Contrarian human resource investments and financial performance after economic downturns

The financial performance of companies pursuing the "contrarian" human resource (HR) practice of countercyclical hiring (CCH) was examined in this research. A strong positive relationship was found between a lagged market measure of financial performance and executives' perceptions of the extent to which their companies pursued CCH practices. We also examined the financial impact of rationales motivating companies to engage in CCH or that influenced its practice. Two such rationales or influences had strong positive impacts on financial performance. These were facilitation of affirmative action and HR planning for avoidance of personnel shortages.