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."

裁员是经济不景气时占据头条新闻的伤亡人员。但是幸存者又怎样呢？尤其是那些经理们，他们必须在越来越大的压力下，以更少的人做更多的事情。在这一时期，与工作场所有关的所有事情都在发生变化，从工作描述、预算、员工的态度。几乎每一项任务比原本显得更加困难了，隔壁小空间的闲聊似乎比来自高层的讯息更为可信。简而言之，当公司竭力保持领先优势时，梦寐以求的工作很快变成了垃圾。

以下是你所在的组织由于经济衰退而正在陷入举步维艰境地的5个警示迹象，这可能使你的工作变得不堪忍受。如果你对他们感到似曾相识，别担心，一旦你认清情势，从我们的将来计划中寻找能帮助你应对的远见，并且如何将经济陷入低迷看作是抓住机会并且成长的时期。

糟糕因素1. 情感联系来自于预算

日常影响： 忠诚被搁置一边

当雇员获聘时，他们会对他们的组织形成基于互相忠诚、信任、平等和责任的心理联系。但是当市场陷入衰退时，公司调整为成本控制模式，这种联系也就结束了。

“这种关系变得很事务性”，曾经帮助公司建立起普遍的以结果为准的工作环境的百思买（美国电器公司，世界５００强之一）前人力资源经理凯利·莱斯勒说道。寻思着裁员目标的经理开始从员工们在办公室里投入了多少时间以及他们直接提供了什么价值的角度来评价员工，这可能会将有资质、有效率的员工排除在外。

雇员的态度并没有好多少。“如果员工心里想着他是下一个被拿来开刀的人，那他又为什么要投入自己更多的时间呢？”莱斯勒说道。忘了在信任基础上建立起来的工作关系吧。当生意每况愈下，工作也就只剩下了服务的交换了。

糟糕因素2：坏消息

日常影响：中层管理者陷入扮演糟糕的警察角色

首席执行官也许会在电子邮件中宣布公司将进行裁员，由经理们来眼看着人们并且告诉他们工作被砍了。“高层告诉中层管理者如何处理基层的员工”，纽约大学教授 BatiaWiesenfeld 说道，这实际上是陷将管理者于尴尬的境地，既要承担他们可能并不相信的任务，就像辞退有价值的员工或者解释为什么公司无法支付奖金。

在衰退时期，管理者们常常发现他们面临两种选择：站在组织身后支持并决定将感觉被背叛的员工抛弃；或者将直接写报告袒护员工，对于被要求执行的改变消极抵制。

糟糕因素之三：被惶恐的气氛所占据

日常影响：同事们变得徇私钻营

资源缩减和编制收缩会使所有雇员的心理感到不安。“当我们面对资源短缺，会全力争取我们的利益”，行政督导兼商业心理学家Debra Condren说道，“这就是适者生存”。

那正是在2001年经济衰退前期Deloitte 咨询事务所里发生的情况，公司驻洛杉矶办事处的前运营顾问说道。他说，“气氛变得很糟糕”。只有35%的人力在从事咨询工作，难怪出现了政治操纵者。咨询师们开始对高层合伙人阿谀奉承，提供道奇棒球队的比赛球票和看管婴儿服务。“一位同事实际上 开始订阅牧马业的杂志，因为他知道有一位合伙人养了一匹马，”这位咨询师说道。在糟糕的时候，工作场所里更多的是勾心斗角，而不是切实的工作。

糟糕因素之四：行政系统集中化

日常影响：决策者掌握权力

两个部门在衰退时期很少看到缩减编制：会计和法务。原因显而易见：重组和兼并，两者都是在衰退期非常普遍的行为，需要具有财务和法务方面专业知识的人手。此外，削减成本的议事日程实际上会使所有经手钱款的人都被用来处理这些数字。这对那些部门来说很重要，但是对每一个人又如何呢？会计规定和表格越来越复杂，这意味着甚至小到如何填写一份费用报销表格也可能成为经理们及其团队烦恼的事情。当拟定合同的时候，通常会比平时需要更长的时间：如果资金紧张，律师在判断公司是否得到一笔好的交易的时候会变得尤其专横。“这是公司处于衰退时期的典型症状”，斯坦福大学商业教授、《混蛋止步法则》一书的作者，Bob Sutton 说道。规则制定者有机会掌握更多的权力——检查者监守自盗。

糟糕因素之五：创新陷入停滞

日常影响：好想法被忽视，员工不满

由于财务人员得到授权，大多数经理可能不会再去想有关新的研发项目、营销活动和创新的努力了。虽然采取激进的策略可能使公司除处于较好的境地从而渡过衰退时期，但是很少有公司愿意承担风险。这样，中层领导发现他们正在后退，转而完全集中关注如何达到短期财务目标。这样的策略不仅使公司在竞争上受挫，而且使其高层管理者也失去斗志。Restoration Hardware （美国家居品牌）的一位员工说，顾客消费放缓使得公司陷入停售状态。过去的员工专注于工作，有干劲，但是当高层管理者开始将目光投向节省开支而不是投资更好的工具以管理存货的时候，激励作用也就消磨殆尽了。“像我这样的人是有能力而且愿意去创造工具的”，她说，“但这是一个既缺少财政支持又缺乏改变意愿的结合体”。