New Economy changes how firms face layoffs
             Armour discusses the new strategies being considered by employers when it comes to layoffs. Traditionally, seniority was security. More recently, employers are focusing on performance and productivity to select who stays and who goes.
             There are legal concerns when making decisions to layoff workers. Choosing workers based on ability avoids discrimination against minorities and women who may have entered the workforce at a later date and are lacking seniority in most companies.
             However, critics believe that choosing people based on performance can be a subjective process and that in too many instances layoffs become popularity contests. Further, it is believed that layoffs are used by some managers to avoid performance problems and eliminate problem workers.
             Despite the concerns of critics, I believe that elimination of workers should be based on ability and performance when the last option for a company is layoffs. Nature's way is survival of the fittest-even in business.
             There will always be an amount of subjectivity that cannot be avoided. Yet, it is important to understand that layoffs are not always a plot by upper management to get the poor performers. Sometimes, companies are poorly managed and the most obvious answer to reduce spending in poorly managed organizations is to layoff. Then, regardless of performance, people lose their jobs.
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