According to the authors of this paper, recently published in the Journal of Family Business Strategy, workforce reduction is a key decision that transcends company boundaries and has profound social implications "Although job cuts affect any organization in a fundamental way, they may be even more importan in the case of family firms who are major global employers", notes the study.

The study was carried out on a sample of 4, 134 companies between 1993 and 2016. "Our results show that family business are more reluctant to reduce their number of employees", states one of the researchers, María José Sánchez-Bueno, associate professor at the UC3M's Department of Business Administration and deputy director of the Institute for the Development of Enterprises and Markets (INDEM).

Bibliography: Cirillo, A. Muñoz-Bullón, F., Sánchez Bueno, M. J., Sciascia, S (2020). Employee downsizing and sales internationalization strategy in family firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 100354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2020.100354