It is no secret that the economy is at an all-time low. Consequently, many businesses may face the daunting question: should the company consider downsizing? While this decision may benefit your financial situation and possibly your Massachusetts commercial insurance, it may ultimately hurt your reputation and company structure in the long run. Before making a final decision, we have put together a few cons to downsizing.

•    The obvious: you will be losing great employees and even friends. If you are forced to let go of workers who have been there for five or 10 years, it may be hard to adjust without them.

•    Downsizing may lead to negative publicity. It is important to have a press release prepared and be ready to tackle negative comments and rumors from the public.

•    Downsizing may lower morale and loyalty in the company, especially since employees will feel betrayed.

•    While it may be a good financial move, how do you expect to operate without the extra help? Your company may begin to lack structure, efficiency and productivity.

•    The employees who are still around may start to feel a sense of mistrust and insecurity. This may ultimately end in the loss of more employees.

While the cons are tough to see, it is important that you look at every side of this choice. There are also pros to downsizing, of course. Financially, you will not have to pay as many employees, which may affect your profit and even commercial insurance. Massachusetts business owners should turn to their insurance agent for more information about this change. At Smith Bros.-McAndrews Insurance, we are sure you will make the right decision during this tough time; good luck!