Assistant Professor Paul Davis of The ILR School at Cornell University discussed his research on how layoffs make subsequent job quits more likely. Layoff victims are 65 percent more likely to quit a job that follows a layoff, and for those laid off multiple times, the number goes higher, presenting implications for organizations hiring from a labor pool with a growing segment of workers who have experienced layoffs. Workers in post-layoff positions often face lower pay, fewer hours and depressed job satisfaction, but those factors are not the primary cause of the increased quits. Rather, it is an altered sense of loyalty that frees layoff victims to pursue better job opportunities, he said. Davis, nevertheless, cautions managers against shunning job applicants who have layoffs in their past. To do so not only ignores an increasingly substantial segment of the national labor pool, but discounts a group expected to seek new skills and improve on past performance as a measure of protection against the trauma of additional layoffs, he said.

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Prevention is the key to maintaining a productive workplace and avoiding illegal harassment on the job (sexual, racial, religious, ethnic, age, disability, etc.) In this video, Susan Brecher, Director of Employee Relations, Legal, EEO and Diversity Programs in The Scheinman Institute at The ILR School, Cornell University gives you a sample scenario on how to recognize inappropriate behaviors and how to implement policy around those behaviors.