Q. What are the short and long-term effects of lay-offs? A. In a downturn, lay-offs are inevitable. The most important thing that an organisation needs to do is to make it painless and seamless to the extent feasible. If there is a business need to re-look at the organisation, its structure and its people, then embrace the “Art of Tough Love” – Tough on issues and soft on people; that is the way to deal with issues such as downsizing. The decision to make people redundant is tough but that can be made easier by treating the people with respect. The process should be planned in such a way that the exit is as graceful as possible. Affected employees are helped in different ways like through outplacements, good compensation, recommendations, and the company invests in helping them build skills and capabilities and providing them some kind of subsidy or support. Such employees are in that situation not for their lack integrity or performance but mainly due to economic r...