Psychological Impact of Downsizing on Survivor-Managers in a developing Economy

Despite the importance of psychological wellbeing of survivors to the attainment of the envisaged goal of the downsizing practice, research on this group of workers is still limited particularly in Nigeria. The study aims at exploring the psychological impact of downsizing on survivor managers in Nigeria using a qualitative research approach. More specifically, unstructured and semi-structured interviews were carried out at different stages with a total of 20 interviewees. Data were analyzed and coded using a data-driven thematic analysis. The finding revealed that anxiety, a feeling of uncertainty, insecurity of job, reduction in individual motivation and poor communication influenced the survivors negatively. These negative psychological and emotional impact exhibited by the survivor employees are linked to lack of jobs, high rate of unemployment, and lack of social security and culture. The outcome of the study would provide implications for human resources managers in Nigeria who often deal with downsizing and engaged in psychological contract breach