The effects of collective layoffs on the talent attractiveness of firms in Portugal

Abstract

The world of labour has changed significantly in the last few years. The increasing flexibilization of labour regulation and the liberalisation of work relations between employers and employees have made way for greater job uncertainty.Portugal was not immune to this trend. The country, which was known for the rigidity of its labour market, has undergone a liberalisation of its labour law, allowing for easier and less expensive layoffs. As past research has found that there is a negative influence of layoffs on a company’s employer branding, it is necessary to assess the effects of said downsizing processes on the talent attractiveness of firms in Portugal. This paper explores the influence of collective dismissal processes on the employer branding of firms operating in Portugal, studying the moderating effect of candidates’ individual attributes, namely age, risk aversion and political ideology, on the layoff-employer branding relationship.The data used for the analysis, which was collected via an online survey, supports the hypothesised decrease in the willingness to work for a given firm in the event of a past layoff, however it was unable to support the hypothesised effect of age, political ideology and risk aversion on the dependent variable.

Date of Award	4 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Omar El Nayal (Supervisor)