Abstract
With the actual economic downturn, in many companies, Human Resources are the first department that the top managers approach to cut coasts.
Indeed, the human capital is often the one which costs the most to the company. That's why the recent years were those of the strict limitation of recruitment, of the increasing in departures, and of lower pay. But reacting like this isn't always the best choice, because it's often slows down the future development of the organisation and affect its competitiveness.
HR Planning is an unavoidable step in a period of cost reduction. Downsizing is often the first solution used by a company in order to avoid too much loss. Furthermore, all the choices that will be made by the HR department are critical, that's why it is paramount to plan them. Although, that in that kind of period, companies are more used to dismiss, it's sometimes needed to recruit for particulars jobs. In that case, the company has to forecast the right number of people, in the right place, with the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
Downsizing is define as "A reduction in the size of an organization, especially by reducing the number of direct employees in order to save costs and increase the flexibility and adaptability of the organization." Oxford Business Dictionary. In an economic downturn, the expenditures of the company stay the priority. That's why the past few years, we saw so many companies which suggest to their employees to leave. Even the large organisations as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Continental, Valeo, ArcelorMittal, Natixis, Sanofi Aventis, Hewlett-Packard, have been forced to use that kind of methods to face the crisis.
