Sizing Down

Description

Chronicle of a Plant Closing

By Louise Moser Illes
Cornell University Press

Louise Moser Illes helped implement the downsizing process that closed a factory and put her and 900 coworkers out of a job. In January 1992, Illes (pronounced ILL-liss), a human resources manager, was notified along with her coworkers that the semiconductor plant where she worked would shut down by year’s end.

Turning down an offer to relocate, Illes turned to the task at hand: consoling fellow employees, developing retraining programs and communicating the plant closure process to employees. Illes had no time to grieve for her own uncertain future, for her hours were spent encouraging displaced employees to envision a bright future despite the adversity they faced. It is this paradoxical perspective that makes Illes’s book, Sizing Down: Chronicle of a Plant Closing, a valuable treatise on plant shut downs. In one paragraph, Illes suggests ways employees can set ground rules in a layoff situation and in the next, she counsels corporations on ways to sustain morale and be sensitive to employees’ needs.