according to the American Management Association. Yet workers still feel nervous, as the bond between employer and employee continues to fray.

In a survey of workers at 1,000 corporations employing more than 25,000, the International Survey Research Corp. found that workers’ insecurities about their jobs had risen markedly from 1992 to 1996.

Forty-six percent of workers are frequently concerned about being laid off, up from 31 percent in 1992, it found. About 53 percent are frequently concerned about the future of their company, up from 45 percent four years ago.

At the same time, only 40 percent of workers feel their company values long-term employees, down from 48 percent in 1992, according to the survey taken via computer, telephone and written questionnaires.

At AT&T, employees were shaken up by a volatile year. The company not only spun off two major subsidiaries, but also announced the phase out of 17,000 jobs over the next three years to save money.

Even now, employees don’t feel entirely secure about their futures, said Nick Salano, an AT&T marketing manager. “If results don’t get better, people feel there might be another cause for concern,” he said.

AT&T hopes to achieve most of the job cuts through attrition, yet also is grappling with a “survivor syndrome,” said Andrea McGregor, a human resources manager for the telecommunications giant.

She said the company planned programs next year to help employees cope. In the meantime, she said it has tried harder to tell workers of upcoming changes, while urging them to take advantage of training classes.

Despite their insecurities, workers nationwide give their companies better report cards on pay and training opportunities, the survey found.

Some 53 percent questioned believe they are fairly paid compared with new workers at a similar level, up from 49 percent in 1992. And 42 percent of workers feel their companies are doing enough to train workers to get a better job, up from 37 percent in 1992.

Yet some who are downsized choose not to re-enter the corporate world, hoping to better control their futures.

Mike Donnell, a 52-year-old former public relations executive with a large firm, started his own business eight years ago after his company merged with another and he sensed cuts in the air.

“Companies don’t feel obligated to provide employees with lifelong employment or benefits anymore,” said Donnell of Mundelein, Ill. “I tell my children they should be prepared.”