Can Zappos really guarantee job security?

"Your job is as safe as it was a month ago." Or so says Tony Hsieh, CEO at footwear-apparel giant Zappos.com, following the announcement of an estimated US$920 million merger with Amazon.

But is this a fair assumption? According to Hsieh, Las Vegas-based Zappos will continue to operate as it always has done, only now working as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon. But despite Hsieh's cheery demeanour about the new venture (and who can blame him?), history shows a darker side to the relationship between mergers and job security.

It would be easy to point the finger at the financial services industry here; an industry that, in terms of layoffs and redundancies, has seen more activity than any other throughout the current recession. Take Lloyds Banking Group, for example, who announced just days ago it is going to cut a further 1200 jobs, skyrocketing the total reduction in jobs to 8200 since it bought HBOS last Autumn.

The latest cuts, say Lloyds, come following moves to combine former HBOS and Lloyds TSB group's operational functions, which includes IT and collections. Analysts, however, are saying the new cuts are hardly surprising.

Looking at the recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the global banking and financial services sector specifically, analysts point out that, as well as job insecurity, levels of workplace stress also risefollwong a merger. Its a simple logic as oftentimes the first employees know about mergers or acquisitions is the morning after the event has taken place, which obviously breeds a culture of uncertainty and confusion.

Clear communication between management and employees can assist in dispelling some of the uncertainties surrounding a merger and with Hsieh's honest email at the end of the day yesterday, Zappos should at least be commended for doing this.

Nonetheless, the past has shown that, at least until the deal between Amazon and Zappos is officially closed in the Autumn, Hsieh's promise of absolute job security could be a little presumptuous.

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