Organizational downsizing and alcohol use: A national study of U.S. workers during the Great Recession

- This study explored the association between surviving an organizational downsizing and alcohol use.
- Data were collected from a national probability sample of U.S. workers during the Great Recession (N = 2,296).
- Surviving organizational downsizing was associated with more frequent overall alcohol use among all workers.
- Surviving organizational downsizing was associated with excessive alcohol use among younger workers, but not older workers.

Organizational downsizing, which represents the reduction of an organization's workforce, results in a stressful work environment for those who survive the downsizing. However, we know little about the association between surviving an organizational downsizing and employee alcohol use. This study explored the association between exposure to organizational downsizing and four dimensions of alcohol use during the Great Recession. Also explored were the moderating influences of length of recession exposure, state drinking culture, gender, age, education, family income, and financial demands. Data for this study came from a national telephone survey of U.S. workers that was conducted from December 2008 to April 2011 (N = 2296). The results revealed that exposure to organizational downsizing was positively associated with usual frequency of drinking, number of drinks consumed per usual drinking occasion, and both the frequency of binge drinking and drinking to intoxication. Length of exposure to the recession moderated the association between organizational downsizing exposure and usual number of drinks consumed. The conditional effects revealed that this association became stronger as length of exposure to the recession increased. Furthermore, age moderated the associations between organizational downsizing exposure and the usual number of drinks consumed and the frequency of binge drinking and intoxication. The conditional effects revealed that these associations were positive and significant among young survivors (ages 40 or younger), but were nonsignificant among middle-aged survivors (over 40 years of age). State drinking culture, gender, education, family income, and financial demands did not moderate the associations between organizational downsizing exposure and alcohol use.