In this study, ecosystems were examined to reveal the adaptational processes of individual, family environments, and work environments during and following organizational restructuring. Reorganizing the workplace was expected to lead to changes in the employee's organizational ecosystem as well as the family ecosystem. Transactions between the family and work ecosystems and the individual were examined.

The sample of 10 women and 5 men were from a restructured state agency. Transactional human ecology provided the theoretical framework for the study. In-depth interviews were used to gather the data. Document analysis and personal viewpoint provided additional data.

Experiences that facilitated the adaptation process were individuals' choosing change, work support groups, families who listened, personal attitudes, and manager's style. Bringing a language of community and concepts of support from the family environment into the work ecosystem also aided adaptation. Experiences that hindered adaptation were the competitive hiring process, conflicts between team work and function work, misinformation, and "little bureaucratic things." In addition, apparent contradictions between the rhetoric of the restructuring vision and reality from the participants' perspective hampered adaptation.

Analysis of the collected data provided the beginning of a grounded theory of adaptation to organizational restructuring. Under restructuring implemented in a manner like that at the agency, employees remaining after the downsizing required time to adapt. They also needed time to grieve for their colleagues who were laid off. Participants' feelings of uncertainty and tension increased if they did not have time to adapt to the new structure and to grieve for laid off colleagues.