The Halcyon Days are over. Or are They? Implications of the Global Financial Crisis for Managers' Careers (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION A realistic and informed understanding of labour market structures is necessary to comprehend the processes of and prospects for managers' careers (Littler & Innes, 2004). Macro-level trends have micro-level impacts on individuals' careers, and careers discourse should be located in an historical, social, political and economic context (Dyer, 2006), which can add to a social justice perspective (McMahon, Arthur & Collins, 2008). Research in job mobility, industrial restructuring and labour market inequality should be integrated in studying the connection between structural changes and individual behaviours (Shin, 2007). Since we are still in the middle of the global financial crisis, no large-scale data on Australian managers is currently available, and the nature and cause of job losses is different this time around. Nonetheless, we can still learn from past experience. This research is relevant to managers in terms of gaining ideas about what to expect from downsizing; to career practitioners such as counsellors, coaches and outplacement advisers who may be working with retrenched managers; and for human resource (HR) practitioners in organisations where surviving managers are affected by what happens to their colleagues. The paper is situated in the body of literature about the effects of organisational restructuring on the careers of individual managers in terms of key variables such as job security, career mobility and satisfaction, the psychological contract, and employ ability attitudes and behaviours. The paper starts with the context of managers' careers over the last fifty years, looks at the consequences of changes in that time, explains the method and results of the survey of Australian managers and then explores the implications for theory and practice in today's environment.