We examine how firms' prepandemic investments in human capital influence their use of workforce reductions and layoffs (hereafter, workforce reductions) as a response to financial pressures during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We contend that workforce reductions must be examined in the context of firms' broader financial and resource orchestration environments. First, we suggest that firms' relative exposure to pandemic financial pressures (PFPs) will determine their need to cut costs during the pandemic. Second, we argue that a firm's prior investments in employees' human capital will reduce the attractiveness of workforce reductions as a cost-cutting response to PFPs, as human capital investment (HCI) increases the value of employees' knowledge, skills, and abilities and motivation, thus inducing firms to seek alternative measures to reduce costs. We then argue that the attenuating influence of HCI on the effect of PFPs on workforce reductions will be stronger when HCI is matched with greater investments in physical capital, as employees' human capital will create more value-and will translate to a bigger loss following employee departures-in such circumstances. We demonstrate support for our hypotheses in a sample of 1,364 U.S. banks using data from quarterly Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reports, news articles, and Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) Act filings through the fourth quarter of 2020. We discuss implications for our understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on organizations and employees and for research on resource orchestration and human capital. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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投资保持：公司在大流行前对人力资本的投资减少了与 COVID-19 财务压力相关的劳动力减少。

我们研究了公司在大流行前对人力资本的投资如何影响他们使用裁员和裁员（以下简称裁员）来应对冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行期间的财务压力。我们认为必须在公司更广泛的财务和资源协调环境的背景下审查劳动力减少。首先，我们建议企业在大流行期间的财务压力 (PFP​​) 的相对敞口将决定它们在大流行期间削减成本的需要。其次，我们认为公司先前对员工人力资本的投资将降低裁员作为对 PFP 的成本削减响应的吸引力，因为人力资本投资 (HCI) 增加了员工知识、技能和能力的价值，动机，从而促使企业寻求替代措施来降低成本。然后我们认为，当 HCI 与对实物资本的更大投资相匹配时，HCI 对 PFP 对劳动力减少的影响的减弱影响将更强，因为员工的人力资本将创造更多价值，并将转化为更大的员工流失。离开——在这种情况下。我们使用联邦存款保险公司 (FDIC) 季度报告、新闻文章以及截至 2020 年第四季度的工人调整和再培训通知 (WARN) 法案文件中的数据，在 1,364 家美国银行的样本中证明了我们的假设的支持。我们讨论了影响以了解 COVID-19 大流行对组织和员工的影响，以及对资源编排和人力资本的研究。