Layoffs are the casualty that grabs most headlines during times of economic woe. But what happens to the survivors - especially managers - who must do more with less, and under increasing stress? Everything about the workplace changes during such times, from job descriptions, budgets, and goals to power dynamics between departments and attitude among staff. Nearly every task feels more difficult than it should, and the gossip in the cube next door seems more believable than the message coming from the top. In short, dream jobs quickly become crummy jobs when companies are struggling to stay ahead - or stay afloat.
Below are five telltale signs that recession is putting your organization in a chokehold, and possibly making your job unbearable. If they sound familiar, don't worry: Once you've identified the situation, read the rest of our feature package for helpful insights on how to cope - and how to look at an economic slump as a time to seize opportunities and grow.

Crummy Factor #1: Budget Ax Severs Emotional Ties
Day-to-Day Impact: Loyalty goes by the wayside.

When employees are hired, they form psychological bonds with their organizations based on mutual feelings of loyalty, trust, fairness, and obligation. But during a downturn, when companies retreat into cost-cutting mode, the bonds break down.
"The relationship becomes very transactional," says Cali Ressler, a former Best Buy HR manager who helped create the company's popular Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) program. Managers looking for layoff targets start to judge workers in terms of how much time they're putting in at the office and what kind of immediate value they offer - metrics that might exclude perfectly qualified and productive employees.
The attitude among workers isn't much better. "If the employee thinks he's next on the chopping block, why should he put in more than just his time?" Ressler says. Forget about working relationships built on trust. When business is bad, work is reduced to a mere exchange of services.

Crummy Factor #2: Bad News Trickles Down
Day-to-Day Impact: Middle managers get stuck playing bad cop.

The CEO may announce in an email that the company is going to conduct layoffs, but managers are the ones who have to look people in the eye and tell them their jobs have been cut. "The top tells the middle what to do to the bottom," says NYU business professor Batia Wiesenfeld, essentially putting managers in the awkward position of undertaking tasks that they may not believe in - like cutting valuable employees or explaining why the company can't pay out bonuses.
Thus in a downturn, managers often find themselves choosing between two scenarios: standing behind the organization and making decisions that leave employees feeling betrayed; or siding with direct reports and passively resisting the changes they're being asked to implement.

Crummy Factor #3: A Climate of Fear Sets In
Day-to-Day Impact: Coworkers get political.

Dwindling resources and shrinking headcounts rattle the psyches of all employees. "When scarcity is upon us, we fight for our share of the pie," says executive coach and business psychologist Debra Condren. "It's survival of the fittest."
That's exactly what happened at Deloitte Consulting in the run up to the 2001 recession, says a former operations consultant for the company's L.A. office. "The culture got really ugly," he says. With only 35 percent of the workforce assigned to consulting jobs, it's no wonder the political jockeys came out. Consultants started brown-nosing higher-level partners with Dodgers tickets and offers to babysit. "One coworker actually started subscribing to a horse husbandry magazine because he knew one of the partners owned horses," the consultant adds. In crummy times, the workplace becomes more about political maneuvering than actual work.

Crummy Factor #4: Bureaucracy Becomes Central
Day-to-Day Impact: The rulemakers make a grab for power.

Two departments rarely see their headcounts shrink in a downturn: accounting and legal. It's easy to see why: Restructurings and mergers, both prevalent activities in downturns, require manpower with financial and legal expertise. Plus, a cost-cutting agenda practically ensures that all of the money-handlers will be needed to crunch the numbers. That's great for those departments, but what about everyone else? Accounting rules and forms get more complicated, which means that even minor things like how an expense report is filled out can become pain points for managers and their teams. There are also more delays than usual when it's time to draw up contracts: If money is tight, the lawyers are going to be especially dictatorial in determining whether or not the company is getting a good deal. "It's a classic disease during a decline," says Bob Sutton, a Stanford business professor and the author of The No Asshole Rule. "Any rulemonger - the checkers checking the checkers' work - has an opportunity to grab more power."

Crummy Factor #5: Innovation Comes to a Standstill
Day-to-Day Impact: Good ideas are ignored, and employees get resentful.

With accounting bureaucrats empowered, most managers can forget about pushing out new R&D projects, marketing campaigns, and innovation efforts. Although going aggressive can put a company in a better position to survive a slowdown, few firms can resist becoming risk-averse. Thus, mid-level leaders find themselves pulling back and focusing entirely on how to meet short-term financial goals. Not only can this strategy set a company back competitively, it also can demoralize top performers.
A mid-level employee at Restoration Hardware says slowed consumer spending has the company in lockdown mode. The staff used to be intense and driven, but motivation has deteriorated as top-level management becomes fixated on saving every penny instead of investing in better tools to manage inventory. "There are people like myself who are capable and willing to create the tools," she says, "but it's a combination of not having the financial resources or the desire for change."

裁員是經濟不景氣時占據頭條新聞的傷亡人員。但是幸存者又怎樣呢？尤其是那些經理們，他們必須在越來越大的壓力下，以更少的人做更多的事情。在這一時期，與工作場所有關的所有事情都在發生變化，從工作描述、預算、員工的態度。幾乎每一項任務比原本顯得更加困難了，隔壁小空間的閑聊似乎比來自高層的訊息更為可信。簡而言之，當公司竭力保持領先優勢時，夢寐以求的工作很快變成了垃圾。

以下是你所在的組織由于經濟衰退而正在陷入舉步維艱境地的5個警示跡象，這可能使你的工作變得不堪忍受。如果你對他們感到似曾相識，別擔心，一旦你認清情勢，從我們的將來計劃中尋找能幫助你應對的遠見，并且如何將經濟陷入低迷看作是抓住機會并且成長的時期。

糟糕因素1. 情感聯系來自于預算

日常影響： 忠誠被擱置一邊

當雇員獲聘時，他們會對他們的組織形成基于互相忠誠、信任、平等和責任的心理聯系。但是當市場陷入衰退時，公司調整為成本控制模式，這種聯系也就結束了。

“這種關系變得很事務性”，曾經幫助公司建立起普遍的以結果為準的工作環境的百思買（美國電器公司，世界５００強之一）前人力資源經理凱利·萊斯勒說道。尋思著裁員目標的經理開始從員工們在辦公室里投入了多少時間以及他們直接提供了什么價值的角度來評價員工，這可能會將有資質、有效率的員工排除在外。

雇員的態度并沒有好多少。“如果員工心里想著他是下一個被拿來開刀的人，那他又為什么要投入自己更多的時間呢？”萊斯勒說道。忘了在信任基礎上建立起來的工作關系吧。當生意每況愈下，工作也就只剩下了服務的交換了。

糟糕因素2：壞消息

日常影響：中層管理者陷入扮演糟糕的警察角色

首席執行官也許會在電子郵件中宣布公司將進行裁員，由經理們來眼看著人們并且告訴他們工作被砍了。“高層告訴中層管理者如何處理基層的員工”，紐約大學教授 BatiaWiesenfeld 說道，這實際上是陷將管理者于尷尬的境地，既要承擔他們可能并不相信的任務，就像辭退有價值的員工或者解釋為什么公司無法支付獎金。

在衰退時期，管理者們常常發現他們面臨兩種選擇：站在組織身后支持并決定將感覺被背叛的員工拋棄；或者將直接寫報告袒護員工，對于被要求執行的改變消極抵制。

糟糕因素之三：被惶恐的氣氛所占據

日常影響：同事們變得徇私鉆營

資源縮減和編制收縮會使所有雇員的心理感到不安。“當我們面對資源短缺，會全力爭取我們的利益”，行政督導兼商業心理學家Debra Condren說道，“這就是適者生存”。

那正是在2001年經濟衰退前期Deloitte 咨詢事務所里發生的情況，公司駐洛杉磯辦事處的前運營顧問說道。他說，“氣氛變得很糟糕”。只有35%的人力在從事咨詢工作，難怪出現了政治操縱者。咨詢師們開始對高層合伙人阿諛奉承，提供道奇棒球隊的比賽球票和看管嬰兒服務。“一位同事實際上 開始訂閱牧馬業的雜志，因為他知道有一位合伙人養了一匹馬，”這位咨詢師說道。在糟糕的時候，工作場所里更多的是勾心斗角，而不是切實的工作。

糟糕因素之四：行政系統集中化

日常影響：決策者掌握權力

兩個部門在衰退時期很少看到縮減編制：會計和法務。原因顯而易見：重組和兼并，兩者都是在衰退期非常普遍的行為，需要具有財務和法務方面專業知識的人手。此外，削減成本的議事日程實際上會使所有經手錢款的人都被用來處理這些數字。這對那些部門來說很重要，但是對每一個人又如何呢？會計規定和表格越來越復雜，這意味著甚至小到如何填寫一份費用報銷表格也可能成為經理們及其團隊煩惱的事情。當擬定合同的時候，通常會比平時需要更長的時間：如果資金緊張，律師在判斷公司是否得到一筆好的交易的時候會變得尤其專橫。“這是公司處于衰退時期的典型癥狀”，斯坦福大學商業教授、《混蛋止步法則》一書的作者，Bob Sutton 說道。規則制定者有機會掌握更多的權力——檢查者監守自盜。

糟糕因素之五：創新陷入停滯

日常影響：好想法被忽視，員工不滿

由于財務人員得到授權，大多數經理可能不會再去想有關新的研發項目、營銷活動和創新的努力了。雖然采取激進的策略可能使公司除處于較好的境地從而渡過衰退時期，但是很少有公司愿意承擔風險。這樣，中層領導發現他們正在后退，轉而完全集中關注如何達到短期財務目標。這樣的策略不僅使公司在競爭上受挫，而且使其高層管理者也失去斗志。Restoration Hardware （美國家居品牌）的一位員工說，顧客消費放緩使得公司陷入停售狀態。過去的員工專注于工作，有干勁，但是當高層管理者開始將目光投向節省開支而不是投資更好的工具以管理存貨的時候，激勵作用也就消磨殆盡了。“像我這樣的人是有能力而且愿意去創造工具的”，她說，“但這是一個既缺少財政支持又缺乏改變意愿的結合體”。