Layoffs and Permanent Job Losses: Workers' Traits and Cyclical Patterns.

Abstract

Layoffs are probably the most visible and, thus, the most widely recognized form of in the United States, as recessionary job cutbacks receive broad coverage in the media . It is, therefore, surprising that little empirical analysis, especially prior to the mid-seventies, was done on this group.' This stems, in part, from the fact that traditional theories of did not consider a distinction between layoffs and other types of unemployment-permanent separations, quits, and labor force entries and reentries-to be of significant importance . This article discusses the uniqueness of persons on layoff as distinguished from those who have been permanently separated from their jobs . Data for each group are available back to 1967, when the reason for unemployment was first identified in the Current Population Survey (cps), although they were not tabulated and published separately until 1976 . Using these data, demographic and occupational and industry profiles of persons on layoff and those permanently separated are presented. Also, the cyclical variability in the number of workers on layoff relative to the number permanently separated, together with each group's job search and job change behavior and duration of unemployment, is examined to determine its role in short-