Survey: Managing the survivor syndrome during and after redundancies

The emotional and physical impact of experiencing the loss of colleagues during redundancies, known as the "survivor syndrome", has implications for employers as well as for the health of their staff; this IRS survey investigates what is being done to counteract the syndrome's damaging toll.

On this page:
Number of redundancies made by respondents
Survivor syndrome
The greatest impact of the survivor syndrome at work
The most widespread workplace problems
Lower morale and commitment
Increased stress among employees
Reduced motivation
Breakdown of trust in management
Impact on productivity and absence from work
Staff retention problems
Greater risk-avoidance by employees and slower decision-making
The most effective methods of communicating with redundancy survivors
Content of communication with survivors
Effective communication messages
What do employees most appreciate?
Support offered to redundancy survivors
Our research
Table 1: The single greatest impact of the survivor syndrome on employers
Table 2: The ways in which the survivor syndrome affects employers
Table 3: Employers' approach towards managing redundancies and their survivors
Table 4: Steps taken to manage the retention of redundancy survivors
Table 5: The most effective means of communicating with survivors
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