neoreaves wrote:In the decade from the mid-1980s to the mid - 1990s, large corporations were rocked by mergers, re-engineering and downsizing. These events significantly undermined employee's job security. Surprisingly, however, employee's perception of their own job security hardly changed over that period.Fifty-eight percent of the employees surveyed in 1984 and 55 percent surveyed in 1994 stated that their own jobs were very secure.

Each of the following contributes to an explanation of the surprising survey results described above EXCEPT:

a) A large number of the people in both surveys work in small companies that were not affected by mergers, reengineering, and downsizing.

b) employees who feel secure in their jobs tend to think that the jobs of other are secure.

c) the corporate downsizing that took place during this period had been widely anticipated for several years before the mid-1980s.

d) most of the major downsizing during this period was complete within a year after the first survey.

e) in the mid- 1990s, people were generally more optimistic about their lives, even in the face of hardship, than they were a decade before.

Phirozz wrote:
Survey was about employees' own jobs and not about what they feel about others. So B has nothing to do with argument.

Also by POE.

A clearly strengthens
C. downsizing was already anticipated several years before the survey was done. So the response would obviously be same in both 1984 and 1994.
D. Downsizing was started and completed during 1984 and 1994. So their feeling about job security was same in both 84 and 94
E. By mid ninety, job unsecurity was compensated by optimistic feeling. Therefore feeling was same in both 1984 and 1994