School of Management, Binghamton University.
ILR School, Cornell University.
J Appl Psychol. 2021 Dec;106(12):1785-1804. doi: 10.1037/apl0001002.
We examine how firms' prepandemic investments in human capital influence their use of workforce reductions and layoffs (hereafter, workforce reductions) as a response to financial pressures during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We contend that workforce reductions must be examined in the context of firms' broader financial and resource orchestration environments. First, we suggest that firms' relative exposure to pandemic financial pressures (PFPs) will determine their need to cut costs during the pandemic. Second, we argue that a firm's prior investments in employees' human capital will reduce the attractiveness of workforce reductions as a cost-cutting response to PFPs, as human capital investment (HCI) increases the value of employees' knowledge, skills, and abilities and motivation, thus inducing firms to seek alternative measures to reduce costs. We then argue that the attenuating influence of HCI on the effect of PFPs on workforce reductions will be stronger when HCI is matched with greater investments in physical capital, as employees' human capital will create more value-and will translate to a bigger loss following employee departures-in such circumstances. We demonstrate support for our hypotheses in a sample of 1,364 U.S. banks using data from quarterly Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reports, news articles, and Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) Act filings through the fourth quarter of 2020. We discuss implications for our understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on organizations and employees and for research on resource orchestration and human capital. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
我们研究了企业在大流行前对人力资本的投资如何影响它们在冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间将劳动力削减和裁员（以下简称劳动力削减）作为应对财务压力的手段。我们认为，必须在企业更广泛的财务和资源协调环境中考察劳动力削减。首先，我们认为企业相对面临大流行财务压力（PFPs）的程度将决定它们在大流行期间削减成本的必要性。其次，我们认为，企业对员工人力资本的前期投资将降低劳动力削减作为应对 PFPs 的成本削减措施的吸引力，因为人力资本投资（HCI）增加了员工知识、技能和能力以及动机的价值，从而促使企业寻求其他降低成本的措施。然后，我们认为，当 HCI 与更多的实物资本投资相匹配时，HCI 对 PFPs 对劳动力削减的影响的减弱作用将更强，因为在这种情况下，员工的人力资本将创造更多的价值--并且在员工离职后会导致更大的损失。我们使用来自联邦存款保险公司（FDIC）季度报告、新闻文章和工人调整和再培训通知（WARN）法案的文件的数据，通过 2020 年第四季度，在对 1364 家美国银行的样本中证明了我们的假设。我们讨论了这些假设对我们理解 COVID-19 大流行对组织和员工的影响以及对资源协调和人力资本研究的意义。
