Industrial or global shutdowns, cost cutting, and spin-offs are some of the reasons why employees are laid off. Fallon and McConnell (2007) argue that in most cases economic issues are the reason for company layoffs. Today, many organizations are forced to reduce their workforce due to these factors. However, before layoffs occur in organizations, numerous measures need to be taken to ensure an effective layoff process. Selection criteria are the most important aspect of the organization's initial decision to make a workforce reduction. Decisions regarding which employees leave or which employees remain should be made before proceeding with employee layoffs. Personnel Policy Service Inc (nd) says there tends to be a lot of discretion on the part of employers in determining which employees need to be let go. However, to prevent accusations of discrimination, they suggest that companies use objective, business-related criteria, such as length of service (seniority), performance evaluation and merit, employment status, job skills and removal from Work. Seniority is a common selection criterion used by many companies in determining which employees leave and which stay. In the case of seniority-based layoffs, the most recently hired employees are the first to be fired. Both Fallon and McConnell (2007) and Personnel policy service inc (nd) state that the advantage of using seniority is that it is a fair and safer means of determining which employees to fire. The Personnel Policy Service Inc (nd) argues that it is also very simple to implement seniority as a selection criterion. However, using seniority as the sole selection criterion has disadvantages. According to Personnel policy service inc (nd), companies that use seniority as the only selection cri...... middle of paper ...... there is a great need to reduce the workforce, McConnell (2006 ) argues that measures such as early retirement, attrition, hiring freezes, voluntary separation and reduction of working hours should be explored before resorting to layoffs. Works Cited Fallon, L. F., & McConnell, C. R. (2007). Human resources management in healthcare. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Guerin, L. (n.d.). Make layoff decisions: Before laying off workers, consider the alternatives and establish the criteria under which to lay off employees. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/making-layoff-decisions-29949.htmlMcConnell, C, R. (2006). Umiker management skills for the new healthcare supervisor (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.Personnel Policy Services inc (nd).Common questions about layoffs. Retrieved from http://www.ppspublishers.com/articles/layoffs.htm