Job Transfer during Organizational Downsizing

Abstract

This longitudinal panel study examined job transfers in a federal government department undergoing major downsizing. Data were collected during the initial stages of the downsizing (T1), 1 year later (T2), and 1 year after that (T3). The 170 participants included those who were promoted and those who were laterally transferred between T2 and T3 as well as those who remained in the same job. Except for avoidance coping, there were no significant differences among the three groups at T1. At T3, the promoted group reported significantly higher future career success expectancy, job security, coping effectiveness, and procedural justice than the laterally transferred group. Because similar differences occurred before any job transfers, the differences at T3 cannot be attributed to the job transfer itself, but rather to differences that emerged between T1 and T2 in how those who were subsequently promoted appraised and coped with the downsizing and their coping resources.