Keep or Cut Workers? How Companies Reacted to the COVID-19 Crisis hbs.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hbs.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Not surprisingly, companies that were hit hard by the pandemic downturn were much more likely to lay off employees, even if those companies had been in strong financial shape beforehand. But hard-hit companies that benefited from strong cash reserves were only half as likely as their financially weaker counterparts to impose layoffs.
“If companies had cash reserves, they seemed willing to use some of them to help their employees,” Lester says.
At least as important, however, was whether a company had previously made a strong commitment to treat its workers well. In fact, companies with strong finances but weak commitments to workers were more likely to lay off employees than were companies with similarly strong finances and strong commitments to their workforce.