The Effects of Understaffing on Individual and Group Performance in Professional and Trade Occupations

Drawing on prior research on staffing sufficiency theory, we hypothesized that individuals working in understaffed groups would experience higher levels of perceived task scope and utilization of skills, and that these task perceptions would lead to higher levels of organizational commitment and work performance. Data were gathered from 684 workers from 160 blue-collar groups and 55 white-collar groups. Our path analyses indicated that moderate levels of understaffing were associated with higher levels of task perceptions and commitment for both blue-collar and white-collar individuals. But only for the white-collar sample did task perceptions, in turn, lead to higher performance. At the group level of analysis, however, understaffing was associated with lower levels of group performance. We suggest that these findings have important implications for organizations and departments that are considering structural downsizing.